diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
index 09f0171..286c25a 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -76,8 +76,10 @@ jobs:
   # npm tarball, in fresh temp folders with piped stdin and the fake stores, on Linux and Windows x Node 20 / Node 22
   # (npx --package=<tgz>) / Bun (bun x). One red cell and the commit is no candidate. macOS runs on the owner's Mac
   # (tools/release.ts, cached per CLI key).
+  # after the installers: the one Windows runner builds the release installer first, the background tests wait
+  # (0.8.13's Windows installer queued behind six acceptance jobs)
   acceptance:
-    needs: gate
+    needs: [gate, linux, windows]
     if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' || true
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
diff --git a/tools/release.ts b/tools/release.ts
index c96807a..41b7dc3 100644
--- a/tools/release.ts
+++ b/tools/release.ts
@@ -455,7 +455,9 @@ async function npmRelease(version: string, token: string): Promise<void> {
     await new Promise(res => setTimeout(res, 5_000));
   }
   const dep = npmRun(['deprecate', `storebound@<${version}`, `storebound ${version} is out: npx storebound@${version}`], token);
-  if (dep.code !== 0) fail(`npm deprecate failed: ${dep.out.trim().split('\n').slice(-3).join(' ')}`);
+  // a deprecation that is already set (an earlier npm-publish run) answers 422: fine when the message is the same
+  if (dep.code !== 0 && /E422|Unprocessable/i.test(dep.out) && (spawnSync('npm', ['view', `storebound@<${version}`, 'deprecated'], { encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 30_000 }).stdout ?? '').includes(`storebound ${version} is out`)) say('npm: older versions were already deprecated');
+  else if (dep.code !== 0) fail(`npm deprecate failed: ${dep.out.trim().split('\n').slice(-3).join(' ')}`);
   say(`npm: storebound@${version} published and older versions deprecated`);
 }