diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d62e713321..2ba6cc84db 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
                 (.pullRequests.pageInfo.hasNextPage | type) != "boolean"
               then error("Invalid GitHub repository connection") else . end |
               .nameWithOwner as $repo | .pullRequests.nodes[] |
-              if (.number | type) != "number" or (.headRefName | type) != "string" or
+              if (.number | type) != "number" or (.headRefName | type) != "string" or (has("headRepository") | not) or
                 (.headRepository != null and (.headRepository.nameWithOwner | type) != "string")
               then error("Invalid GitHub pull request") else . end |
               select(.headRepository.nameWithOwner == $repo) |
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/releaseWorkflow.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
index b3c2ed2a13..fca652daa8 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/releaseWorkflow.test.ts
@@ -257,6 +257,18 @@ it.each([
     pages: [editorialPage([{ ...finalizedRelease, headRefName: null }])],
     status: 0,
   },
+  {
+    name: "missing head repository identity",
+    pages: [
+      editorialPage([
+        {
+          number: finalizedRelease.number,
+          headRefName: finalizedRelease.headRefName,
+        },
+      ]),
+    ],
+    status: 0,
+  },
   {
     name: "incomplete pagination",
     pages: [editorialPage([], true)],