diff --git a/.github/workflows/fern-docs.yml b/.github/workflows/fern-docs.yml
index b71494499c37..01f63818f64e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fern-docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fern-docs.yml
@@ -137,18 +137,41 @@ jobs:
           python-version: '3.13'
 
       - name: Generate API references
-        # The Python/Rust reference pages are publish-time artifacts:
-        # gitignored in the source tree and generated here against the exact
-        # ref being published, so source PRs never carry (or review) the
-        # regenerated MDX. Generation must precede the pages-dev sync below,
-        # which rsyncs whatever sits under docs/fern/pages/. The Kubernetes
-        # reference regenerates from a docs-owned source file and stays
-        # committed, so it keeps the freshness check.
+        id: api_refs
+        # Python/Rust references are publish-time artifacts: generated here
+        # against the ref being published, never committed. Generation must
+        # precede the pages-dev sync below, which rsyncs docs/fern/pages/.
+        #
+        # The Kubernetes reference stays committed, but this path REGENERATES
+        # it rather than gating on it. As `--check` the step failed, which
+        # skipped the sync and publish steps entirely, so a main left stale by
+        # merge skew silently froze the live site. Drift is still fatal, just
+        # after the site is current: the probe records it and the gate at the
+        # end of this job fails the run.
         run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
           python3 -m pip install 'griffe==2.1.0'
           python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/gen_python_api.py
           python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/gen_rust_api.py
-          python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/gen_kubernetes_api.py --check
+          if python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/gen_kubernetes_api.py --check >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "kubernetes_drift=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "kubernetes_drift=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+          k8s_page=source-checkout/docs/fern/pages/reference/kubernetes-api/full-api-reference.mdx
+          committed_bytes=$(wc -c < "$k8s_page")
+          python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/gen_kubernetes_api.py
+          regenerated_bytes=$(wc -c < "$k8s_page")
+          # Publishing through drift is the point of this step, but the
+          # regenerated page is what the sync below rsyncs, so a generator that
+          # exits 0 while emitting a gutted reference would reach the live site
+          # and only be reported afterwards. Ordinary skew moves this page by a
+          # few hundred bytes; losing a fifth of it means generation itself is
+          # what is wrong, so stop before anything is synced or published.
+          if [ "$regenerated_bytes" -lt "$(( committed_bytes * 4 / 5 ))" ]; then
+            echo "::error file=docs/fern/pages/reference/kubernetes-api/full-api-reference.mdx::Regenerated Kubernetes API reference is $regenerated_bytes bytes against $committed_bytes committed, a loss of more than a fifth. Refusing to sync or publish. Check gen_kubernetes_api.py and its source, docs/fern/pages/reference/kubernetes-api/api-reference-k8s.md."
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
       - name: Checkout docs-website branch
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
@@ -664,6 +687,25 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.ctx.outputs.is_main == 'true'
         run: python3 source-checkout/docs/fern/scripts/check_published_styles.py
 
+      - name: Fail if the committed Kubernetes API reference was stale
+        # Deliberately last, and deliberately not gated on is_main: the preview
+        # path should report drift too. Whether the site actually published is
+        # a separate question - Publish Docs needs both is_main and has_changes
+        # - so the message reports which of the two happened rather than
+        # asserting a publish. `!cancelled()` keeps the drift annotation on runs
+        # where an earlier step already failed; a bare `if:` carries an implicit
+        # success() and would drop the report on exactly those runs.
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() && steps.api_refs.outputs.kubernetes_drift == 'true' }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ "${{ steps.ctx.outputs.is_main }}" = "true" ] && [ "${{ steps.changes.outputs.has_changes }}" = "true" ]; then
+            outcome="The site published the regenerated output, so docs are current, but the committed page differs from the reviewed bytes."
+          else
+            outcome="Nothing was published on this run, so the live site is unchanged."
+          fi
+          echo "::error file=docs/fern/pages/reference/kubernetes-api/full-api-reference.mdx::Committed Kubernetes API reference does not match its source. $outcome Fix with: python3 docs/fern/scripts/gen_kubernetes_api.py"
+          exit 1
+
   #############################################################################
   # VERSION RELEASE - Run on new version tags (vX.Y.Z)
   #############################################################################
diff --git a/docs/fern/scripts/tests/test_api_reference_regressions.py b/docs/fern/scripts/tests/test_api_reference_regressions.py
index 9d46ea506ff4..75190e4ba005 100644
--- a/docs/fern/scripts/tests/test_api_reference_regressions.py
+++ b/docs/fern/scripts/tests/test_api_reference_regressions.py
@@ -571,6 +571,28 @@ def test_pre_merge_gates_every_api_generator_input() -> None:
     assert "steps.filter.outputs.api_docs_any_modified" in action
 
 
+K8S_DRIFT_GATE_STEP = "Fail if the committed Kubernetes API reference was stale"
+
+
+def _publish_step_run(step_name: str) -> str:
+    """Return a fern-docs.yml step's `run` body, parsed rather than grepped.
+
+    Substring-matching the whole workflow cannot tell a real command from the
+    same text inside a comment, so an assertion can pass on prose while the
+    command it guards has changed underneath it.
+    """
+    document = yaml.safe_load(
+        (REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "fern-docs.yml").read_text(
+            encoding="utf-8"
+        )
+    )
+    for job in document["jobs"].values():
+        for step in job.get("steps", []):
+            if step.get("name") == step_name:
+                return step.get("run", "")
+    raise AssertionError(f"fern-docs.yml has no step named {step_name!r}")
+
+
 def test_pre_merge_runs_all_api_generators_hermetically() -> None:
     workflow = (REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "pre-merge.yml").read_text(
         encoding="utf-8"
@@ -598,9 +620,52 @@ def test_pre_merge_runs_all_api_generators_hermetically() -> None:
     assert "gen_kubernetes_api.py --check" in workflow
     # The publish and preview paths must GENERATE the pages before syncing
     # them to the docs-website branch (dev sync and version snapshots both).
+    # Asserted against the parsed `run` body, not the file text: the step's
+    # comment names these same commands, so a whole-file substring check would
+    # pass on prose after the command itself changed.
+    generate = _publish_step_run("Generate API references")
     for generator in ("python", "rust"):
-        assert f"gen_{generator}_api.py --check" not in publish
-    assert "gen_kubernetes_api.py --check" in publish
+        assert f"gen_{generator}_api.py --check" not in generate
+    # Kubernetes output stays committed, but publish REGENERATES it rather than
+    # gating on it. As `--check` this step failed, which skipped the sync and
+    # publish steps below, so a main left stale by merge skew silently froze the
+    # live site. The probe records drift and the gate below fails the run after
+    # the site is current.
+    assert re.search(r"gen_kubernetes_api\.py$", generate, re.MULTILINE)
+    assert "gen_kubernetes_api.py --check" in generate
+    assert "kubernetes_drift=true" in generate
+    gate = _publish_step_run(K8S_DRIFT_GATE_STEP)
+    assert "exit 1" in gate
+    # Wiring and polarity, not only shape. `steps.<id>` for an id that does
+    # not exist renders empty, so dropping or renaming `id: api_refs`, or
+    # inverting either the probe or the gate, leaves the gate permanently
+    # inert while every assertion above still passes. Nothing else in the repo
+    # catches a dangling step reference: no hook or workflow runs actionlint.
+    fern_docs = yaml.safe_load(
+        (REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "fern-docs.yml").read_text(
+            encoding="utf-8"
+        )
+    )
+    by_name = {
+        step.get("name"): step
+        for step in fern_docs["jobs"]["preview-or-publish-docs"]["steps"]
+    }
+    assert by_name[K8S_DRIFT_GATE_STEP]["if"] == (
+        "${{ !cancelled() && steps."
+        f"{by_name['Generate API references']['id']}"
+        ".outputs.kubernetes_drift == 'true' }}"
+    )
+    assert re.search(
+        r"--check[^\n]*then\n\s*echo \"kubernetes_drift=false\"[^\n]*\n"
+        r"\s*else\n\s*echo \"kubernetes_drift=true\"",
+        generate,
+    )
+    # The regenerated page is rsynced before the gate runs, so write mode needs
+    # its own floor: a generator that exits 0 on a gutted page must not publish.
+    assert "regenerated_bytes" in generate
+    assert "committed_bytes * 4 / 5" in generate
+    # The gate is only honest if it runs after the site has been published.
+    assert publish.index("Publish Docs") < publish.index(K8S_DRIFT_GATE_STEP)
     assert "Generate API references" in publish
     assert "Generate API references at the tag" in publish
     # fern check validates nav paths, so the fern-check job must materialize