diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
index 574063e..7f56f32 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -202,8 +202,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "$TOKEN" | helm registry login "$REGISTRY" -u niklas --password-stdin
           # Isolated repo config: the machine-wide helm repo list is not this job's
           # business, and one unreachable entry in it aborts otherwise-fine commands.
+          # HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE is deliberately NOT overridden alongside it -- helm
+          # writes a refreshed index to the default cache and then looks for it in the
+          # overridden one.
           export HELM_REPOSITORY_CONFIG="$PWD/.helm-repos.yaml"
-          export HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE="$PWD/.helm-cache"
           : > "$HELM_REPOSITORY_CONFIG"
           helm package charts/terdut-server -d dist
           helm push "dist/terdut-server-${REF_NAME#v}.tgz" "oci://${REGISTRY}/niklas"