diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index d062d7720d..c18843cfcb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -504,7 +504,8 @@ jobs:
       - windows32
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      - name: Download artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           path: artifact
           pattern: build-bin-*
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-master.yml b/.github/workflows/release-master.yml
index 1ed94d7ab8..95dbc51729 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-master.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-master.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       id-token: write  # mandatory for trusted publishing
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      - name: Download artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           path: dist
           name: build-pypi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml
index a75ce591c6..89f064b4a1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       id-token: write  # mandatory for trusted publishing
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      - name: Download artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           path: dist
           name: build-pypi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f7d018c207..a744a78bf4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ on:
         required: false
         default: true
         type: boolean
-      manual_dispatch:
-        required: false
-        default: false
-        type: boolean
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       source:
@@ -51,10 +47,6 @@ on:
         description: Pre-release
         default: false
         type: boolean
-      manual_dispatch:
-        description: Manual dispatch (do not toggle)
-        default: true
-        type: boolean
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -275,6 +267,8 @@ jobs:
           sed -i -E '0,/(name = ")[^"]+(")/s//\1${{ env.pypi_project }}\2/' pyproject.toml
 
       - name: Build
+        env:
+          event_name: ${{ github.event_name }}
         run: |
           rm -rf dist/*
           make pypi-files
@@ -285,20 +279,20 @@ jobs:
           python devscripts/set-variant.py pip -M "You installed yt-dlp with pip or using the wheel from PyPi; Use that to update"
           make clean-cache
           python -m build --no-isolation .
-
-      - name: Make SHA2-SUMS files
-        if: ${{ !inputs.manual_dispatch }}
-        run: |
           cd ./dist/
-          # make sure SHA sums are also printed to stdout
+          # print SHA sums to stdout
           sha256sum -- * | tee SHA2-256SUMS
           # also print as permanent annotations to the summary page
           while read -r shasum; do
             echo "::notice title=${shasum##* }::sha256: ${shasum% *}"
           done < SHA2-256SUMS
+          # if we're publishing from this workflow, we need to remove SHA2-256SUMS from ./dist/ now
+          if [[ "${event_name}" == "workflow_dispatch" ]]; then
+            rm SHA2-256SUMS
+          fi
 
-      - name: Upload PyPI artifacts
-        if: ${{ !inputs.manual_dispatch }}
+      - name: Upload artifacts
+        if: github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch'
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: build-pypi
@@ -307,7 +301,7 @@ jobs:
           compression-level: 0
 
       - name: Publish to PyPI
-        if: inputs.manual_dispatch
+        if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           verbose: true