diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a2e85bc6..f77c2e3b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install and exercise the published wheel
         run: |
           uv venv --clear --python 3.12 "$RUNNER_TEMP/published-venv"
-          uv pip install --python "$RUNNER_TEMP/published-venv/bin/python" --index-url https://pypi.org/simple "ml4t-backtest==${{ needs.preflight.outputs.version }}"
+          uv pip install --python "$RUNNER_TEMP/published-venv/bin/python" --index-url https://pypi.org/simple --refresh-package ml4t-backtest "ml4t-backtest==${{ needs.preflight.outputs.version }}"
           "$RUNNER_TEMP/published-venv/bin/python" -I -c "import ml4t.backtest as package; assert package.__version__ == '${{ needs.preflight.outputs.version }}'"
           "$RUNNER_TEMP/published-venv/bin/python" validation/check_documentation_examples.py
 
diff --git a/tests/contracts/test_release_workflow.py b/tests/contracts/test_release_workflow.py
index 23f7fe2b..37c101b2 100644
--- a/tests/contracts/test_release_workflow.py
+++ b/tests/contracts/test_release_workflow.py
@@ -285,6 +285,7 @@ def test_release_reuses_all_ci_gates_and_publishes_the_exact_candidate() -> None
     assert "release_candidate.py verify-index" in post_commands
     assert "gh release download" in post_commands
     assert "ml4t-backtest==${{ needs.preflight.outputs.version }}" in post_commands
+    assert "--refresh-package ml4t-backtest" in post_commands
     recovery = release_jobs["record-recovery"]
     assert "needs.publish.result == 'success'" in recovery["if"]
     recovery_commands = "\n".join(step.get("run", "") for step in recovery["steps"])