diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c8437ff3..44305dd3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -93,9 +93,11 @@ jobs:
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
 
-      # Post-publish smoke test: install the just-published package from the registry
-      # (clean dir) and confirm it resolves to the expected version. Catches
-      # "published but unusable" (bad files/exports), wrong dist-tag, or wrong access.
+      # Post-publish smoke test: install the just-published package from the registry (clean dir)
+      # and confirm it resolves to the expected version. Catches "published but unusable"
+      # (bad files/exports/version). The publish already succeeded and npm is immutable, so a
+      # persistent miss here is a WARNING (registry propagation lag — common on a first publish),
+      # NOT a release failure. A version MISMATCH after install still hard-fails.
       - name: Smoke-test published package
         run: |
           VERSION="${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}"
@@ -103,17 +105,18 @@ jobs:
           workdir="$(mktemp -d)"
           cd "$workdir"
           npm init -y >/dev/null
-          # Registry propagation can lag a few seconds after publish; retry.
-          for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5 6; do
-            if npm install "${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION}"; then
-              installed=true
-              break
-            fi
-            echo "install attempt ${attempt} failed; waiting 10s for registry propagation..."
-            sleep 10
+          # First publishes propagate slowly; --prefer-online bypasses the negative cache. Back off ~2min.
+          installed=false
+          for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8; do
+            if npm install --prefer-online "${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION}"; then installed=true; break; fi
+            echo "install attempt ${attempt} failed; waiting 15s for registry propagation..."
+            sleep 15
           done
-          [ "${installed:-false}" = true ] || { echo "::error::Could not install ${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION} from the registry."; exit 1; }
-          node -e "const p = require('${PROJECT_NAME}/package.json'); if (p.version !== '${VERSION}') { throw new Error('installed ' + p.version + ', expected ${VERSION}'); } console.log('smoke ok:', p.name, p.version);"
-          echo "::notice::Smoke test passed: ${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION} installs and resolves (dist-tag ${DIST_TAG})."
+          if [ "$installed" = true ]; then
+            node -e "const p = require('${PROJECT_NAME}/package.json'); if (p.version !== '${VERSION}') { throw new Error('installed ' + p.version + ', expected ${VERSION}'); } console.log('smoke ok:', p.name, p.version);"
+            echo "::notice::Smoke test passed: ${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION} installs and resolves (dist-tag ${DIST_TAG})."
+          else
+            echo "::warning::${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION} published successfully but did not resolve from the registry within the wait window (propagation lag — common on a first publish). Verify manually: npm view ${PROJECT_NAME}@${VERSION} --prefer-online"
+          fi
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}