diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 1c7b4ec4fb..e57fa1fc7a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -155,7 +155,9 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: 'Test (${{ matrix.os }}, Node ${{ matrix.node-version }})'
     needs: 'classify_pr'
-    if: "${{ !cancelled() && needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
+    # Stay running on release-sync PRs so the required Test contexts still
+    # report; the per-step skip_ci guards below make them no-op (pass) there.
+    if: '${{ !cancelled() }}'
     runs-on: '${{ matrix.os }}'
     permissions:
       contents: 'read'
@@ -176,9 +178,11 @@ jobs:
             upload-coverage: 'false'
     steps:
       - name: 'Checkout'
+        if: "${{ needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
         uses: 'actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd' # v6.0.2
 
       - name: 'Set up Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}'
+        if: "${{ needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
         uses: 'actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e' # v6.4.0
         with:
           node-version: '${{ matrix.node-version }}'
@@ -187,6 +191,7 @@ jobs:
           registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/'
 
       - name: 'Configure npm for rate limiting'
+        if: "${{ needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
         run: |-
           npm config set fetch-retry-mintimeout 20000
           npm config set fetch-retry-maxtimeout 120000
@@ -194,17 +199,19 @@ jobs:
           npm config set fetch-timeout 300000
 
       - name: 'Install dependencies'
+        if: "${{ needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
         run: |-
           npm ci --prefer-offline --no-audit --progress=false
 
       - name: 'Run tests and generate reports'
+        if: "${{ needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' }}"
         env:
           NO_COLOR: true
         run: 'npm run test:ci'
 
       - name: 'Publish Test Report (for non-forks)'
         if: |-
-          ${{ always() && (github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository) }}
+          ${{ always() && needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' && (github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository) }}
         uses: 'dorny/test-reporter@dc3a92680fcc15842eef52e8c4606ea7ce6bd3f3' # ratchet:dorny/test-reporter@v2
         with:
           name: 'Test Results (${{ matrix.os }}, Node ${{ matrix.node-version }})'
@@ -214,7 +221,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: 'Upload Test Results Artifact (for forks)'
         if: |-
-          ${{ always() && (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name != github.repository) }}
+          ${{ always() && needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' && (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name != github.repository) }}
         uses: 'actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a' # v7.0.1
         with:
           name: 'test-results-fork-${{ matrix.node-version }}-${{ matrix.os }}'
@@ -222,7 +229,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: 'Upload coverage reports'
         if: |-
-          ${{ always() && matrix.upload-coverage == 'true' }}
+          ${{ always() && needs.classify_pr.outputs.skip_ci != 'true' && matrix.upload-coverage == 'true' }}
         uses: 'actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a' # v7.0.1
         with:
           name: 'coverage-reports-${{ matrix.node-version }}-${{ matrix.os }}'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 0bd54b2443..68e33aff92 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -483,6 +483,18 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "PR_URL=${pr_url}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
 
+      - name: 'Approve release PR'
+        if: |-
+          ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.is_dry_run == 'false' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_nightly == 'false' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_preview == 'false' }}
+        env:
+          # Separate bot account from the PR author (CI_BOT_PAT) so GitHub
+          # allows the approval; covers one of the two required reviews.
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: '${{ secrets.CI_DEV_BOT_PAT }}'
+          PR_URL: '${{ steps.pr.outputs.PR_URL }}'
+        run: |-
+          set -euo pipefail
+          gh pr review "${PR_URL}" --approve --body "Automated approval for the release version bump."
+
       - name: 'Enable auto-merge for release PR'
         if: |-
           ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.is_dry_run == 'false' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_nightly == 'false' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_preview == 'false' }}