diff --git a/.github/release-please/release-please-config.json b/.github/release-please/release-please-config.json
index ebfaed55f9..0be677b21b 100644
--- a/.github/release-please/release-please-config.json
+++ b/.github/release-please/release-please-config.json
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
   "tag-separator": "@",
   "include-component-in-tag": true,
   "include-v-in-tag": false,
-  "release-as": "10.0.0-rc.1",
   "plugins": [
     {
       "type": "node-workspace",
diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-dist-tag.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-dist-tag.yml
index e2c73146a1..22b41d6738 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-dist-tag.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-dist-tag.yml
@@ -37,10 +37,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v5
 
+      # setup-node reads `packageManager` from package.json and would try to
+      # cache a pnpm store this job never creates. It only runs npm, so opt out.
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v5
         with:
           node-version-file: '.nvmrc'
           registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
+          package-manager-cache: false
 
       # Mirrors the publish filter in cd.yml (./packages/**): top-level packages
       # plus the adapters/ and extensions/ buckets. Private workspace packages