diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index a808f307..46e86bfc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
           RELEASE_MAIN=FETCH_HEAD npm run release:commit -- tag "$TAG"
-          sha=$(git rev-list -n 1 "$TAG")
+          sha=$(git rev-parse --verify "refs/tags/$TAG^{commit}")
           for _ in 1 2 3 4 5 6; do
             draft=$(gh release view "$TAG" --json isDraft --jq .isDraft 2>/dev/null || true)
             [ "$draft" = false ] && break
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 5e51d00e..d56e8402 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -301,11 +301,13 @@ jobs:
   # A version's docs, attached to its GitHub release when the release job
   # could not (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails): the release was
   # made as a draft, and the upload failed, or the archive was not
-  # attested. Run by hand from main, with the version's tag. It renders
-  # the docs from the tag, as the release would have, attests them as
-  # this workflow's on main, and uploads them, then publishes the draft,
-  # which the deploy refuses; it needs no deploy key, and has none. A release that already
-  # carries an attested archive keeps it: an archive is rendered once.
+  # attested. Run by hand from main, with the version's tag. It checks
+  # that the tag (read as refs/tags/ only) names its version's release
+  # commit on main, renders the docs from that commit, as the release
+  # would have, attests them as this workflow's on main, and uploads
+  # them, then publishes the draft, which the deploy refuses; it needs
+  # no deploy key, and has none. A release that already carries an
+  # attested archive keeps it: an archive is rendered once.
   docs:
     if: >-
       github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' &&
@@ -371,11 +373,35 @@ jobs:
             echo "attach=$attach"
             echo "latest=$([ "$TAG" = "$newest" ] && echo true || echo false)"
           } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-      - if: steps.release.outputs.attach == 'true'
-        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+      # The tag is read as refs/tags/<tag> only, never as a bare name,
+      # which a branch of the same name would win; and the commit it
+      # names must be its version's release commit on main, as the
+      # deploy checks (npm run release:commit, scripts/releaseCommit.ts).
+      # main is this run's commit, as the job runs only from main; the
+      # check is main's script, under main's Node, before anything of
+      # the tag's is checked out. The tag's commit is then checked out
+      # by its SHA.
+      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.tag }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
           persist-credentials: false
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@949feb2413d6458794dcd2491c4babbbce0c15c1 # v7.1.0
+        with:
+          node-version-file: .nvmrc
+          package-manager-cache: false
+      - name: The tag names its release commit on main
+        id: commit
+        env:
+          TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
+        run: |
+          git fetch --force --no-tags --quiet origin "+refs/tags/$TAG:refs/tags/$TAG"
+          RELEASE_MAIN=HEAD npm run release:commit -- tag "$TAG"
+          echo "sha=$(git rev-parse --verify "refs/tags/$TAG^{commit}")" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      - if: steps.release.outputs.attach == 'true'
+        name: Check out the tag's commit
+        env:
+          SHA: ${{ steps.commit.outputs.sha }}
+        run: git checkout --quiet --detach "$SHA"
       - name: The version can archive its docs
         if: steps.release.outputs.attach == 'true'
         env:
diff --git a/docs/deployment.md b/docs/deployment.md
index 6de6ba6f..ea023db5 100644
--- a/docs/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/deployment.md
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ Only `main` deploys, and only from this repository:
 - **Only the newest release.** The deploy checks that the tag is the
   newest version on `main` (the highest `vX.Y.Z` tag), that it names
   that version's release commit, and that the version has a GitHub
-  release. A release commit is one semantic-release made
+  release. The tag is read as `refs/tags/vX.Y.Z`, never as a branch of
+  the same name. A release commit is one semantic-release made
   (`npm run release:commit`,
   [releaseCommit.ts](../scripts/releaseCommit.ts)): on `main`'s
   first-parent chain, titled `chore(release): X.Y.Z`, by
diff --git a/docs/releasing.md b/docs/releasing.md
index 68b6a004..cae16693 100644
--- a/docs/releasing.md
+++ b/docs/releasing.md
@@ -651,8 +651,12 @@ that passes CI, with the merge queue empty, tries again. A run whose
   waiting. That run's `docs` job has its own concurrency group, so it
   doesn't wait for a Release run. It marks the version latest when
   it's the newest tag, and a release made while it runs would leave
-  that wrong. The job renders
-  the docs from the tag, draws them, attests the archive, attaches it
+  that wrong. The job reads the tag as `refs/tags/vX.Y.Z` only, never
+  as a bare name, which a branch of the same name would win. It fails
+  unless the tag names that version's release commit on `main`, as the
+  deploy checks (`npm run release:commit`), and it checks out that
+  commit by its hash. It then renders
+  the docs from it, draws them, attests the archive, attaches it
   with the run's token, and publishes the release if it's still a
   draft, without the deploy key. It keeps an attested archive already on
   the release, and renders and replaces one that isn't.
diff --git a/scripts/releaseCommit.test.ts b/scripts/releaseCommit.test.ts
index 4b8e093a..5d1258b7 100644
--- a/scripts/releaseCommit.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/releaseCommit.test.ts
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ describe("main last", () => {
 
 describe("main tag", () => {
   const refusal = (tag: string, why: string) =>
-    `::error::${tag} names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${why}), so the site is not deployed (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`;
+    `::error::${tag} names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${why}), so it is refused (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`;
 
   it("passes a tag on its version's release commit on main", () => {
     const { io, messages } = fake([commit("a", "chore(release): 1.0.1")], {
@@ -218,12 +218,24 @@ describe("defaultIo, on a repository with a pull request's commit titled as a re
     git(["tag", "v1.0.1", fake]);
     expect(main(["node", "tag", "v1.0.1"], io())).toBe(1);
     expect(messages).toEqual([
-      `::error::v1.0.1 names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${fake} is not on main's first-parent chain), so the site is not deployed (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`,
+      `::error::v1.0.1 names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${fake} is not on main's first-parent chain), so it is refused (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`,
     ]);
     expect(main(["node", "tag", "v1.0.0"], io())).toBe(0);
     expect(main(["node", "tag", "v9.9.9"], io())).toBe(1);
   });
 
+  // A branch named like a version's tag is not that tag: the tag is read
+  // as refs/tags/<tag> only, whichever commit the branch is on.
+  it("reads a version's tag, not a branch of the same name", () => {
+    const release = git(["rev-parse", "v1.0.0^{commit}"]);
+    git(["branch", "v1.0.0", "feature^"]);
+    expect(main(["node", "tag", "v1.0.0"], io())).toBe(0);
+    expect(messages).toEqual([`v1.0.0 names ${release}, its release commit.`]);
+    git(["branch", "v1.0.1", "main^"]);
+    expect(main(["node", "tag", "v1.0.1"], io())).toBe(1);
+    expect(messages[1]).toContain("(it names no commit)");
+  });
+
   it("stops on semantic-release's commit when its tag is missing", () => {
     git(["tag", "-d", "v1.0.0"]);
     expect(main(["node", "last"], io())).toBe(1);
diff --git a/scripts/releaseCommit.ts b/scripts/releaseCommit.ts
index b8c0bdb3..1642b2aa 100644
--- a/scripts/releaseCommit.ts
+++ b/scripts/releaseCommit.ts
@@ -26,8 +26,11 @@
  * tag, or every release stops (a tag's push failed). A commit that is
  * only titled as one is passed over, with a notice.
  *
- * `tag`, in deploy.yml: the commit a version's tag names must be that
- * version's release commit, or the site is not deployed.
+ * `tag`, in deploy.yml and in release.yml's docs job: the commit a
+ * version's tag names must be that version's release commit, or the
+ * site is not deployed and the docs are not rendered. The tag is read
+ * as refs/tags/<tag> only, so a branch of the same name is never taken
+ * for it.
  */
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
@@ -101,7 +104,7 @@ function last(io: ReleaseCommitIo): number {
 function tag(io: ReleaseCommitIo, name: string): number {
   const refuse = (why: string) => {
     io.log(
-      `::error::${name} names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${why}), so the site is not deployed (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`,
+      `::error::${name} names no release commit of semantic-release's on main (${why}), so it is refused (docs/releasing.md#when-a-release-fails).`,
     );
     return 1;
   };
diff --git a/scripts/releaseWorkflow.test.ts b/scripts/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
index 5f76a0c5..d9c14211 100644
--- a/scripts/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ describe("release.yml", () => {
 
   it("sets up Node without npm's cache", () => {
     const setups = release.filter((step) => step.includes("uses: actions/setup-node@"));
-    expect(setups).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(setups).toHaveLength(3);
     for (const step of setups) {
       expect(step).not.toMatch(/^\s+cache:/m);
       expect(step).toMatch(/^\s+package-manager-cache: false$/m);
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ describe("release.yml", () => {
   });
 
   // A local action is the checkout's, and the docs job checks out the
-  // tag, whose copy of an action may restore from the cache.
-  it("runs no local action in the docs job, which checks out the tag", () => {
+  // tag's commit, whose copy of an action may restore from the cache.
+  it("runs no local action in the docs job, which checks out the tag's commit", () => {
     const docs = steps(workflow.get("docs") ?? "", 6);
-    expect(docs.some((step) => step.includes("ref: ${{ inputs.tag }}"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(docs.some((step) => step.includes('git checkout --quiet --detach "$SHA"'))).toBe(true);
     expect(docs.filter((step) => /uses:\s*\.\//.test(step))).toEqual([]);
     // The shell from its own download, checked against the pinned
     // SHA-256 (npm run check:shell), and only the libraries from
@@ -151,6 +151,34 @@ describe("the release commit's checks", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  // A bare name is a branch's before it is a tag's for actions/checkout,
+  // so the docs job reads the tag as refs/tags/<tag>, checks its commit
+  // with main's script before anything of the tag's is checked out, and
+  // checks out that commit by its SHA.
+  it("check the tag's commit in release.yml's docs job, then check out its SHA", () => {
+    const docs = steps(workflow.get("docs") ?? "", 6);
+    expect(docs.filter((step) => step.includes("inputs.tag") && /\bref:/.test(step))).toEqual([]);
+    const checkouts = docs.filter((step) => step.includes("uses: actions/checkout@"));
+    expect(checkouts).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(checkouts[0]).not.toMatch(/^\s+ref:/m);
+    expect(checkouts[0]).toMatch(/^\s+fetch-depth: 0$/m);
+    const checked = at(docs, "name: The tag names its release commit on main");
+    expect(docs[checked]).toContain(
+      'git fetch --force --no-tags --quiet origin "+refs/tags/$TAG:refs/tags/$TAG"',
+    );
+    expect(docs[checked]).toMatch(
+      /^ {10}RELEASE_MAIN=HEAD npm run release:commit -- tag "\$TAG"$/m,
+    );
+    expect(docs[checked]).toContain('git rev-parse --verify "refs/tags/$TAG^{commit}"');
+    expect(docs[checked]).not.toMatch(/^\s+if:/m);
+    expect(at(docs, "uses: actions/checkout@")).toBeLessThan(checked);
+    expect(at(docs, "uses: actions/setup-node@")).toBeLessThan(checked);
+    const switched = at(docs, "name: Check out the tag's commit");
+    expect(switched).toBe(checked + 1);
+    expect(docs[switched]).toContain("SHA: ${{ steps.commit.outputs.sha }}");
+    expect(docs[switched + 1]).toContain("name: The version can archive its docs");
+  });
+
   it("check the tag's commit in deploy.yml with the script, against origin/main", () => {
     const checked = at(version, "name: The tag is the newest release");
     expect(version[checked]).toMatch(
@@ -163,6 +191,7 @@ describe("the release commit's checks", () => {
     expect(version[checked].indexOf("npm run release:commit")).toBeLessThan(
       version[checked].indexOf('echo "sha=$sha"'),
     );
+    expect(version[checked]).toContain('sha=$(git rev-parse --verify "refs/tags/$TAG^{commit}")');
     const setup = at(version, "uses: actions/setup-node@");
     expect(setup).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
     expect(setup).toBeLessThan(checked);