diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-ready.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-ready.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a00a94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-ready.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+name: CI Ready Signal
+
+on:
+  repository_dispatch:
+    types: [ci-ready]
+
+# client_payload schema:
+#   repo: "getsentry/sentry-native"   (full owner/repo)
+#   version: "0.13.4"
+#   sha: "abc123..."                   (the release branch HEAD SHA)
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  issues: read
+
+jobs:
+  signal:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Process CI-ready signal
+    steps:
+      - name: Find matching publish issue
+        id: find-issue
+        env:
+          REPO: ${{ github.event.client_payload.repo }}
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.client_payload.version }}
+        run: |
+          title="publish: ${REPO}@${VERSION}"
+          echo "Looking for issue: ${title}"
+
+          # Find matching open issue by exact title match.
+          # Use --limit 200 to handle active repos with many open issues.
+          issue=$(gh issue list -R "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
+            --state open \
+            --limit 200 \
+            --json number,title,labels \
+            | jq -r --arg t "$title" \
+              '[.[] | select(.title == $t)] | first // empty')
+
+          if [[ -z "$issue" ]]; then
+            # Retry a few times in case the issue hasn't been created yet
+            for i in 1 2 3; do
+              echo "Issue not found, retry ${i}/3 in 10s..."
+              sleep 10
+              issue=$(gh issue list -R "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
+                --state open \
+                --limit 200 \
+                --json number,title,labels \
+                | jq -r --arg t "$title" \
+                  '[.[] | select(.title == $t)] | first // empty')
+              if [[ -n "$issue" ]]; then break; fi
+            done
+          fi
+
+          if [[ -z "$issue" ]]; then
+            echo "::warning::No open issue found with title: ${title}"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          number=$(echo "$issue" | jq -r '.number')
+          has_ci_pending=$(echo "$issue" | jq '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "ci-pending")')
+
+          if [[ "$has_ci_pending" != "true" ]]; then
+            echo "::warning::Issue #${number} does not have ci-pending label. Ignoring signal."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          has_accepted=$(echo "$issue" | jq '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "accepted")')
+
+          echo "number=${number}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "has_accepted=${has_accepted}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Found issue #${number} with ci-pending label (accepted=${has_accepted})"
+
+      # Use a GitHub App token so the label change triggers publish.yml.
+      # GITHUB_TOKEN events are deliberately suppressed by GitHub and
+      # would not create new workflow runs.
+      - name: Get auth token
+        if: steps.find-issue.outputs.number
+        id: token
+        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v2.2.1
+        with:
+          app-id: ${{ vars.SENTRY_INTERNAL_APP_ID }}
+          private-key: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_INTERNAL_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Add ci-ready label
+        if: steps.find-issue.outputs.number
+        env:
+          # Override the default GITHUB_TOKEN with the app token so the
+          # label event triggers publish.yml (GITHUB_TOKEN events are
+          # suppressed by GitHub and would not start new workflow runs).
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ steps.find-issue.outputs.number }}
+          SHA: ${{ github.event.client_payload.sha }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.event.client_payload.repo }}
+        run: |
+          gh issue edit "$ISSUE_NUMBER" -R "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
+            --remove-label "ci-pending" \
+            --add-label "ci-ready"
+
+          if [[ "${{ steps.find-issue.outputs.has_accepted }}" == "true" ]]; then
+            comment="CI checks passed for ${REPO} (\`${SHA:0:8}\`). Publishing is starting now."
+          else
+            comment="CI checks passed for ${REPO} (\`${SHA:0:8}\`). Publishing will start once the **accepted** label is also present."
+          fi
+          gh issue comment "$ISSUE_NUMBER" -R "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --body "$comment"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 426acc5..7d7e167 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -3,17 +3,46 @@ on:
   issues:
     types: [labeled]
 
+concurrency:
+  # Use the issue title (e.g. "publish: getsentry/foo@1.2.3") so duplicate
+  # issues for the same repo@version share a concurrency group.
+  group: ${{ github.event.issue.title }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
 permissions:
   contents: read
   issues: write
   packages: write
 
 jobs:
+  # Lightweight job: comment when approved but CI hasn't finished yet
+  waiting-for-ci:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Waiting for CI
+    if: >-
+      github.event.label.name == 'accepted'
+      && github.event.issue.state == 'open'
+      && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'ci-pending')
+    steps:
+      - name: Comment on issue
+        run: |
+          gh issue comment "${{ github.event.issue.number }}" \
+            -R "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
+            --body "Approved, but CI is still running on the release branch. Publishing will start automatically when CI passes."
+
   publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: production
     name: Publish a new version
-    if: github.event.label.name == 'accepted' && github.event.issue.state == 'open'
+    # Run when:
+    #   - accepted (with no ci-pending blocking), OR
+    #   - ci-ready added (and accepted is already present)
+    # In all cases accepted must be present and ci-pending must not be.
+    if: >-
+      github.event.issue.state == 'open'
+      && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'accepted')
+      && !contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'ci-pending')
+      && (github.event.label.name == 'accepted' || github.event.label.name == 'ci-ready')
     timeout-minutes: 90
     env:
       SENTRY_DSN: "https://303a687befb64dc2b40ce4c96de507c5@o1.ingest.sentry.io/6183838"