diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
index 11d43b6d..fa7b5588 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   release-please:
+    # Release PRs squash to this prefix. Skip that push so release.yml can create
+    # the tag before the next conventional commit or manual dispatch scans again.
+    if: >-
+      ${{
+        github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
+        !startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release): v')
+      }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 10
     env:
diff --git a/scripts/test_release_please_config.py b/scripts/test_release_please_config.py
index 3d573160..dd97fa0a 100644
--- a/scripts/test_release_please_config.py
+++ b/scripts/test_release_please_config.py
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@ def test_release_please_workflow_is_pr_only_and_staged() -> None:
     assert "if: ${{ env.RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN != '' }}" in workflow
     assert "if: ${{ env.RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN == '' }}" in workflow
 
+    release_commit_guard = """\
+    if: >-
+      ${{
+        github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
+        !startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release): v')
+      }}
+"""
+    release_job = workflow[workflow.index("  release-please:\n") :]
+    assert release_commit_guard in release_job
+
     release_workflow = (ROOT / ".github/workflows/release.yml").read_text()
     assert "predates scripts/release_changelog_section.py" in release_workflow
     assert "python3 scripts/release_changelog_section.py" not in release_workflow