diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f437a52..8d084bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -40,16 +40,18 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Bun
         uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2
 
-      - name: Install semantic-release
+      - name: Install semantic-release (isolated prefix — do NOT touch repo package.json)
         run: |
-          npm install -D \
+          mkdir -p /tmp/sr-tools
+          npm install --prefix /tmp/sr-tools \
             semantic-release \
             @semantic-release/exec \
             @semantic-release/git \
             @semantic-release/changelog \
             @semantic-release/github
+          echo "/tmp/sr-tools/node_modules/.bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
 
       - name: Run semantic-release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: npx semantic-release
+        run: semantic-release