diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index d486f33..24f8382 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,15 @@ jobs:
       packages: write
       contents: read
     steps:
+      - name: Check out the repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: Drop-OSS/drop
+          ref: release-prep
+          submodules: true
+          fetch-depth: 3 # fix for when this gets triggered by tag
+          fetch-tags: true
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Set up Node.js
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4
@@ -67,16 +76,6 @@ jobs:
           node --version || echo "Node version command failed"
           npm --version || echo "NPM version command failed"
           echo "PATH: $PATH"
-      
-      - name: Check out the repo
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          repository: Drop-OSS/drop
-          ref: release-prep
-          submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 3 # fix for when this gets triggered by tag
-          fetch-tags: true
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Determine final version
         id: get_final_ver