diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 66d1add4..ae3825ed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -377,7 +377,14 @@ jobs:
   validate-changelog:
     name: Validate Changelog
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.base_ref == 'main'
+    # A release reaches main from develop or a release branch with [Unreleased]
+    # emptied into the version's section by construction: checking it there
+    # fails every release. A hotfix to main is still checked.
+    if: >-
+      github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+      && github.base_ref == 'main'
+      && github.head_ref != 'develop'
+      && !startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9a95f924..fce9730f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Added
 - `develop` is aliased to `13.x-dev` (`extra.branch-alias`). Without it, `dev-develop` satisfied no version constraint: a project on `dev-develop` could not install a package requiring `pollora/framework` `^13.0` — `pollora/nectar` 1.1 does — without an inline alias of its own
 
+### Fixed
+- "Validate Changelog" no longer fails the pull request of every release. It required a non-empty `[Unreleased]` on any pull request to `main`, which a release from `develop` or `release/*` has emptied into the version's section by construction; it now checks hotfixes only
+
 ## [v13.32.0-beta.8](https://github.com/Pollora/framework/compare/v13.32.0-beta.7...v13.32.0-beta.8) - 2026-09-25
 
 No change to the framework's code: this beta ships the browser test suite that now guards it, 73 tests per browser.