diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 6d49b83..978629e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ permissions:
 env:
   # Shared interpreter version for build and metadata steps.
   PYTHON_VERSION: "3.11"
+  # Opt in to Node.js 24 for JavaScript-based actions ahead of runner defaults.
+  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: "true"
 
 jobs:
   version-and-release:
@@ -100,6 +102,9 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merge_commit_sha }}
 
+      - name: Install Poetry
+        run: pipx install poetry
+
       - name: Setup Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
@@ -107,9 +112,6 @@ jobs:
           cache: poetry
           cache-dependency-path: poetry.lock
 
-      - name: Install Poetry
-        run: pipx install poetry
-
       - name: Build distributions
         run: poetry build