diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/rpm.yml b/.gitea/workflows/rpm.yml
index 424be65f..0e76ef88 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/rpm.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/rpm.yml
@@ -110,7 +110,9 @@ jobs:
         # Recommends both). Both need bun (ensured in Prep).
         run: PF_VERSION="$PF_VERSION" PF_RELEASE="$PF_RELEASE" PF_WITH_WEB=1 PF_WITH_SCRIPTING=1 bash packaging/rpm/build-rpm.sh
 
-      - name: Sign RPMs (dormant until RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY is set — see packaging/rpm/README.md)
+      # Signs with packages@unom.io (org secret) and self-verifies before publish. On a v* tag a
+      # missing key FAILS the build rather than publishing unsigned RPMs into a gpgcheck=1 repo.
+      - name: Sign RPMs
         env:
           RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
           RPM_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.RPM_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/README.md b/packaging/rpm/README.md
index effba626..27d73d55 100644
--- a/packaging/rpm/README.md
+++ b/packaging/rpm/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@ The public key is served from the registry (the `gpgkey=` URL above) and committ
 `packaging/rpm/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk`. (This is a GPG/OpenPGP key — a `step-ca`/X.509 cert can't
 sign RPMs; step-ca is only for registry/console TLS.)
 
+> `RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY` is an **org-level** secret on `unom`, not a repo secret — it will not show
+> up under this repository's Actions secrets. Verify it end to end instead of by its absence there:
+> `curl -O <repo-url>/package/punktfunk-web/<ver>/x86_64/…rpm && rpm -qp --qf '%{RSAHEADER:pgpsig}\n'`
+> (or `rpmkeys --checksig`, which reports `NOKEY` until you import the public key — `NOKEY` still
+> means *signed*, just by a key that box doesn't have yet).
+
+On a `v*` tag build, a missing key **fails** the build: `sign-rpms.sh` will not publish unsigned
+RPMs into a repo whose own instructions say `gpgcheck=1`, because every user's `dnf upgrade` would
+then break on them. Non-release builds still fall through unsigned so forks and local builds work.
+
 How it was set up (and how to rotate the key):
 
 ```sh
@@ -68,8 +78,9 @@ EOF
 gpg --armor --export-secret-keys packages@unom.io   # -> the RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY CI secret
 gpg --armor --export             packages@unom.io > packaging/rpm/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk  # public half
 
-# 2. Add the armored PRIVATE key as the RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY Gitea Actions secret. Commit the public
-#    half and publish it to the registry so the gpgkey= URL resolves:
+# 2. Add the armored PRIVATE key as the RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY Gitea Actions secret, at the ORG level
+#    (git.unom.io/org/unom/settings/actions/secrets) so every repo's workflows inherit it. Commit
+#    the public half and publish it to the registry so the gpgkey= URL resolves:
 curl --user "<user>:<write:package-PAT>" --upload-file packaging/rpm/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk \
   https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-keys/1/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk
 ```
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/sign-rpms.sh b/packaging/rpm/sign-rpms.sh
index be9dc3e0..7c577e30 100755
--- a/packaging/rpm/sign-rpms.sh
+++ b/packaging/rpm/sign-rpms.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Detached-GPG-sign the built dist/*.rpm so the Gitea RPM registry can be served with gpgcheck=1.
 #
-# DORMANT by default: if RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY is unset this exits 0 and leaves the RPMs unsigned —
-# exactly today's behaviour — so it is SAFE to ship before a key exists. The signing only activates
-# once you add the key as a CI secret (see packaging/rpm/README.md "Enabling per-package signing").
+# ACTIVE: RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY is set as an ORG-level secret on `unom` (packages@unom.io,
+# AF245C506F4E4763 — the public half is committed at packaging/rpm/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk and served
+# from the registry). Every published RPM carries its EdDSA header signature; the repo file in
+# README.md tells users gpgcheck=1, which only works because of that.
+#
+# Without the key this exits 0 and leaves the RPMs unsigned, so a fork or a local build still works
+# — but NOT on a release. On refs/tags/v* a missing key is a hard failure: an org secret that got
+# rotated, renamed, or not inherited would otherwise publish an unsigned release into a repo whose
+# own instructions say gpgcheck=1, and every user's `dnf upgrade` would break on it. Better to fail
+# the build than to find out from users. (Same fail-closed rule as the Windows pack scripts.)
 #
 # Requires a DEDICATED, PASSPHRASE-LESS signing key (the one the runbook generates with
 # %no-protection), distinct from the Gitea instance's repo-metadata key — rpm's default signer
@@ -13,7 +20,13 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 if [ -z "${RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY:-}" ]; then
-  echo "RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY unset — leaving dist/*.rpm UNSIGNED (registry stays gpgcheck=0)."
+  case "${GITHUB_REF:-}" in
+    refs/tags/v*)
+      echo "RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY unset on a release build (${GITHUB_REF}) — refusing to publish" >&2
+      echo "unsigned RPMs into a gpgcheck=1 repo. Restore the org secret (packaging/rpm/README.md)." >&2
+      exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+  echo "RPM_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY unset — leaving dist/*.rpm UNSIGNED (non-release build)."
   exit 0
 fi