diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
index 003cec5..592f612 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
@@ -50,19 +50,23 @@ jobs:
       # Editable installs of packages/core + packages/server are extremely slow
       # on the hosted runner — measured 4-6x slower than building wheels first
       # because hatchling's editable hook re-resolves on every collection. We
-      # build wheels once, then install them (and only the test deps) into a
-      # plain venv. The wheels themselves are NOT cached because their hashes
-      # depend on every file under packages/ — invalidates on basically every
-      # PR. Pip's HTTP cache for the test deps is enough.
-      - name: Build wheels
+      # build wheels once into an isolated venv, then install them (and only
+      # the test deps). The venv isolation also prevents broken-wheel installs
+      # from leaking dist-info across runs on the persistent Gitea runner
+      # (pip can't uninstall a wheel that landed without a RECORD file). The
+      # wheels themselves are NOT cached because their hashes depend on every
+      # file under packages/ — invalidates on basically every PR. Pip's HTTP
+      # cache for the test deps is enough.
+      - name: Build wheels in isolated venv
         run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip build
+          python -m venv /tmp/venv
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip build
           mkdir -p /tmp/wheels
-          pip wheel --no-deps -w /tmp/wheels packages/core packages/server
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip wheel --no-deps -w /tmp/wheels packages/core packages/server
 
       - name: Install backend + test deps
         run: |
-          pip install /tmp/wheels/*.whl pytest pytest-asyncio httpx aioresponses prometheus_client
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip install /tmp/wheels/*.whl pytest pytest-asyncio httpx aioresponses prometheus_client
 
       - name: Run pytest
         env:
@@ -72,7 +76,7 @@ jobs:
           NOTIFY_BRIDGE_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: "http://localhost:8420"
         run: |
           cd packages/server
-          pytest tests --tb=short
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pytest tests --tb=short
 
   build-image:
     if: ${{ !startsWith(gitea.event.head_commit.message, 'chore: release v') }}
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 527136d..008c2cd 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -20,17 +20,20 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
-      # Same wheel-first strategy as build.yml — editable install is too slow
-      # on the hosted runner.
-      - name: Build wheels
+      # Wheel-first strategy in an isolated venv — editable install is too slow,
+      # and a plain pip install into the toolcache Python leaks state across
+      # runs on the persistent Gitea runner (previous broken wheel installs
+      # leave dist-info dirs that pip can't uninstall: "uninstall-no-record-file").
+      - name: Build wheels in isolated venv
         run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip build
+          python -m venv /tmp/venv
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip build
           mkdir -p /tmp/wheels
-          pip wheel --no-deps -w /tmp/wheels packages/core packages/server
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip wheel --no-deps -w /tmp/wheels packages/core packages/server
 
       - name: Install backend + test deps
         run: |
-          pip install /tmp/wheels/*.whl pytest pytest-asyncio httpx aioresponses prometheus_client
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pip install /tmp/wheels/*.whl pytest pytest-asyncio httpx aioresponses prometheus_client
 
       - name: Run pytest
         env:
@@ -40,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
           NOTIFY_BRIDGE_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: "http://localhost:8420"
         run: |
           cd packages/server
-          pytest tests --tb=short
+          /tmp/venv/bin/pytest tests --tb=short
 
   release:
     needs: [test-backend]