diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 5d73b4d00f..2b0eb25c68 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -775,65 +775,6 @@ jobs:
             ${{ steps.artifacts.outputs.exe }}
             ${{ steps.artifacts.outputs.sig }}
 
-  desktop-release-smoke:
-    name: Desktop release smoke
-    if: github.repository == 'block/buzz'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: setup
-    timeout-minutes: 20
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    env:
-      PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/.cache/ms-playwright
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.source_sha }}
-          persist-credentials: false
-      - uses: cashapp/activate-hermit@cea9af7913204a965fd488637a8d1811bba2e616 # v1
-      - name: Install desktop dependencies
-        run: just desktop-install-ci
-      - name: Get Playwright version
-        id: pw-version
-        run: |
-          PLAYWRIGHT_VERSION=$(cd desktop && node -p "require('@playwright/test/package.json').version")
-          echo "version=$PLAYWRIGHT_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-      - name: Restore Playwright browser cache
-        id: playwright-cache
-        uses: actions/cache/restore@caa296126883cff596d87d8935842f9db880ef25 # v5
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH }}
-          key: playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw-version.outputs.version }}
-      - name: Install Playwright Chromium
-        if: steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        run: cd desktop && pnpm exec playwright install chromium
-      - name: Install Playwright system dependencies
-        run: cd desktop && pnpm exec playwright install-deps chromium
-      - name: Save Playwright browser cache
-        if: steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        uses: actions/cache/save@caa296126883cff596d87d8935842f9db880ef25 # v5
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH }}
-          key: playwright-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.pw-version.outputs.version }}
-      - name: Build test relay
-        run: cargo build --profile ci -p buzz-relay
-      - name: Run deterministic correctness smoke
-        env:
-          BUZZ_E2E_RELAY_BIN: ${{ github.workspace }}/target/ci/buzz-relay
-          BUZZ_RELEASE_SMOKE_ARTIFACT_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/release-smoke-artifacts
-        run: just desktop-release-smoke
-      - name: Upload release-smoke diagnostics
-        if: always()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7
-        with:
-          name: desktop-release-smoke
-          path: |
-            release-smoke-artifacts
-            desktop/test-results
-            desktop/playwright-release-smoke-report
-          if-no-files-found: warn
-          retention-days: 14
-
   assemble-manifest:
     name: Assemble multi-platform latest.json
     # Only the tag-bound setup path can reach this job.
@@ -844,10 +785,9 @@ jobs:
       needs.release-macos-x64.result == 'success' &&
       needs.release-linux.result == 'success' &&
       needs.release-windows.result == 'success' &&
-      needs.desktop-release-smoke.result == 'success' &&
       github.ref == format('refs/tags/desktop-v{0}', needs.setup.outputs.version)
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [setup, release, release-macos-x64, release-linux, release-windows, desktop-release-smoke]
+    needs: [setup, release, release-macos-x64, release-linux, release-windows]
     timeout-minutes: 10
     permissions:
       contents: write