diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_release.yaml b/.github/workflows/check_release.yaml
index 8b1f7447b6f..d26999766bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_release.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ run-name: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && format('Check Fixture
 # breaks surfaces on the branch that broke it rather than on the next
 # release attempt.
 #
-# Two tiers, both running on every pull request and on pushes to the
-# branches that release in parallel with the fork branch,
-# `from-upstream` and `eips/**`.
+# Two tiers, both running on pushes to the branches that release in
+# parallel with the fork branch, `from-upstream` and `eips/**`. A pull
+# request adds no trigger of its own: its pushes already run here, and
+# an event per push and per synchronize rehearsed each push twice.
 #
 # `collect` is cheap: it reads the features the branch releases out of
 # `.github/configs/feature.yaml`, builds the release's job matrix
@@ -32,15 +33,6 @@ on:
       - "whitelist.txt"
       - "docs/**"
       - "mkdocs.yml"
-  pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "**.md"
-      - "LICENSE*"
-      - ".gitignore"
-      - ".vscode/**"
-      - "whitelist.txt"
-      - "docs/**"
-      - "mkdocs.yml"
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       depth:
@@ -79,10 +71,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         env:
           INPUT_FEATURES: ${{ inputs.features }}
-          # The head branch, so a pull request from an EIP branch
-          # rehearses that branch's feature; `ref_name` is the merge ref
-          # on a pull request and the branch everywhere else.
-          BRANCH: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
+          BRANCH: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
           # The feature selection and the per-feature release matrix live
           # in (and are shared with the release workflow via)