diff --git a/packages/publisher/github/spec/PublisherGitHub.spec.ts b/packages/publisher/github/spec/PublisherGitHub.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e412d65945
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/publisher/github/spec/PublisherGitHub.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import { ForgeMakeResult } from '@electron-forge/shared-types';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+
+import { PublisherGitHub } from '../src/PublisherGitHub';
+
+import type { PublisherOptions } from '@electron-forge/publisher-base';
+
+const { mockOctokit } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  mockOctokit: {
+    repos: {
+      listReleases: vi.fn(),
+      createRelease: vi.fn(),
+      uploadReleaseAsset: vi.fn(),
+    },
+  },
+}));
+
+vi.mock('../src/util/github', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const mod = await importOriginal<typeof import('../src/util/github')>();
+  class MockGitHub extends mod.default {
+    getGitHub() {
+      return mockOctokit as unknown as ReturnType<
+        InstanceType<typeof mod.default>['getGitHub']
+      >;
+    }
+  }
+  return { ...mod, default: MockGitHub };
+});
+
+describe('PublisherGitHub', () => {
+  let tmpDir: string;
+
+  const makeResultFor = async (
+    artifactName: string,
+  ): Promise<ForgeMakeResult> => {
+    const artifactPath = path.resolve(tmpDir, artifactName);
+    await fs.writeFile(artifactPath, 'fake-artifact');
+    return {
+      artifacts: [artifactPath],
+      packageJSON: { version: '1.0.0' },
+      platform: 'darwin',
+      arch: 'x64',
+    };
+  };
+
+  const publishFor = async (
+    publisher: PublisherGitHub,
+    artifactName: string,
+  ) => {
+    await publisher.publish({
+      dir: tmpDir,
+      makeResults: [await makeResultFor(artifactName)],
+      setStatusLine: vi.fn(),
+    } as unknown as PublisherOptions);
+  };
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    // Ensure the spec does not depend on ambient credentials — CI runners
+    // have no GITHUB_TOKEN, so the publisher must rely on config.authToken
+    vi.stubEnv('GITHUB_TOKEN', '');
+    tmpDir = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.resolve(os.tmpdir(), 'forge-publisher-github-'),
+    );
+    // Simulate GitHub's eventually consistent "list releases" API by never
+    // returning the release created moments earlier in the same process
+    mockOctokit.repos.listReleases.mockResolvedValue({ data: [] });
+    mockOctokit.repos.createRelease.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: {
+        id: 123,
+        tag_name: 'v1.0.0',
+        upload_url: 'https://example.com/upload',
+        assets: [],
+      },
+    });
+    mockOctokit.repos.uploadReleaseAsset.mockImplementation(
+      async ({ name }: { name: string }) => ({ data: { name } }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    await fs.rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it('does not create a duplicate release when publishing multiple dry runs for the same version', async () => {
+    const publisher = new PublisherGitHub({
+      repository: { owner: 'my-owner', name: 'my-repo' },
+      draft: true,
+      authToken: 'fake-token',
+    });
+
+    await publishFor(publisher, 'app-1.0.0-darwin.zip');
+    await publishFor(publisher, 'app-1.0.0-win32.zip');
+
+    expect(mockOctokit.repos.createRelease).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(mockOctokit.repos.uploadReleaseAsset).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    for (const [args] of mockOctokit.repos.uploadReleaseAsset.mock.calls) {
+      expect(args.release_id).toEqual(123);
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/publisher/github/src/PublisherGitHub.ts b/packages/publisher/github/src/PublisherGitHub.ts
index 1f4a47235d..a4d232c04e 100644
--- a/packages/publisher/github/src/PublisherGitHub.ts
+++ b/packages/publisher/github/src/PublisherGitHub.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ interface GitHubRelease {
   upload_url: string;
 }
 
+type OctokitRelease = GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod<
+  Octokit['repos']['getRelease']
+>;
+type OctokitReleaseAsset = GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod<
+  Octokit['repos']['updateReleaseAsset']
+>;
+
 // Streams a file as the request body so that byte-level upload progress can be
 // tracked. Octokit passes the body straight to `fetch`, which streams a
 // ReadableStream body (with `duplex: 'half'`), invoking `onProgress` with the
@@ -58,6 +65,12 @@ function progressStream(
 export default class PublisherGitHub extends PublisherBase<PublisherGitHubConfig> {
   name = 'github';
 
+  // Releases we already found or created in this process, keyed by tag name.
+  // GitHub's "list releases" API is eventually consistent, so a release
+  // created moments ago (e.g. by a previous restored dry run) may be missing
+  // from the listing, which would cause a duplicate release to be created.
+  private knownReleases = new Map<string, OctokitRelease>();
+
   async publish({
     makeResults,
     setStatusLine,
@@ -92,13 +105,6 @@ export default class PublisherGitHub extends PublisherBase<PublisherGitHubConfig
     const github = new GitHub(config.authToken, true, config.octokitOptions);
     github.getGitHub();
 
-    type OctokitRelease = GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod<
-      Octokit['repos']['getRelease']
-    >;
-    type OctokitReleaseAsset = GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod<
-      Octokit['repos']['updateReleaseAsset']
-    >;
-
     for (const releaseVersion of Object.keys(perReleaseArtifacts)) {
       let release: OctokitRelease | undefined;
       const artifacts = perReleaseArtifacts[releaseVersion];
@@ -106,15 +112,18 @@ export default class PublisherGitHub extends PublisherBase<PublisherGitHubConfig
 
       setStatusLine(`Searching for target release: ${releaseName}`);
       try {
-        release = (
-          await github.getGitHub().repos.listReleases({
-            owner: config.repository.owner,
-            repo: config.repository.name,
-            per_page: 100,
-          })
-        ).data.find(
-          (testRelease: GitHubRelease) => testRelease.tag_name === releaseName,
-        );
+        release =
+          this.knownReleases.get(releaseName) ??
+          (
+            await github.getGitHub().repos.listReleases({
+              owner: config.repository.owner,
+              repo: config.repository.name,
+              per_page: 100,
+            })
+          ).data.find(
+            (testRelease: GitHubRelease) =>
+              testRelease.tag_name === releaseName,
+          );
         if (!release) {
           throw new NoReleaseError(404);
         }
@@ -138,6 +147,9 @@ export default class PublisherGitHub extends PublisherBase<PublisherGitHubConfig
         }
       }
 
+      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
+      this.knownReleases.set(releaseName, release!);
+
       const artifactPaths = artifacts.flatMap((artifact) => artifact.artifacts);
       const artifactSizes = await Promise.all(
         artifactPaths.map(async (p) => (await fs.stat(p)).size),