diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-autofix.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-autofix.yml
index ca8b75f..105b78a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-autofix.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-autofix.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout failed branch
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_repository.full_name }}
           ref: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Stop on stale branch head
         id: freshness
@@ -79,7 +81,10 @@ jobs:
           git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
           git add -A
           git commit -m "ci: auto-fix formatting and lint"
-          git push origin HEAD:${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}
+          branch="${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}"
+          git fetch origin "${branch}"
+          git pull --rebase origin "${branch}"
+          git push origin HEAD:"${branch}"
 
       - name: Re-dispatch CI
         if: steps.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
diff --git a/internal/publish/publish.go b/internal/publish/publish.go
index 9c75ae0..a64e887 100644
--- a/internal/publish/publish.go
+++ b/internal/publish/publish.go
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ Not-tested: Remote release workflow execution
 	if err := os.WriteFile(messagePath, []byte(message), 0o644); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("writing git commit message: %w", err)
 	}
-	return runGit(sourceDir, "commit", "-F", messagePath)
+	return runGitCommit(sourceDir, messagePath)
 }
 
 func runGit(dir string, args ...string) error {
@@ -356,6 +356,15 @@ func runGit(dir string, args ...string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func runGitCommit(dir, messagePath string) error {
+	args := []string{
+		"-c", "user.name=climate",
+		"-c", "user.email=climate@users.noreply.github.com",
+		"commit", "-F", messagePath,
+	}
+	return runGit(dir, args...)
+}
+
 // PublishedManifestEntry returns a manifest entry updated with repository metadata.
 func PublishedManifestEntry(entry manifest.CLIEntry, result *Result) manifest.CLIEntry {
 	entry.RepositoryURL = result.RepositoryURL
diff --git a/internal/publish/publish_test.go b/internal/publish/publish_test.go
index 3d02672..b81a408 100644
--- a/internal/publish/publish_test.go
+++ b/internal/publish/publish_test.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func TestSyncGitRepositoryExistingRepoPreservesRemoteFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	verifyDir := t.TempDir()
-	if err := runGit("", "clone", remoteBare, verifyDir); err != nil {
+	if err := runGit("", "clone", "--branch", "main", remoteBare, verifyDir); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("clone verify repo: %v", err)
 	}
 	readme, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(verifyDir, "README.md"))