diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 7b47c006fb..ec70bd2714 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -63,28 +63,45 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
-        # Detect whether main already carries the release commit (we're
-        # resuming after a mid-flight failure) or whether this is a fresh
-        # release attempt. The downstream steps gate themselves on `resume`.
+        # Tag existence is the source of truth for "release in progress":
+        # main HEAD may have moved past the release commit (a follow-up fix
+        # merged on top), so the commit-message check on HEAD is too narrow.
+        # If v<version> exists, resume from the commit it points at;
+        # otherwise it's a fresh attempt and tags must not exist.
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          main_sha=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/refs/heads/main" -q .object.sha)
-          first_line=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/commits/${main_sha}" -q .message | head -n1)
-          expected="chore: prepare release ${VERSION} [skip ci]"
-          if [[ "${first_line}" == "${expected}" ]]; then
-            echo "Resuming: release commit already at ${main_sha}"
+          err=$(mktemp)
+          trap 'rm -f "${err}"' EXIT
+          # Capture stderr so we can distinguish a real 404 (tag absent → fresh
+          # attempt) from any other failure (rate limit, 5xx, auth) which must
+          # not be silently treated as "tag missing".
+          if ref=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/refs/tags/v${VERSION}" 2>"${err}"); then
+            sha=$(jq -r .object.sha <<<"${ref}")
+            type=$(jq -r .object.type <<<"${ref}")
+            if [[ "${type}" == "tag" ]]; then
+              sha=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/tags/${sha}" -q .object.sha)
+            fi
+            # Refuse to resume against a tag that isn't reachable from main:
+            # protects against an orphan tag created on a side branch.
+            if ! git merge-base --is-ancestor "${sha}" HEAD; then
+              echo "::error::Tag v${VERSION} (${sha}) is not reachable from main; refusing to resume."
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "Resuming: v${VERSION} exists at ${sha}"
             {
               echo "resume=true"
-              echo "release_commit=${main_sha}"
+              echo "release_commit=${sha}"
             } >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
-          else
+          elif grep -qF "(HTTP 404)" "${err}"; then
             echo "resume=false" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
-            for tag in "v${VERSION}" "caddy/v${VERSION}"; do
-              if gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/refs/tags/${tag}" --silent 2>/dev/null; then
-                echo "::error::Tag ${tag} exists but main HEAD is not the release commit; refusing to release."
-                exit 1
-              fi
-            done
+            if gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/git/refs/tags/caddy/v${VERSION}" --silent 2>/dev/null; then
+              echo "::error::caddy/v${VERSION} exists but v${VERSION} does not; refusing to release into a split state."
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          else
+            echo "::error::GitHub API call for tag v${VERSION} failed:"
+            cat "${err}" >&2
+            exit 1
           fi
       - if: steps.state.outputs.resume != 'true'
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-go