diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
index a27acea..5748373 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: docker
     timeout-minutes: 120
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout
+      - name: Checkout the source tag
         uses: https://code.forgejo.org/actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           # A tag push builds that tag; a manual dispatch builds the tag the
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ jobs:
           # release it is attached to).
           ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}
 
+      - name: Checkout the CI tooling
+        uses: https://code.forgejo.org/actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # scripts/ and .forgejo/ only exist on the branch (older tags predate
+          # them), and the workflow itself is read from the dispatched ref — so
+          # fetch the same ref into .ci-tools and run the scripts from there.
+          ref: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          path: .ci-tools
+
       - name: Build ${{ env.TARGET }} in a rust container
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
@@ -62,7 +71,8 @@ jobs:
               && cargo build --release --locked \
               && strip /target/release/onionwire \
               && ls -l /target/release/onionwire'
-          tar czf - --exclude=./target --exclude=./.git --exclude=./.worktrees . \
+          tar czf - --exclude=./target --exclude=./.git --exclude=./.worktrees \
+            --exclude=./.ci-tools . \
             | docker start -a -i "$BUILD_CONTAINER"
           mkdir -p dist
           docker cp "$BUILD_CONTAINER:/target/release/onionwire" "dist/onionwire-$TARGET"
@@ -80,16 +90,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: Publish to the Forgejo release
         env:
           FORGEJO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FORGEJO_TOKEN }}
-          TARGET_COMMITISH: ${{ github.sha }}
           REPO_API: ${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}
+          EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          EVENT_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
           REF: ${{ github.ref_name }}
           INPUT_TAG: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           cd "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"
           tag="${INPUT_TAG:-$REF}"
-          echo "publishing $tag from $REPO_API"
-          scripts/publish-release.sh \
+          # Only a tag push may create the tag; a re-publish must not move it.
+          if [ "$EVENT_NAME" = "push" ]; then export TARGET_COMMITISH="$EVENT_SHA"; fi
+          echo "publishing $tag from $REPO_API (event=$EVENT_NAME)"
+          .ci-tools/scripts/publish-release.sh \
             "$tag" "OnionWire $tag" \
-            scripts/release-body.md \
+            .ci-tools/scripts/release-body.md \
             "dist/onionwire-$TARGET" "dist/onionwire-$TARGET.sha256"
diff --git a/scripts/publish-release.sh b/scripts/publish-release.sh
index 60486c4..23d8cdc 100755
--- a/scripts/publish-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/publish-release.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 # Usage:  publish-release.sh <tag> <release-name> <body-file> <asset> [<asset>...]
 # Env:    FORGEJO_TOKEN        user PAT with repo write (required)
 #         REPO_API             default https://forgejo.siriusdevops.com/api/v1/repos/sirius/onionwire
-#         TARGET_COMMITISH     default: push-triggered commit (CI) else "main"
+#         TARGET_COMMITISH     optional; set it only when the release may have to
+#                              create the tag (e.g. a push event's commit sha).
+#                              Leave empty to never move an existing tag.
 #
 # Idempotent: re-running for the same tag reuses the release and replaces
 # same-named assets instead of failing with 409.
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ shift 3
 
 : "${FORGEJO_TOKEN:?FORGEJO_TOKEN is not set}"
 api="${REPO_API:-https://forgejo.siriusdevops.com/api/v1/repos/sirius/onionwire}"
-target="${TARGET_COMMITISH:-main}"
+target="${TARGET_COMMITISH:-}"
 
 jqp() { python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print($1)"; }
 
@@ -25,14 +27,18 @@ jqp() { python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print($1)"; }
 python3 - "$body_file" "$tag" "$target" "$name" > /tmp/release-body.json <<'PY'
 import json, sys
 body = open(sys.argv[1]).read().replace("@TAG@", sys.argv[2])
-print(json.dumps({
+payload = {
     "tag_name": sys.argv[2],
-    "target_commitish": sys.argv[3],
     "name": sys.argv[4],
     "body": body,
     "draft": False,
     "prerelease": False,
-}))
+}
+# Only send target_commitish when asked: on an existing tag it is a request to
+# move the tag, which is never what a re-publish wants.
+if sys.argv[3]:
+    payload["target_commitish"] = sys.argv[3]
+print(json.dumps(payload))
 PY
 
 code=$(curl -s -o /tmp/release-rel.json -w '%{http_code}' \