diff --git a/.github/actions/README.md b/.github/actions/README.md
index b5df344..339e4a3 100644
--- a/.github/actions/README.md
+++ b/.github/actions/README.md
@@ -402,11 +402,16 @@ Requirements in the consumer repo:
   jobs' `if:` on it, so a hand-made `chore/release-*` branch merged by a
   collaborator never reaches the app-token steps.
 - A `concurrency` group on every release workflow, always with
-  `cancel-in-progress: false` (the templates carry them): one candidate at a
-  time, one settle per version, one publish per release branch, one
-  `on-release` run per tag. Each of them ends in a push, a tag or an upload
-  that must never be cancelled half-way, and none of them is atomic with its
-  own guard, so a second run queues rather than overlaps.
+  `cancel-in-progress: false` (the templates carry them): one proposal at a
+  time, one cut at a time, one settle per version, one publish per release
+  branch, one `on-release` run per tag. Each of them ends in a push, a tag or
+  an upload that must never be cancelled half-way, and none of them is
+  atomic with its own guard, so a second run queues rather than overlaps.
+  The groups on the `pull_request`-triggered jobs (`cut`, `publish`) are
+  job-level, not workflow-level: every PR closing on that branch starts the
+  workflow, and GitHub keeps one pending run per group, so a workflow-wide
+  group would let an unrelated closure evict a queued release run. A
+  skipped job holds no slot in a job-level group.
 - Every workflow the release depends on must be on the tagged commit, not
   just on the default branch: `release-publish.yml` runs from the settle
   PR's merge into the release branch, and `on-release.yml` from the tag's
diff --git a/workflow-templates/release-candidate.yml b/workflow-templates/release-candidate.yml
index 01385c8..f048a6d 100644
--- a/workflow-templates/release-candidate.yml
+++ b/workflow-templates/release-candidate.yml
@@ -17,18 +17,20 @@ on:
     types: [closed]
     branches: [$default-branch]
 
-# One candidate at a time: two dispatches would race on the candidate branch,
-# and a cut runs on its own merge and must never be cancelled half-way.
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}
-  cancel-in-progress: false
-
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
   propose:
     if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    # One proposal at a time: two dispatches would race on the candidate
+    # branch. Job-level, not workflow-level: every PR closing on the default
+    # branch also starts this workflow, and a workflow-wide group would let
+    # that noise evict a queued release run (one pending run per group).
+    # A skipped job holds no slot in a job-level group.
+    concurrency:
+      group: ${{ github.workflow }}-propose
+      cancel-in-progress: false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3
@@ -60,6 +62,11 @@ jobs:
       github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
       startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'chore/release-candidate-') &&
       github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'mega-maxwell[bot]'
+    # One cut at a time, never cancelled: pull_request.closed does not refire.
+    # Job-level for the reason given on `propose`.
+    concurrency:
+      group: ${{ github.workflow }}-cut
+      cancel-in-progress: false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3
diff --git a/workflow-templates/release-publish.yml b/workflow-templates/release-publish.yml
index 89a9615..7d08f1c 100644
--- a/workflow-templates/release-publish.yml
+++ b/workflow-templates/release-publish.yml
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ on:
     types: [closed]
     branches: ["release-v*"]
 
-# One publish per release branch: the tag guard and the tag push are two
-# steps, so a re-run must queue behind a run in flight, never overlap it.
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}
-  cancel-in-progress: false
-
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
@@ -29,6 +23,13 @@ jobs:
       github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
       startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'chore/release-settle-') &&
       github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'mega-maxwell[bot]'
+    # One publish per release branch: the tag guard and the tag push are two
+    # steps, so a re-run must queue behind a run in flight, never overlap it.
+    # Job-level: other PRs closing on the release branch also start this
+    # workflow, and must not evict a queued publish (one pending per group).
+    concurrency:
+      group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}
+      cancel-in-progress: false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3