diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/sidecar-release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/sidecar-release.yml
index 81ae639..ad4e250 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/sidecar-release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/sidecar-release.yml
@@ -27,40 +27,17 @@ jobs:
     needs: test
     if: "!contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    outputs:
-      version: ${{ steps.bump.outputs.version }}
-      tag: ${{ steps.bump.outputs.tag }}
-      has_changes: ${{ steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 2
 
-      - name: Check for backend changes
-        id: check_changes
-        run: |
-          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
-            echo "has_changes=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            exit 0
-          fi
-          CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD -- client/ server/ backend/ pyproject.toml local-transcription-headless.spec 2>/dev/null || echo "")
-          if [ -n "$CHANGED" ]; then
-            echo "has_changes=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "Backend changes detected: $CHANGED"
-          else
-            echo "has_changes=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "No backend changes detected, skipping sidecar build"
-          fi
-
       - name: Configure git
-        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes == 'true'
         run: |
           git config user.name "Gitea Actions"
           git config user.email "actions@gitea.local"
 
       - name: Bump sidecar patch version
-        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes == 'true'
-        id: bump
         run: |
           CURRENT=$(grep '^version = ' pyproject.toml | head -1 | sed 's/version = "\(.*\)"/\1/')
           echo "Current sidecar version: ${CURRENT}"
@@ -74,56 +51,49 @@ jobs:
 
           sed -i "s/^version = \"${CURRENT}\"/version = \"${NEW_VERSION}\"/" pyproject.toml
 
-          echo "version=${NEW_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "tag=sidecar-v${NEW_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          # Write to env file instead of step outputs (avoids act runner bug)
+          echo "NEW_VERSION=${NEW_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "RELEASE_TAG=sidecar-v${NEW_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: Commit and tag
-        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes == 'true'
         env:
           BUILD_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BUILD_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          NEW_VERSION="${{ steps.bump.outputs.version }}"
-          TAG="${{ steps.bump.outputs.tag }}"
           git add pyproject.toml
           git commit -m "chore: bump sidecar version to ${NEW_VERSION} [skip ci]"
-          git tag "${TAG}"
+          git tag "${RELEASE_TAG}"
 
           REMOTE_URL=$(git remote get-url origin | sed "s|://|://gitea-actions:${BUILD_TOKEN}@|")
           git pull --rebase "${REMOTE_URL}" main || true
           git push "${REMOTE_URL}" HEAD:main
-          git push "${REMOTE_URL}" "${TAG}"
+          git push "${REMOTE_URL}" "${RELEASE_TAG}"
 
       - name: Create Gitea release
-        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes == 'true'
         env:
           BUILD_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BUILD_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           REPO_API="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/api/v1/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
-          TAG="${{ steps.bump.outputs.tag }}"
-          VERSION="${{ steps.bump.outputs.version }}"
-          RELEASE_NAME="Sidecar v${VERSION}"
+          RELEASE_NAME="Sidecar v${NEW_VERSION}"
 
           curl -s -X POST \
             -H "Authorization: token ${BUILD_TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "{\"tag_name\": \"${TAG}\", \"name\": \"${RELEASE_NAME}\", \"body\": \"Automated sidecar build.\", \"draft\": false, \"prerelease\": false}" \
+            -d "{\"tag_name\": \"${RELEASE_TAG}\", \"name\": \"${RELEASE_NAME}\", \"body\": \"Automated sidecar build.\", \"draft\": false, \"prerelease\": false}" \
             "${REPO_API}/releases"
           echo "Created release: ${RELEASE_NAME}"
 
       - name: Trigger per-OS sidecar builds
-        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.has_changes == 'true'
         env:
           BUILD_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BUILD_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           REPO_API="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/api/v1/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
-          TAG="${{ steps.bump.outputs.tag }}"
 
           for workflow in build-sidecar-linux.yml build-sidecar-windows.yml build-sidecar-macos.yml build-sidecar-cloud.yml; do
-            echo "Dispatching ${workflow} for ${TAG}..."
+            echo "Dispatching ${workflow} for ${RELEASE_TAG}..."
             HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -X POST \
               -H "Authorization: token ${BUILD_TOKEN}" \
               -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -d "{\"ref\": \"main\", \"inputs\": {\"tag\": \"${TAG}\"}}" \
+              -d "{\"ref\": \"main\", \"inputs\": {\"tag\": \"${RELEASE_TAG}\"}}" \
               "${REPO_API}/actions/workflows/${workflow}/dispatches")
             echo "  -> HTTP ${HTTP_CODE}"
           done