diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 6938403..62b8fa2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ jobs:
       SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
     steps:
+      # Needed for the CHANGELOG.md extraction step below — this job has no
+      # other source of the repo's files. Its absence went unnoticed through
+      # review because this job only triggers on push:tags, never on
+      # pull_request, so no PR's CI ever actually executes it.
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
       - name: Wait for publish-pypi.yml and images.yml to finish on this commit
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail