diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index a08faed7b6..d9a6ea19c9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -751,10 +751,12 @@ jobs:
             helm cm-push "${CHART_PACKAGE}" nemo-platform
           fi
 
-  dispatch-release-deployment:
-    name: Dispatch release deployment
+  signal-deployment:
+    name: Signal deployment
     needs: [plan-release, stage-helm, poll-final-release]
     if: >-
+      !cancelled() &&
+      needs.poll-final-release.result == 'success' &&
       needs.plan-release.outputs.include_helm == 'true' &&
       needs.plan-release.outputs.dry_run != 'true'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -1049,16 +1051,6 @@ jobs:
             --generate-notes \
             "${notes_range[@]}"
 
-  signal-deployment:
-    name: Signal deployment
-    needs: [plan-release, poll-final-release]
-    if: >-
-      needs.poll-final-release.result == 'success' &&
-      needs.plan-release.outputs.dry_run != 'true'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - run: echo "::notice::Placeholder - signal the completed release"
-
   notify-end:
     name: Notify release result
     needs:
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 94974c82d9..060d959335 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -95,10 +95,10 @@ America/Los_Angeles.
    GitHub release and tag at the selected SHA. GitHub generates the release
    notes from the previous numeric SemVer tag. Subset releases do not create a
    GitHub release or tag.
-
-The deployment-signalling job is currently a placeholder. A successful poll
-means the selected artifacts are public; it does not yet mean a deployment was
-created by this workflow.
+8. After polling succeeds, releases that include the Helm chart dispatch a
+   deployment signal to the configured internal release repository. The
+   downstream workflow creates a pending GitHub Deployment, and the deployment
+   controller completes it independently. Releases without Helm skip this step.
 
 ## Publication destinations