diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
index 93488c5..3dd00be 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -493,6 +493,34 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "✓ Docker publish workflow dispatched"
 
+      - name: Trigger floating tag promotion
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft_only != 'true' }}
+        continue-on-error: true  # Non-fatal if dispatch fails
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.WORKFLOW_PAT }}
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ needs.extract_version.outputs.tag }}"
+          IS_PRERELEASE="${{ needs.extract_version.outputs.is_prerelease }}"
+          echo "Triggering floating tag promotion for ${TAG} (prerelease: ${IS_PRERELEASE})..."
+
+          gh workflow run promote-floating-tags.yml -f tag="${TAG}" -f prerelease="${IS_PRERELEASE}"
+
+          echo "✓ Floating tag promotion workflow dispatched"
+
+      - name: Trigger Helm chart release
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft_only != 'true' }}
+        continue-on-error: true  # Non-fatal if dispatch fails
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.WORKFLOW_PAT }}
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ needs.extract_version.outputs.tag }}"
+          VERSION="${TAG#v}"
+          echo "Triggering Helm chart release for ${VERSION}..."
+
+          gh workflow run helm-pages.yml -f chart_version="${VERSION}"
+
+          echo "✓ Helm chart release workflow dispatched"
+
       - name: Trigger demo server update
         if: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft_only != 'true' }}
         continue-on-error: true  # Non-fatal if dispatch fails
diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm-pages.yml b/.github/workflows/helm-pages.yml
index 277252c..59ba0f7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/helm-pages.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/helm-pages.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 name: Release Helm Chart to GitHub Pages
 
+# Only triggered manually or by create-release.yml
+# Removing release: published trigger prevents race conditions
 on:
-  release:
-    types: [published]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       chart_version:
@@ -45,26 +45,19 @@ jobs:
           helm-docs
 
           # Commit if README changed
-          if [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" != "release" ] && ! git diff --quiet README.md; then
+          if ! git diff --quiet README.md; then
             git config user.name "$GITHUB_ACTOR"
             git config user.email "$GITHUB_ACTOR@users.noreply.github.com"
             git add README.md
             git commit -m "Auto-update Helm chart documentation"
             git push
-          elif [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" = "release" ] && ! git diff --quiet README.md; then
-            echo "README.md updated by helm-docs but skipping commit because release workflows checkout a detached HEAD."
           fi
           cd ../../..
 
       - name: Determine chart version
         id: version
         run: |
-          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
-            VERSION="${{ inputs.chart_version }}"
-          else
-            VERSION="${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}"
-            VERSION="${VERSION#v}"
-          fi
+          VERSION="${{ inputs.chart_version }}"
           echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Update Chart.yaml version
@@ -73,15 +66,13 @@ jobs:
           sed -i "s/^version: .*/version: $VERSION/" deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml
           sed -i "s/^appVersion: .*/appVersion: \"$VERSION\"/" deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml
 
-          # Commit only on workflow_dispatch (release runs are detached HEAD)
-          if [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" != "release" ] && ! git diff --quiet deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml; then
+          # Commit if Chart.yaml changed
+          if ! git diff --quiet deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml; then
             git config user.name "$GITHUB_ACTOR"
             git config user.email "$GITHUB_ACTOR@users.noreply.github.com"
             git add deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml
             git commit -m "Auto-update Helm chart version to $VERSION"
             git push
-          elif [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" = "release" ] && ! git diff --quiet deploy/helm/pulse/Chart.yaml; then
-            echo "Chart.yaml updated for packaging, skipping commit (detached HEAD on release event)."
           fi
 
       - name: Validate Helm chart
diff --git a/.github/workflows/promote-floating-tags.yml b/.github/workflows/promote-floating-tags.yml
index c3c4615..20e2588 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/promote-floating-tags.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/promote-floating-tags.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
 name: Promote Floating Tags
 
+# Only triggered by create-release.yml after Docker images are published
+# This prevents race conditions with release: published event
 on:
-  release:
-    types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: 'Release tag (e.g., v5.0.0)'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      prerelease:
+        description: 'Is this a prerelease?'
+        required: true
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 jobs:
   promote-images:
@@ -12,8 +23,8 @@ jobs:
       packages: write
     env:
       OWNER: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
-      TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-      PRERELEASE: ${{ github.event.release.prerelease }}
+      TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
+      PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Log in to Docker Hub
@@ -29,6 +40,23 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
+      - name: Wait for Docker image to be available
+        run: |
+          echo "Waiting for rcourtman/pulse:${TAG} to be available..."
+          MAX_ATTEMPTS=30
+          ATTEMPT=0
+          while [ $ATTEMPT -lt $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; do
+            if docker manifest inspect rcourtman/pulse:${TAG} > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Image rcourtman/pulse:${TAG} is available!"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            ATTEMPT=$((ATTEMPT + 1))
+            echo "Attempt $ATTEMPT/$MAX_ATTEMPTS - Image not yet available, waiting 10s..."
+            sleep 10
+          done
+          echo "Timeout waiting for Docker image"
+          exit 1
+
       - name: Promote Pulse server image tags
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-docker.yml
index eeaec83..5462224 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-docker.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 name: Publish Docker Images
 
+# Only triggered by create-release.yml after staging images are built
+# Removing release: published trigger prevents race conditions
 on:
-  release:
-    types: [published]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       tag:
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ on:
         type: string
 
 concurrency:
-  group: docker-publish-${{ github.event.release.tag_name || inputs.tag }}
+  group: docker-publish-${{ inputs.tag }}
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Extract version from release tag
         id: version
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ github.event.release.tag_name || inputs.tag }}"
+          TAG="${{ inputs.tag }}"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
           
           # Detect if this is a prerelease (RC, alpha, beta)