diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 97e3eff..abcc2d6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -561,8 +561,10 @@ jobs:
           git add CHANGELOG.md
           git commit -m "docs: update changelog for v${VERSION}"
 
-          # Re-runs of the same tag reuse the branch; overwrite it instead of failing.
-          git push --force origin "$BRANCH"
+          # Re-runs of the same tag reuse the branch; overwrite it instead of
+          # failing, but keep --force-with-lease so a foreign commit that landed
+          # on the branch is not silently discarded.
+          git push --force-with-lease origin "$BRANCH"
 
           if [ -n "$(gh pr list --head "$BRANCH" --state open --json number --jq '.[].number')" ]; then
             echo "✅ Pull request for $BRANCH already open, updated with latest changelog"
@@ -597,8 +599,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "🔍 Validating release completion for $TAG"
 
           # Check GitHub release
-          # -R is required: this job has no checkout, so gh cannot infer the repo.
-          if gh release view "$TAG" -R "${{ github.repository }}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          if gh release view "$TAG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "✅ GitHub release exists"
           else
             echo "❌ GitHub release missing"
@@ -629,6 +630,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "🎉 Release validation completed successfully!"
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          # This job has no checkout, so `gh` cannot infer the repository from a
+          # git remote and reported "GitHub release missing" for a release that
+          # actually existed.
+          GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
 
       - name: Notify on failure
         if: failure()
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7920802..fdbca9c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Fixed
-- Release workflow: `post-release-validation` now passes `-R <repo>` to `gh release view`,
-  so the check no longer fails with "GitHub release missing" in a job without a checkout.
+- Release workflow: `post-release-validation` now sets `GH_REPO` for the step, so `gh`
+  resolves the repository in a job without a checkout instead of failing the check with
+  "GitHub release missing".
 - Release workflow: the PyPI verification uses the PyPI JSON API with retries instead of
   the experimental `pip index versions` plus a substring `grep`.
 - Release workflow: `update-docs` opens a pull request with the changelog update instead of