diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8e2ca76..c813030 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -90,15 +90,27 @@ jobs:
               exit 1
             fi
             payload=$(python3 scripts/release-helper.py build-payload --github)
-            release_json=$(curl -fsS -X POST \
+            # Look up existing release by tag (idempotent on re-run).
+            release_json=$(curl -fsS \
               -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
               -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -d "$payload" \
-              "${GH_API_URL}/repos/${REPO}/releases")
-            release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
-            upload_url=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-upload-url)
-            echo "Created GitHub release id=$release_id"
+              "${GH_API_URL}/repos/${REPO}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
+              || true)
+            if [ -n "$release_json" ] && echo "$release_json" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; sys.exit(0 if json.loads(sys.stdin.read()).get("id") else 1)' 2>/dev/null; then
+              release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
+              upload_url=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-upload-url)
+              echo "Reusing existing GitHub release id=$release_id for tag $TAG"
+            else
+              release_json=$(curl -fsS -X POST \
+                -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
+                -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+                -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+                -d "$payload" \
+                "${GH_API_URL}/repos/${REPO}/releases")
+              release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
+              upload_url=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-upload-url)
+              echo "Created GitHub release id=$release_id"
+            fi
             curl -fsS -X POST \
               -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
               -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
@@ -118,13 +130,23 @@ jobs:
               API="${GH_API_URL%/}/api/v1"
             fi
             payload=$(python3 scripts/release-helper.py build-payload)
-            release_json=$(curl -fsS -X POST \
+            # Look up existing release by tag (idempotent on re-run).
+            release_json=$(curl -fsS \
               -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -d "$payload" \
-              "${API}/repos/${REPO}/releases")
-            release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
-            echo "Created Gitea release id=$release_id"
+              "${API}/repos/${REPO}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
+              || true)
+            if [ -n "$release_json" ] && echo "$release_json" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; sys.exit(0 if json.loads(sys.stdin.read()).get("id") else 1)' 2>/dev/null; then
+              release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
+              echo "Reusing existing Gitea release id=$release_id for tag $TAG"
+            else
+              release_json=$(curl -fsS -X POST \
+                -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+                -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+                -d "$payload" \
+                "${API}/repos/${REPO}/releases")
+              release_id=$(echo "$release_json" | python3 scripts/release-helper.py extract-id)
+              echo "Created Gitea release id=$release_id"
+            fi
             curl -fsS -X POST \
               -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
               -H "Content-Type: application/zip" \
diff --git a/scripts/release-helper.py b/scripts/release-helper.py
index df4d6cc..0c96aa3 100644
--- a/scripts/release-helper.py
+++ b/scripts/release-helper.py
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ def main() -> int:
         return extract_field("id")
     if cmd == "extract-upload-url":
         return extract_field("upload_url")
+    if cmd == "extract-tag":
+        return extract_field("tag_name")
     return usage()