diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 68d17b7..7437bef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -532,22 +532,36 @@ jobs:
             process.stdout.write(`${lines.join("\n")}\n`);
           ' > "$notes_file"
 
-          tag_response=''
-          if tag_response="$(gh api \
-            --method POST \
-            "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/git/refs" \
-            --field "ref=refs/tags/$tag" \
-            --field "sha=$RELEASE_COMMIT" 2>&1)"; then
-            CREATED_TAG_RESPONSE="$tag_response" EXPECTED_TAG="refs/tags/$tag" EXPECTED_SHA="$RELEASE_COMMIT" \
+          existing_tag_response=''
+          if existing_tag_response="$(gh api \
+            "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/git/ref/tags/$tag" 2>&1)"; then
+            EXISTING_TAG_RESPONSE="$existing_tag_response" EXPECTED_TAG="refs/tags/$tag" EXPECTED_SHA="$RELEASE_COMMIT" \
               node --input-type=module -e '
                 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-                const created = JSON.parse(process.env.CREATED_TAG_RESPONSE);
-                assert.equal(created.ref, process.env.EXPECTED_TAG);
-                assert.equal(created.object?.type, "commit");
-                assert.equal(created.object?.sha, process.env.EXPECTED_SHA);
+                const existing = JSON.parse(process.env.EXISTING_TAG_RESPONSE);
+                assert.equal(existing.ref, process.env.EXPECTED_TAG);
+                assert.equal(existing.object?.type, "commit");
+                assert.equal(existing.object?.sha, process.env.EXPECTED_SHA);
               '
           else
-            [[ "$tag_response" == *"HTTP 422"* ]]
+            [[ "$existing_tag_response" == *"HTTP 404"* ]]
+            tag_response=''
+            if tag_response="$(gh api \
+              --method POST \
+              "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/git/refs" \
+              --field "ref=refs/tags/$tag" \
+              --field "sha=$RELEASE_COMMIT" 2>&1)"; then
+              CREATED_TAG_RESPONSE="$tag_response" EXPECTED_TAG="refs/tags/$tag" EXPECTED_SHA="$RELEASE_COMMIT" \
+                node --input-type=module -e '
+                  import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+                  const created = JSON.parse(process.env.CREATED_TAG_RESPONSE);
+                  assert.equal(created.ref, process.env.EXPECTED_TAG);
+                  assert.equal(created.object?.type, "commit");
+                  assert.equal(created.object?.sha, process.env.EXPECTED_SHA);
+                '
+            else
+              [[ "$tag_response" == *"HTTP 422"* ]]
+            fi
           fi
           tag_commit="$(gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/commits/$tag" --jq '.sha')"
           test "$tag_commit" = "$RELEASE_COMMIT"
diff --git a/scripts/check-release-workflows.mjs b/scripts/check-release-workflows.mjs
index 83896d9..46d7da1 100644
--- a/scripts/check-release-workflows.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-release-workflows.mjs
@@ -394,6 +394,20 @@ assert.match(
 );
 assert.match(release, /gh release create/, 'release must create the reviewed GitHub release');
 assert.match(release, /gh release view/, 'GitHub release creation must be safe to rerun');
+assert.match(
+  release,
+  /if existing_tag_response="\$\(gh api \\\n\s+"repos\/\$GITHUB_REPOSITORY\/git\/ref\/tags\/\$tag" 2>&1\)"; then/,
+  'release recovery must read and verify an existing exact tag before attempting creation',
+);
+assert.ok(
+  release.indexOf('git/ref/tags/$tag') < release.indexOf('--method POST'),
+  'the existing-tag lookup must happen before the atomic tag-creation request',
+);
+assert.match(
+  release,
+  /\[\[ "\$existing_tag_response" == \*"HTTP 404"\* \]\]/,
+  'release may attempt tag creation only after an explicit not-found response',
+);
 assert.match(
   release,
   /--method POST \\\n\s+"repos\/\$GITHUB_REPOSITORY\/git\/refs"/,