diff --git a/ci/publish-release.sh b/ci/publish-release.sh
index a5a8add..78bd741 100755
--- a/ci/publish-release.sh
+++ b/ci/publish-release.sh
@@ -200,12 +200,25 @@ if [ -z "$feed" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-printf '%s' "$feed" | grep -q '"browser_download_url"' || {
+# `case`, not `printf … | grep -q`. Under `set -o pipefail` a grep that
+# MATCHES can make the pipeline exit 141: grep closes the pipe on the first
+# hit and the producer takes SIGPIPE, which pipefail reports as failure. So a
+# match becomes an error, in the publishing path, with a message saying the
+# feed has no download URL when it plainly does.
+#
+# Not reachable today — the feed is 3.5 KB and the pipe buffer is 64 KB — but
+# it grows about 1.9 KB per release, so it arrives around release 34. A bug on
+# a timer is worse than a bug, because nothing about the commit that trips it
+# will have anything to do with it. `case` has no pipe, no fork and no
+# producer to signal.
+case "$feed" in
+  *'"browser_download_url"'*) ;;
+  *)
   echo
   ci_fail "The release is readable, but it has no zip attached. WordPress would be offered an update it cannot download."
   exit 1
-}
-
+    ;;
+esac
 # Checked at the address the PLUGIN builds, not the one the API reports.
 #
 # A forge fills browser_download_url from its own configured root URL, which is
diff --git a/ci/static.sh b/ci/static.sh
index a74c2a4..906f4b1 100755
--- a/ci/static.sh
+++ b/ci/static.sh
@@ -122,8 +122,15 @@ for path in $referenced; do
   case "$path" in */*) ;; *) continue ;; esac
   [ -d "${path%%/*}" ] || continue
   checked=$((checked + 1))
-  printf '%s\n' "$shipped" | grep -qx "$path" \
-    || note_fail "The code loads '$path', but the release zip does not contain it. Committed?"
+  # `case` rather than piping the list into grep -qx: under pipefail a grep
+  # that matches can exit 141 when the producer is signalled, so a HIT becomes
+  # a failure. The list is small today and this loop runs once per include, so
+  # this also drops a fork per iteration. Newlines on both sides make it an
+  # exact line match, which is what -qx gave.
+  case $'\n'"$shipped"$'\n' in
+    *$'\n'"$path"$'\n'*) ;;
+    *) note_fail "The code loads '$path', but the release zip does not contain it. Committed?" ;;
+  esac
 done
 if [ "$checked" = 0 ]; then
   # A check that verifies nothing must say so rather than reporting success.