diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 98843a8f..c46ef918 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ jobs:
             --wait-seconds 2700 \
             --poll-seconds 10
 
+      # The validator needs only PyYAML + stdlib (no package install, no
+      # browser), matching the gate in validate-claims.yml. Installing the
+      # whole package here would let a heavy dependency break the release.
+      - name: Install PyYAML
+        run: pip install "pyyaml>=6"
+
       - name: Verify the claims registry
         run: python scripts/validate_claims.py --check --structure-only
 
@@ -282,6 +288,12 @@ jobs:
             --repository "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" \
             --sha "${GITHUB_SHA}"
 
+      # The validator needs only PyYAML + stdlib (no package install, no
+      # browser), matching the gate in validate-claims.yml. Installing the
+      # whole package here would let a heavy dependency break the release.
+      - name: Install PyYAML
+        run: pip install "pyyaml>=6"
+
       - name: Verify the claims registry
         run: python scripts/validate_claims.py --check --structure-only
 
diff --git a/public-artifacts.json b/public-artifacts.json
index 5711ee57..1872911b 100644
--- a/public-artifacts.json
+++ b/public-artifacts.json
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
     },
     {
       "path": ".github/workflows/release.yml",
-      "sha256": "2e9f30a2a2d902950423513eb49ce76c63eed958a7f6b22e318826e7282f74aa"
+      "sha256": "d8f1207dc1976a9d9e07622c2cc528687a07e0a3dddc23e512c40ceefc03154d"
     },
     {
       "path": ".github/workflows/validate-claims.yml",