diff --git a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
index 4bd171ed..56dc29c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
@@ -10,11 +10,33 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
+  guard:
+    if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev' }}
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, x64]
+    outputs:
+      should_release: ${{ steps.release-guard.outputs.should_release }}
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Check release recursion guard
+        id: release-guard
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          SHOULD_RELEASE=true
+          if [[ "$GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" == "push" ]]; then
+            HEAD_SUBJECT=$(jq -r '.head_commit.message // "" | split("\n")[0]' "$GITHUB_EVENT_PATH")
+            case "$HEAD_SUBJECT" in
+              "chore(release): "*)
+                SHOULD_RELEASE=false
+                echo "Skipping generated dev release commit: $HEAD_SUBJECT"
+                ;;
+            esac
+          fi
+          echo "should_release=$SHOULD_RELEASE" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
   release:
-    # Release commits must still report PR CI when dev is promoted to main.
-    # Skip recursive dev releases by subject instead of GitHub's global [skip ci].
-    if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev' && (github.event_name != 'push' || !startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release): ')) }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: guard
+    if: ${{ needs.guard.outputs.should_release == 'true' }}
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, x64]
 
     permissions:
       contents: write
diff --git a/tests/unit/scripts/github/dev-release-workflow.test.ts b/tests/unit/scripts/github/dev-release-workflow.test.ts
index 86dbb948..e0f4b2cc 100644
--- a/tests/unit/scripts/github/dev-release-workflow.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/scripts/github/dev-release-workflow.test.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ describe('dev release workflow', () => {
 
     expect(workflow).toContain('name: Dev Release');
     expect(workflow).toContain('branches: [dev]');
+    expect(workflow.match(/runs-on: \[self-hosted, linux, x64\]/g)).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain('runs-on: ubuntu-latest');
     expect(checkoutSection).toContain("token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}");
     expect(checkoutSection).not.toContain('token: ${{ github.token }}');
     expect(releaseSection).toContain('GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}');
@@ -39,7 +41,11 @@ describe('dev release workflow', () => {
     const workflow = fs.readFileSync(workflowPath, 'utf8');
     const script = fs.readFileSync(scriptPath, 'utf8');
 
-    expect(workflow).toContain("!startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release): ')");
+    expect(workflow).toContain('should_release: ${{ steps.release-guard.outputs.should_release }}');
+    expect(workflow).toContain('"chore(release): "*)');
+    expect(workflow).toContain("needs.guard.outputs.should_release == 'true'");
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain('github.event.head_commit.message');
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain('!startsWith(');
     expect(workflow).not.toContain("contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')");
     expect(script).toContain('LEGACY_CURRENT_RELEASE_SUBJECT="${CURRENT_RELEASE_SUBJECT} [skip ci]"');
     expect(script).toContain('[[ "$HEAD_SUBJECT" == "$CURRENT_RELEASE_SUBJECT" ]]');