diff --git a/.github/release-workflows/sync.py b/.github/release-workflows/sync.py
index b3b4435..f3aaa7d 100644
--- a/.github/release-workflows/sync.py
+++ b/.github/release-workflows/sync.py
@@ -115,7 +115,23 @@ def type_gate(text, manager, offline):
     return ''.join(lines)
 
 
+def initialize_release_state(text):
+    match = re.search(r'^    publish-github-packages:\n[\s\S]*?(?=^    [a-z][\w-]*:\n|\Z)', text, re.M)
+    if not match:
+        raise ValueError('Missing publication job')
+    job = match.group(0)
+    # Runner contexts are available in steps, not jobs.<job_id>.env.
+    job = job.replace('            RELEASE_STATE: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}.json\n', '')
+    if '            - name: Initialize release state path\n' not in job:
+        job = once(job, '        steps:\n', '        steps:\n' + fragment('state') + '\n')
+    return once(text, match.group(0), job)
+
+
 def harden(text, policy):
+    return initialize_release_state(harden_workflow(text, policy))
+
+
+def harden_workflow(text, policy):
     manager = policy['manager']
     text = text.replace('# Release safety managed by humanspeak/svelte-diff .github/release-workflows/sync.py\n', HEADER)
     if HEADER in text:
@@ -184,7 +200,6 @@ def harden(text, policy):
                 else:
                     chunk = re.sub(r'^        if: (.+)$', r"        if: needs.debug-check.result == 'success' && \1", chunk, count=1, flags=re.M)
             chunk = once(chunk, '        permissions:\n', '        env:\n'
-                         '            RELEASE_STATE: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}.json\n'
                          '            PREPARED_SHA: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}\n        permissions:\n')
         chunk = re.sub(r'(uses: actions/checkout@[^\n]+\n              with:\n)',
                        r'\1                  ref: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}\n', chunk)
diff --git a/.github/release-workflows/sync_test.py b/.github/release-workflows/sync_test.py
index db77ec0..fd606b9 100644
--- a/.github/release-workflows/sync_test.py
+++ b/.github/release-workflows/sync_test.py
@@ -127,6 +127,20 @@ def test_manager_variants_are_idempotent_and_preserve_publication(self):
                     self.assertNotIn('git push --tags', text)
                     self.assertNotIn('gh release delete', text)
 
+    def test_existing_consumer_migrates_runner_state_out_of_job_environment(self):
+        policy = self.policy()
+        text = sync.harden(legacy(), policy)
+        initialization = sync.fragment('state') + '\n'
+        invalid = text.replace(initialization, '').replace(
+            '            PREPARED_SHA:',
+            '            RELEASE_STATE: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}.json\n'
+            '            PREPARED_SHA:')
+        corrected = sync.harden(invalid, policy)
+        self.assertEqual(corrected, text)
+        self.assertNotIn('${{ runner.temp }}', corrected)
+        self.assertEqual(corrected.count('Initialize release state path'), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(sync.harden(corrected, policy), corrected)
+
     def test_generated_ci_uses_version_tags_and_has_no_whitespace_only_lines(self):
         for manager in ['npm', 'pnpm']:
             with self.subTest(manager=manager), tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix='release-sync-') as directory:
diff --git a/.github/release-workflows/templates/calver.yml b/.github/release-workflows/templates/calver.yml
index 7584bf4..4320972 100644
--- a/.github/release-workflows/templates/calver.yml
+++ b/.github/release-workflows/templates/calver.yml
@@ -58,9 +58,11 @@ jobs:
         permissions:
             contents: write
         env:
-            RELEASE_STATE: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}.json
             PREPARED_SHA: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}
         steps:
+            - name: Initialize release state path
+              run: |
+                  printf 'RELEASE_STATE=%s/release-%s-%s.json\n' "$RUNNER_TEMP" "$GITHUB_RUN_ID" "$GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
             - uses: actions/checkout@v7 # zizmor: ignore[unpinned-uses]
               with:
                   ref: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}
diff --git a/.github/release-workflows/templates/state.yml b/.github/release-workflows/templates/state.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ad84f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/release-workflows/templates/state.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+- name: Initialize release state path
+  run: |
+      printf 'RELEASE_STATE=%s/release-%s-%s.json\n' "$RUNNER_TEMP" "$GITHUB_RUN_ID" "$GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
diff --git a/.github/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs b/.github/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
index c49b097..c0ae494 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
-import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { env } from 'node:process'
 import test from 'node:test'
 import { fileURLToPath, URL } from 'node:url'
 import { selectBaseline, validateMetadata } from './release-publication.mjs'
@@ -9,6 +13,40 @@ const read = (path) => readFileSync(`${root}${path}`, 'utf8')
 const policy = JSON.parse(read('.github/release-policy.json'))
 const workflow = policy.event === 'calver' ? null : read('.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml')
 
+test('release state is initialized on the runner outside checkout and isolated by attempt', () => {
+    const releaseWorkflow = workflow ?? read('.github/workflows/release.yml')
+    const job = releaseWorkflow
+        .split(policy.event === 'calver' ? '    release:\n' : '    publish-github-packages:\n')[1]
+        .split(/\n {4}[a-z][\w-]*:\n/)[0]
+    assert.doesNotMatch(job.split('        steps:\n')[0], /\$\{\{\s*runner\./)
+    const initialization = job.split('            - name: Initialize release state path\n')[1]
+    assert.ok(initialization, 'Release state must be initialized by a runner step')
+    const script = initialization.split(/\n {12}- /)[0].split('              run: |\n')[1]
+    assert.ok(job.indexOf('Initialize release state path') < job.indexOf('uses: actions/checkout@'))
+    const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'release-state-environment-'))
+    try {
+        for (const attempt of ['1', '2']) {
+            const environment = join(directory, `environment-${attempt}`)
+            execFileSync('/bin/bash', ['--noprofile', '--norc', '-eu', '-c', script], {
+                cwd: root,
+                env: {
+                    PATH: env.PATH,
+                    RUNNER_TEMP: directory,
+                    GITHUB_ENV: environment,
+                    GITHUB_RUN_ID: '12345',
+                    GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT: attempt
+                }
+            })
+            assert.equal(
+                readFileSync(environment, 'utf8'),
+                `RELEASE_STATE=${directory}/release-12345-${attempt}.json\n`
+            )
+        }
+    } finally {
+        rmSync(directory, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+})
+
 test('consumer policy rejects unowned manifest, dependency, lockfile, and README changes', () => {
     for (const config of [
         { manifests: ['package.json'], lockfile: null, readme: 'unchanged' },
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7b96f65..b6d56f7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -59,9 +59,11 @@ jobs:
         permissions:
             contents: write
         env:
-            RELEASE_STATE: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}.json
             PREPARED_SHA: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}
         steps:
+            - name: Initialize release state path
+              run: |
+                  printf 'RELEASE_STATE=%s/release-%s-%s.json\n' "$RUNNER_TEMP" "$GITHUB_RUN_ID" "$GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
             - uses: actions/checkout@v7 # zizmor: ignore[unpinned-uses]
               with:
                   ref: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.checkout_sha }}