diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
index d615125..ea64d47 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
@@ -83,12 +83,27 @@ jobs:
           # host. We add arm64 as a foreign architecture and pull
           # them in. --no-install-recommends keeps the install
           # surface minimal.
-          dpkg --add-architecture arm64
+          set -e
+          dpkg --add-architecture arm64 || { echo "::error::dpkg --add-architecture arm64 failed"; exit 1; }
           apt-get update
+          # Verify each arm64 package is actually installable. Bail
+          # early with a clear message if any are missing from the
+          # configured apt sources — silent apt-get install
+          # failures are the worst kind of workflow bug.
+          for pkg in libc6:arm64 libstdc++6:arm64 \
+                     libfontconfig1:arm64 libfreetype6:arm64 \
+                     libgtk-3-0:arm64; do
+            if ! apt-cache show "$pkg" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "::error::arm64 package '$pkg' is not available in apt sources"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          done
           apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
               libc6:arm64 libstdc++6:arm64 \
               libfontconfig1:arm64 libfreetype6:arm64 \
-              libgtk-3-0:arm64
+              libgtk-3-0:arm64 || { echo "::error::Failed to install arm64 shlibs"; exit 1; }
+          # Sanity-check: the libs must be visible to dpkg-shlibdeps.
+          dpkg -l libc6:arm64 libstdc++6:arm64 | tail -3
           rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
           : > "$STATE_FILE"