diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
index 9f57c7a..ec4dca0 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -81,21 +81,35 @@ jobs:
           echo "Publishing release for $tag_name"
           wheel_file=$(ls plugin/dist/*.whl | head -n 1)
           tar_file=$(ls plugin/dist/*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
+          api_url="${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}"
 
-          # Create release
-          response=$(curl -s -k -X POST "${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases" \
-            -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "{\"tag_name\": \"$tag_name\", \"name\": \"$tag_name\", \"body\": \"Release $tag_name for hermes-meshtastic plugin\"}")
+          # server_url may be http while Gitea redirects (308) to https:
+          # curl needs -L or the POST returns an empty body. Release may also
+          # already exist (retried run) — reuse it instead of failing.
+          fetch_id() { python3 -c "import json,sys;print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id') or '')" 2>/dev/null; }
+
+          response=$(curl -s -k -L -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+            "$api_url/releases/tags/$tag_name")
+          release_id=$(printf '%s' "$response" | fetch_id)
+
+          if [ -z "$release_id" ]; then
+            response=$(curl -s -k -L -X POST "$api_url/releases" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              -d "{\"tag_name\": \"$tag_name\", \"name\": \"$tag_name\", \"body\": \"Release $tag_name for hermes-meshtastic plugin\"}")
+            release_id=$(printf '%s' "$response" | fetch_id)
+          fi
 
-          release_id=$(echo "$response" | grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -n 1 | cut -d: -f2)
           if [ -n "$release_id" ]; then
-            curl -s -k -X POST "${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$(basename $wheel_file)" \
+            curl -s -k -L -X POST "$api_url/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$(basename "$wheel_file")" \
               -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
               -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
               --data-binary "@$wheel_file"
-            curl -s -k -X POST "${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$(basename $tar_file)" \
+            curl -s -k -L -X POST "$api_url/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$(basename "$tar_file")" \
               -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
               -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
               --data-binary "@$tar_file"
+          else
+            echo "ERROR: could not create or fetch release $tag_name" >&2
+            exit 1
           fi