diff --git a/scripts/release.ts b/scripts/release.ts
index 3850e69fa..12ecfff5c 100755
--- a/scripts/release.ts
+++ b/scripts/release.ts
@@ -328,49 +328,37 @@ async function cmdRelease(version: string): Promise<void> {
 	await git(["commit", "-m", `chore: bump version to ${version}`]);
 	console.log();
 
-	// 8. Upload LFS objects, then tag + push Git refs atomically.
+	// 8. Tag, then push branch + tag atomically — pushing the tag by object id.
 	//
-	// The release push sends both refs/heads/main and refs/tags/v… in one
-	// atomic push. The default Git LFS pre-push hook reads every ref Git is
-	// about to send; when the tag ref is present it can abort with
-	// "refs/tags/v… cannot be resolved to branch" before Git pushes anything.
-	// Upload LFS objects for the branch explicitly, then make the atomic Git
-	// ref push with GIT_LFS_SKIP_PUSH so only that LFS hook becomes a no-op.
+	// This repo is in the global `[maintenance] repo = …` list, so a scheduled
+	// `git maintenance run` fetches origin with `fetch.pruneTags=true` (set
+	// globally) and deletes any local tag not yet on the remote — i.e. the
+	// brand-new release tag. The `-c fetch.pruneTags=false` on our git wrapper
+	// only governs our own git calls, not the concurrent maintenance process, so
+	// a local tag ref may vanish before or while the push resolves it.
 	//
-	// Background `git maintenance run` (scheduled via the global `[maintenance]
-	// repo = …` list) fetches origin with `fetch.pruneTags=true` set globally,
-	// which deletes any local tag that does not yet exist on the remote — i.e.
-	// the brand-new release tag. The `-c fetch.pruneTags=false` we pass to our
-	// git wrapper only applies to our git invocations, not to the concurrent
-	// maintenance process, so we have to defend against the race ourselves:
-	// (re)create the tag immediately before the push and retry on the specific
-	// "src refspec … does not match any" symptom that means it got pruned.
+	// A bare push refspec (`refs/tags/v…` with no `:dst`) re-resolves the tag on
+	// disk during refspec matching (git's remote.c:match_explicit); if the prune
+	// lands in that window git dies with
+	// "refs/tags/v… cannot be resolved to branch", and if it lands before the
+	// push it dies with "src refspec … does not match any". We sidestep both by
+	// pushing the HEAD commit object id straight into the remote tag ref
+	// (`<sha>:refs/tags/v…`): the push has no dependency on a local tag, and the
+	// commit is reachable from main so maintenance cannot prune it. The local
+	// tag we still create is only for `git describe`; losing it is harmless. The
+	// default Git LFS pre-push hook uploads the branch's LFS objects as part of
+	// this same atomic push — no separate `git lfs push` is needed.
 	console.log("Tagging and pushing to remote...");
 	const tagRef = `v${version}`;
-	await git(["lfs", "push", "origin", "main"]);
-	for (let attempt = 1; ; attempt++) {
-		await git(["tag", "-f", tagRef]);
-		const result = await git([
-			"push",
-			"--atomic",
-			"origin",
-			"refs/heads/main:refs/heads/main",
-			`refs/tags/${tagRef}:refs/tags/${tagRef}`,
-		])
-			.env({ ...Bun.env, GIT_LFS_SKIP_PUSH: "1" })
-			.quiet()
-			.nothrow();
-		if (result.exitCode === 0) break;
-		const stderr = result.stderr.toString();
-		process.stderr.write(stderr);
-		const pruned = /src refspec .* does not match any/.test(stderr);
-		if (!pruned || attempt >= 3) {
-			throw new Error(`git push failed for ${tagRef} (attempt ${attempt})`);
-		}
-		console.warn(
-			`  Tag ${tagRef} pruned by background maintenance, retrying (${attempt + 1}/3)...`,
-		);
-	}
+	const sha = (await git(["rev-parse", "HEAD"]).text()).trim();
+	await git(["tag", "-f", tagRef]);
+	await git([
+		"push",
+		"--atomic",
+		"origin",
+		"refs/heads/main:refs/heads/main",
+		`${sha}:refs/tags/${tagRef}`,
+	]);
 	console.log();
 
 	// 9. Watch CI
@@ -383,9 +371,8 @@ async function cmdRelease(version: string): Promise<void> {
 		console.log("\nTo retry after fixing (repeat until CI passes):");
 		console.log("  git commit -m \"fix: <brief description>\"");
 		console.log(`  git tag -f v${version}`);
-		console.log("  git lfs push origin main");
 		console.log(
-			`  GIT_LFS_SKIP_PUSH=1 git push --atomic origin refs/heads/main:refs/heads/main +refs/tags/v${version}:refs/tags/v${version}`,
+			`  git push --atomic origin refs/heads/main:refs/heads/main "+$(git rev-parse HEAD):refs/tags/v${version}"`,
 		);
 		console.log("  bun scripts/release.ts watch");
 		process.exit(1);