diff --git a/scripts/build-changelog.ts b/scripts/build-changelog.ts
index 1b7eb86a..ae691945 100644
--- a/scripts/build-changelog.ts
+++ b/scripts/build-changelog.ts
@@ -233,6 +233,11 @@ function defaultListPrereleaseTags(cwd: string, baseVersion: string): string[] {
 
 // Diffs changes/*.md between the previous prerelease tag and the working tree.
 // Renamed fragments are treated as modifications of the new path.
+//
+// Like every other path in this script, git paths are resolved against `cwd`,
+// which is the project root and also the repository root. Callers that point
+// `cwd` elsewhere already fail earlier and loudly, when package.json and
+// changes/ come back missing.
 function defaultResolveFragmentDelta(cwd: string, previousTag: string): FragmentDeltaEntry[] {
   const output = execFileSync(
     'git',
diff --git a/src/prerelease-workflow.test.ts b/src/prerelease-workflow.test.ts
index 08c68086..b0dd3e51 100644
--- a/src/prerelease-workflow.test.ts
+++ b/src/prerelease-workflow.test.ts
@@ -122,3 +122,35 @@ test('prerelease workflow does not publish to AUR', () => {
   assert.doesNotMatch(prereleaseWorkflow, /AUR_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(prereleaseWorkflow, /scripts\/update-aur-package\.sh/);
 });
+
+test('prerelease workflow rejects committed notes generated for a different beta or rc', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    packageJson.scripts['changelog:check-prerelease-notes'],
+    'bun run scripts/build-changelog.ts check-prerelease-notes',
+  );
+  assert.match(
+    prereleaseWorkflow,
+    /bun run changelog:check-prerelease-notes --version "\$RELEASE_VERSION"/,
+  );
+
+  // The staleness check has to run before the release is created or edited,
+  // otherwise stale notes are already published by the time it fails.
+  const checkIndex = prereleaseWorkflow.indexOf('changelog:check-prerelease-notes');
+  const createIndex = prereleaseWorkflow.indexOf('gh release create');
+  const editIndex = prereleaseWorkflow.indexOf('gh release edit');
+  assert.notEqual(checkIndex, -1);
+  assert.ok(checkIndex < createIndex);
+  assert.ok(checkIndex < editIndex);
+});
+
+// GitHub substitutes ${{ }} into the run script before the shell parses it, so a
+// tag-derived value used that way is executed as script rather than read as data.
+test('tag-derived values reach shell bodies through env, not template interpolation', () => {
+  const rawVersionUses = prereleaseWorkflow
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((line) => line.includes('steps.version.outputs.VERSION'))
+    .filter(
+      (line) => !/^\s*RELEASE_VERSION: \$\{\{ steps\.version\.outputs\.VERSION \}\}$/.test(line),
+    );
+  assert.deepEqual(rawVersionUses, []);
+});
diff --git a/src/release-workflow.test.ts b/src/release-workflow.test.ts
index 0cfda411..7325dba7 100644
--- a/src/release-workflow.test.ts
+++ b/src/release-workflow.test.ts
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ test('release workflow publishes subminer-bin to AUR from tagged release artifac
     releaseWorkflow,
     /cp packaging\/aur\/subminer-bin\/\.SRCINFO aur-subminer-bin\/\.SRCINFO/,
   );
-  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /version_no_v="\$\{\{ steps\.version\.outputs\.VERSION \}\}"/);
+  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /version_no_v="\$RELEASE_VERSION"/);
   assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /SubMiner-\$\{version_no_v\}\.AppImage/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(
     releaseWorkflow,
@@ -278,3 +278,27 @@ test('Makefile uninstall targets remove bundled runtime plugin app-data copies',
   assert.match(makefile, /Removed:[\s\S]*\$\(LINUX_DATA_DIR\)\/plugin\/subminer/);
   assert.match(makefile, /Removed:[\s\S]*\$\(MACOS_DATA_DIR\)\/plugin\/subminer/);
 });
+
+// GitHub substitutes ${{ }} into the run script before the shell parses it, so a
+// tag-derived value used that way is executed as script rather than read as data.
+// The release and docs workflows must route tag values through env and
+// reference them as shell variables.
+test('tag-derived values reach shell bodies through env, not template interpolation', () => {
+  const rawVersionUses = releaseWorkflow
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((line) => line.includes('steps.version.outputs.VERSION'))
+    .filter(
+      (line) => !/^\s*RELEASE_VERSION: \$\{\{ steps\.version\.outputs\.VERSION \}\}$/.test(line),
+    );
+  assert.deepEqual(rawVersionUses, []);
+
+  const rawRefNameUses = docsPagesWorkflow
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((line) => line.includes('github.ref_name'))
+    .filter((line) => !/^\s*TAG_NAME: \$\{\{ github\.ref_name \}\}$/.test(line))
+    // `if:` conditions are evaluated by Actions itself, never handed to a shell.
+    .filter((line) => !/^\s*if:/.test(line));
+  assert.deepEqual(rawRefNameUses, []);
+
+  assert.match(docsPagesWorkflow, /if \[\[ ! "\$TAG_NAME" =~/);
+});