diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-release.yml b/.github/workflows/build-release.yml
index ad2f4647d..66335d47f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-release.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ jobs:
             target: macos-arm64
           - os: macos-15-intel
             target: macos-x86_64
-          - os: ubuntu-latest
+          # PyInstaller Linux binaries inherit the builder's glibc baseline.
+          # Keep releases compatible with older LTS distributions.
+          - os: ubuntu-22.04
             target: linux-x86_64
           - os: windows-latest
             target: windows-x86_64
diff --git a/tests/test_build_release_workflow.py b/tests/test_build_release_workflow.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..59d906951
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_build_release_workflow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""Tests for release workflow compatibility-sensitive settings."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+WORKFLOW = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / ".github/workflows/build-release.yml"
+
+
+def _matrix_entries() -> list[dict[str, str]]:
+    lines = WORKFLOW.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines()
+    entries: list[dict[str, str]] = []
+    current: dict[str, str] | None = None
+
+    for raw_line in lines:
+        line = raw_line.strip()
+        if line.startswith("- os: "):
+            current = {"os": line.removeprefix("- os: ")}
+            entries.append(current)
+        elif current is not None and line.startswith("target: "):
+            current["target"] = line.removeprefix("target: ")
+
+    return entries
+
+
+def _runner_for_target(target: str) -> str:
+    for entry in _matrix_entries():
+        if entry.get("target") == target:
+            return entry["os"]
+    msg = f"release matrix target not found: {target}"
+    raise AssertionError(msg)
+
+
+def test_linux_release_binary_build_uses_older_glibc_baseline() -> None:
+    assert _runner_for_target("linux-x86_64") == "ubuntu-22.04"