diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index b7d1053..b9af025 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -262,7 +262,13 @@ jobs:
               _ "$RENDEZVOUS_RELEASE_DIR" "$RENDEZVOUS_VERSION" "$GITHUB_SHA" "$source_date_epoch"
 
       - name: Preserve verified candidate artifacts
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
+        # upload-artifact@v4 speaks the v2 artifacts API, which this Gitea only
+        # answers at its v3-era shape, so v4 aborts before uploading anything.
+        # Keeping the candidate is a pre-publish debugging backstop, not a
+        # release gate: publish-release.sh attaches the same files as Gitea
+        # release assets, so a failure here must never block a release.
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@ff15f0306b3f739f7b6fd43fb5d26cd321bd4de5 # v3.2.1
         with:
           name: rendezvous-${{ env.RENDEZVOUS_VERSION }}
           path: ${{ env.RENDEZVOUS_RELEASE_DIR }}
@@ -270,9 +276,29 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 30
 
       - name: Install pinned signing client
-        uses: sigstore/cosign-installer@6f9f17788090df1f26f669e9d70d6ae9567deba6 # v4.1.2
-        with:
-          cosign-release: v3.0.6
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # cosign-installer issues no API call on the pinned path, but it is a
+          # composite action resting on `envsubst` and a resolved runner.arch,
+          # neither of which this runner has ever exercised. Asked for the same
+          # version it bootstraps, the action downloads exactly this asset and
+          # checks it against exactly this digest before declaring itself done,
+          # so fetching it directly verifies identically with nothing unproven
+          # left in the path. The digest is pinned inline for the reason the
+          # scanner's is: a checksums file fetched at run time only proves the
+          # asset matches whatever the release currently serves.
+          cosign_bin_dir="$RENDEZVOUS_WORK_DIR/bin"
+          mkdir -p "$cosign_bin_dir"
+          curl --fail --location --silent --show-error --output "$cosign_bin_dir/cosign" \
+            https://github.com/sigstore/cosign/releases/download/v3.0.6/cosign-linux-amd64
+          echo "c956e5dfcac53d52bcf058360d579472f0c1d2d9b69f55209e256fe7783f4c74  $cosign_bin_dir/cosign" \
+            | sha256sum --check --strict -
+          chmod +x "$cosign_bin_dir/cosign"
+          # publish-release.sh resolves cosign through `command -v`, so the
+          # directory joins the PATH the same way the action would have added it.
+          echo "$cosign_bin_dir" >>"$GITHUB_PATH"
+          "$cosign_bin_dir/cosign" version
 
       - name: Publish once, sign, attest, and create release
         shell: bash
diff --git a/tests/FinalFactory.Rendezvous.Tests/Release/ReleaseCompatibilityTests.cs b/tests/FinalFactory.Rendezvous.Tests/Release/ReleaseCompatibilityTests.cs
index 1ef3656..41dc24b 100644
--- a/tests/FinalFactory.Rendezvous.Tests/Release/ReleaseCompatibilityTests.cs
+++ b/tests/FinalFactory.Rendezvous.Tests/Release/ReleaseCompatibilityTests.cs
@@ -97,6 +97,31 @@ public sealed class ReleaseCompatibilityTests
             StringComparison.Ordinal);
         Assert.Contains("sha256sum --check --strict", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
         Assert.Contains("TRIVY_CACHE_DIR=$RENDEZVOUS_WORK_DIR/trivy-cache", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
+
+        // Gitea answers the v3-era artifacts API only, so upload-artifact stays on
+        // v3 and never gates the release it is only meant to help debug.
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(
+            "actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02",
+            workflow,
+            StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        Assert.Contains(
+            "actions/upload-artifact@ff15f0306b3f739f7b6fd43fb5d26cd321bd4de5 # v3.2.1",
+            workflow,
+            StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        Assert.Contains("continue-on-error: true", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
+
+        // The signing client is fetched the way the scanner is: a pinned asset
+        // checked against a pinned digest, with no action resolved off github.com.
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("sigstore/cosign-installer", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        Assert.Contains(
+            "https://github.com/sigstore/cosign/releases/download/v3.0.6/cosign-linux-amd64",
+            workflow,
+            StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        Assert.Contains(
+            "c956e5dfcac53d52bcf058360d579472f0c1d2d9b69f55209e256fe7783f4c74",
+            workflow,
+            StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        Assert.Contains("echo \"$cosign_bin_dir\" >>\"$GITHUB_PATH\"", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
         Assert.Contains("--exit-code 1", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
         Assert.Contains("--severity HIGH,CRITICAL", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);
         Assert.DoesNotContain("--ignore-unfixed", workflow, StringComparison.Ordinal);