diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 577b5b45..6e89d541 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -98,6 +98,31 @@ jobs:
           echo "code=${COMMIT_COUNT}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "::notice::APK version: ${VERSION_NAME} (code=${COMMIT_COUNT})"
 
+      # Checked BEFORE the expensive work, not after it. "Attach APK to gitea
+      # Release" below resolves the release by tag and fails if it is absent —
+      # but that is the final step, so a tag pushed without a release built an
+      # APK for several minutes first and only then discovered it had nowhere to
+      # put it. Same check, seconds in instead of minutes.
+      #
+      # Releases are normally created through the API (which creates the tag and
+      # the release together, so this passes). A bare `git push origin vX` is the
+      # case this catches.
+      - name: Release must exist for this tag
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
+        env:
+          CI_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          if ! curl -fsSL -o /dev/null \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${CI_TOKEN}" \
+            "https://git.fabledsword.com/api/v1/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases/tags/${TAG}"; then
+            echo "::error::no release exists for ${TAG}. Create the release (which creates the tag) rather than pushing a bare tag — otherwise there is nothing to attach the APK to."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "::notice::release found for ${TAG}"
+
       - name: Cache Gradle dirs
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
@@ -322,3 +347,79 @@ jobs:
           docker buildx build \
             --build-arg MINSTREL_VERSION="${{ steps.tags.outputs.version }}" \
             --push ${{ steps.tags.outputs.args }} .
+
+  # Verifies a tag release actually ended up complete, and names the specific
+  # thing that's missing if not.
+  #
+  # Added 2026-08-07 after v2026.08.07 was re-cut. The android-release job never
+  # started — no log was written at all — so all eight of its steps reported
+  # `failure` with none executed and image-release showed `skipped`. The run was
+  # red, but the *release page rendered fine*, and `main`'s own push build had
+  # already moved `:latest`, so the code was deployable and nothing looked
+  # obviously wrong. The release was simply missing its APK and its immutable
+  # `:vYYYY.MM.DD` image, which is easy to skim past.
+  #
+  # This job cannot prevent that (the cause was a runner failing to launch, not
+  # anything in this file). What it does is turn an incomplete release into an
+  # explicit, named error instead of eight mystery step failures — so the
+  # consequence is legible without having to infer it.
+  #
+  # `if: always()` is the whole point: it has to report precisely when the jobs
+  # above did NOT succeed.
+  verify-release:
+    name: Verify release artifacts (tag releases only)
+    needs: [android-release, image-release]
+    if: ${{ always() && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') }}
+    runs-on: go-ci
+    container:
+      image: git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/ci-go:1.26
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Release must have an APK attached
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          CI_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          REPO="${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
+
+          REL_JSON="$(curl -fsSL \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${CI_TOKEN}" \
+            "https://git.fabledsword.com/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/releases/tags/${TAG}" || true)"
+          if [ -z "${REL_JSON}" ]; then
+            echo "::error::no release found for ${TAG} — the tag exists but nothing was published"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          APK="$(printf '%s' "${REL_JSON}" \
+            | grep -oP '"browser_download_url":\s*"\K[^"]+' \
+            | grep -E '\.apk$' | head -1 || true)"
+          if [ -z "${APK}" ]; then
+            echo "::error::release ${TAG} has NO APK attached — in-app update will offer nothing, and the bundled-APK path on future :latest builds has no source."
+            echo "::error::Fix by RE-RUNNING this workflow run. Do NOT delete and re-create the tag; if it fails again the runner never started the container, and the evidence is in act_runner on the host (Gitea will hold no job log)."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "::notice::APK attached: ${APK}"
+
+      # The other half. Checking only the APK would report success on a release
+      # whose image push failed — which is precisely the second thing that was
+      # missing when v2026.08.07 had to be re-cut. `always()` on this job means
+      # it runs even when image-release failed, so without this the guard would
+      # cheerfully verify an incomplete release.
+      - name: Immutable image tag must exist
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          IMAGE="git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/minstrel"
+
+          echo "${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}" \
+            | docker login git.fabledsword.com -u "${{ github.actor }}" --password-stdin
+
+          if ! docker manifest inspect "${IMAGE}:${TAG}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "::error::image ${IMAGE}:${TAG} was never pushed — the release tag has no immutable image, so there is nothing to pin or roll back to. Re-run this workflow run."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "::notice::image verified: ${IMAGE}:${TAG}"