diff --git a/.github/workflows/tools.yml b/.github/workflows/tools.yml
index e77ddfe60ac8c0..9d0f07717ae0da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tools.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tools.yml
@@ -35,10 +35,17 @@ jobs:
           - id: "lint-md dependencies"
             run: |
               cd tools/lint-md
-              NEW_VERSION=$(npm outdated --omit=dev --parseable | cut -d: -f4 | xargs)
+              npm ci
+              NEW_VERSION=$(npm outdated --parseable | cut -d: -f4 | xargs)
               if [ "$NEW_VERSION" != "" ]; then
                 echo "NEW_VERSION=$NEW_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-                rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules && npm install --ignore-scripts
+                rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules
+                # Include $NEW_VERSION to explicitly update the package.json
+                # entry for the dependency and also so that semver-major updates
+                # are not skipped.
+                npm install --ignore-scripts $NEW_VERSION
+                npm install --ignore-scripts
+                cd ../..
                 make lint-md-rollup
               fi
     steps: