diff --git a/.github/workflows/fork-nightly-release.yml b/.github/workflows/fork-nightly-release.yml
index dc02d4508843..713fe0c2e6e6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fork-nightly-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fork-nightly-release.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 name: Fork nightly release
 
 on:
+  # Only the release branch publishes. Pushes to other branches used to start runs that
+  # skipped every job but still took the single pending slot of the concurrency group,
+  # cancelling main's queued nightly (2026-10-24).
   push:
-    branches: ["**"]
+    branches: [main]
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 permissions: