diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
index 3ef190d..7c7da15 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
@@ -282,10 +282,14 @@ jobs:
               Write-Host $_.ScriptStackTrace
               $code = 1
           } finally {
-              Stop-Transcript
+              try { Stop-Transcript -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } catch {}
           }
-          Write-Host "Single-step exit code: $code"
-          exit $code
+          # Persist exit code to a side-channel file so we can inspect even if
+          # the transcript got closed before the value was written.
+          "code=$code at $(Get-Date)" | Out-File -FilePath publish-finish.log -Encoding ASCII
+          # Force explicit exit -- ignore any trailing $LASTEXITCODE noise from
+          # native commands above.
+          if ($code -ne 0) { exit $code } else { exit 0 }
 
       - name: Pack + upload publish.tar.gz
         if: success()
@@ -318,7 +322,7 @@ jobs:
           $pair = "$($env:REG_USER):$($env:REG_PASS)"
           $auth = "Basic " + [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($pair))
           $base = "https://gitea.dev.marcus-law.co.il/api/packages/espocrm-extensions/generic/outlook-addin-publish-log/run-$env:RUN_ID"
-          foreach ($f in @('publish.console.log','publish-msbuild.log','src/OutlookAddin/OutlookAddin.csproj')) {
+          foreach ($f in @('publish.console.log','publish-msbuild.log','publish-finish.log','src/OutlookAddin/OutlookAddin.csproj')) {
               if (Test-Path $f) {
                   $name = (Split-Path $f -Leaf)
                   Write-Host "PUT $base/$name"