diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 285e53d..45755b4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -90,4 +90,7 @@ jobs:
       run: sfw npm install --global npm@11.19.0
 
     - name: Stage publish
-      run: npm stage publish packed/*.tgz --access public --provenance
+      # Prefix with ./ so npm treats the tarball as a local file. A bare
+      # packed/*.tgz path is parsed as GitHub owner/repo shorthand (npm npa),
+      # which then fails with git ls-remote Permission denied (publickey).
+      run: npm stage publish ./packed/*.tgz --access public --provenance