diff --git a/scripts/create-release.sh b/scripts/create-release.sh
index fedd5c3c..c35ddb11 100755
--- a/scripts/create-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-release.sh
@@ -212,8 +212,10 @@ if [ -n "${RELEASE_MASTER_MNEMONIC:-}" ] || [ -t 0 ]; then
     "$SIGNER" ceremony verify "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json"
 else
     echo "⚠ WARNING: no TTY and RELEASE_MASTER_MNEMONIC unset — manifest left UNSIGNED."
-    echo "  Sign it before publishing: bash scripts/sign-manifest.sh"
-    echo "  (publish-release-assets.sh refuses to ship an unsigned manifest)"
+    echo "  This run will ABORT before committing (step 7 refuses an unsigned"
+    echo "  manifest), because nodes read releases/manifest.json from branch main"
+    echo "  and would refuse to auto-apply it."
+    echo "  Sign it, then re-run: bash scripts/sign-manifest.sh"
 fi
 cp "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json" "$PROJECT_ROOT/release-manifest.json"
 
@@ -225,6 +227,36 @@ install -m 0755 "$PROJECT_ROOT/core/target/release/archipelago" "$VERSION_DIR/ar
 install -m 0644 "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE" "$VERSION_DIR/archipelago-frontend-${VERSION}.tar.gz"
 "$SCRIPT_DIR/check-release-manifest.sh"
 
+# §A supply-chain gate, mirroring publish-release-assets.sh — but EARLIER,
+# because publishing is not the first way an unsigned manifest reaches the
+# fleet. Nodes fetch releases/manifest.json straight from branch `main`
+# (see the verification URLs printed below), so the COMMIT is what exposes
+# it, not the publish. publish-release-assets.sh refusing to ship is a
+# backstop that arrives one step too late: by then the unsigned manifest is
+# already on main and the fleet is already refusing to auto-apply.
+#
+# This is why every cycle needed a manual catch. The signing block above is
+# conditional — no TTY and no RELEASE_MASTER_MNEMONIC means it prints a
+# warning and falls through — and the commit then happened anyway. A release
+# commit carrying a manifest no node will accept has no valid use, so refuse
+# to create one rather than leave a tag that has to be re-cut.
+EXPECTED_DID="did:key:z6MkkidEnEpo6qHMCNSZoNKWtvQvxq3whnaME9wGgEFhq7ur"
+if ! grep -q '"signature":' "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json" \
+    || ! grep -q "\"signed_by\": \"$EXPECTED_DID\"" "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json"; then
+    echo "" >&2
+    echo "Error: releases/manifest.json is NOT signed by the release root." >&2
+    echo "  Refusing to commit — nodes read this file from branch main and will" >&2
+    echo "  refuse to auto-apply it, so the release would be dead on arrival." >&2
+    echo "" >&2
+    echo "  Sign it, then re-run this script:" >&2
+    echo "    bash scripts/sign-manifest.sh" >&2
+    echo "" >&2
+    echo "  (Signing needs a TTY for the mnemonic prompt, or RELEASE_MASTER_MNEMONIC set.)" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+"$SIGNER" ceremony verify "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json" \
+    || { echo "Error: manifest signature failed cryptographic verification — refusing to commit" >&2; exit 1; }
+
 echo "[7/8] Committing version bump..."
 git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" add \
     core/archipelago/Cargo.toml \