diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
index 905d6b73a..14963580c 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,32 @@ runs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       shell: bash
       run: |
+        # Determine the branch we're working with
+        # For PRs: use base_ref (target branch)
+        # For pushes: use ref (current branch)
+        BRANCH="${{ github.base_ref || github.ref }}"
+        BRANCH="${BRANCH#refs/heads/}"  # Strip refs/heads/ prefix
+
+        echo "Working with branch: $BRANCH"
+
+        # If on a release branch, install from matching release branch BEFORE uv sync
+        # This allows uv sync to resolve dependencies that reference unreleased RC versions
+        # We always do this on release branches regardless of client-version to satisfy pyproject.toml
+        if [[ "$BRANCH" =~ ^release-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.x$ ]]; then
+          echo "Detected release branch: $BRANCH"
+          echo "Checking if matching branch exists in llama-stack-client-python..."
+
+          # Check if the branch exists in the client repo
+          if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git "$BRANCH" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Installing llama-stack-client-python from matching branch: $BRANCH"
+            uv pip install git+https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git@$BRANCH
+          else
+            echo "::error::Branch $BRANCH not found in llama-stack-client-python repository"
+            echo "::error::Please create the matching release branch in llama-stack-client-python before testing"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+        fi
+
         echo "Updating project dependencies via uv sync"
         uv sync --all-groups
 
@@ -28,15 +54,18 @@ runs:
         uv pip install faiss-cpu
 
         # Install llama-stack-client-python based on the client-version input
-        if [ "${{ inputs.client-version }}" = "latest" ]; then
-          echo "Installing latest llama-stack-client-python from main branch"
-          uv pip install git+https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git@main
-        elif [ "${{ inputs.client-version }}" = "published" ]; then
-          echo "Installing published llama-stack-client-python from PyPI"
-          uv pip install llama-stack-client
-        else
-          echo "Invalid client-version: ${{ inputs.client-version }}"
-          exit 1
+        # Only applies to non-release branches (on release branches, we already installed from git above)
+        if [[ ! "$BRANCH" =~ ^release-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.x$ ]]; then
+          if [ "${{ inputs.client-version }}" = "latest" ]; then
+            echo "Installing latest llama-stack-client-python from main branch"
+            uv pip install git+https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git@main
+          elif [ "${{ inputs.client-version }}" = "published" ]; then
+            echo "Installing published llama-stack-client-python from PyPI"
+            uv pip install llama-stack-client
+          else
+            echo "Invalid client-version: ${{ inputs.client-version }}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
         fi
 
         echo "Installed llama packages"
diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-test-environment/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-test-environment/action.yml
index 992b25803..7b306fef5 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-test-environment/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-test-environment/action.yml
@@ -42,29 +42,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Build Llama Stack
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        # Install llama-stack-client-python based on the client-version input
-        if [ "${{ inputs.client-version }}" = "latest" ]; then
-          # Check if PR is targeting a release branch
-          TARGET_BRANCH="${{ github.base_ref }}"
-
-          if [[ "$TARGET_BRANCH" =~ ^release-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.x$ ]]; then
-            echo "PR targets release branch: $TARGET_BRANCH"
-            echo "Checking if matching branch exists in llama-stack-client-python..."
-
-            # Check if the branch exists in the client repo
-            if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git "$TARGET_BRANCH" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-              echo "Installing llama-stack-client-python from matching branch: $TARGET_BRANCH"
-              uv pip install --force-reinstall git+https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git@$TARGET_BRANCH
-            else
-              echo "::error::Branch $TARGET_BRANCH not found in llama-stack-client-python repository"
-              echo "::error::Please create the matching release branch in llama-stack-client-python before testing"
-              exit 1
-            fi
-          fi
-          # For main branch, client is already installed by setup-runner
-        fi
-        # For published version, client is already installed by setup-runner
-
+        # Client is already installed by setup-runner (handles both main and release branches)
         echo "Building Llama Stack"
 
         LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
index 695a4f9e2..e0c20bbc4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
@@ -130,6 +130,33 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
 
+      - name: Install client from release branch if needed
+        run: |
+          # Determine the branch we're working with
+          # For PRs: use base_ref (target branch)
+          # For pushes: use ref (current branch)
+          BRANCH="${{ github.base_ref || github.ref }}"
+          BRANCH="${BRANCH#refs/heads/}"  # Strip refs/heads/ prefix
+
+          echo "Working with branch: $BRANCH"
+
+          # If on a release branch, install from matching release branch BEFORE uv sync
+          # This allows uv sync to resolve dependencies that reference unreleased RC versions
+          if [[ "$BRANCH" =~ ^release-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.x$ ]]; then
+            echo "Detected release branch: $BRANCH"
+            echo "Checking if matching branch exists in llama-stack-client-python..."
+
+            # Check if the branch exists in the client repo
+            if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git "$BRANCH" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Installing llama-stack-client-python from matching branch: $BRANCH"
+              uv pip install git+https://github.com/llamastack/llama-stack-client-python.git@$BRANCH
+            else
+              echo "::error::Branch $BRANCH not found in llama-stack-client-python repository"
+              echo "::error::Please create the matching release branch in llama-stack-client-python before testing"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          fi
+
       - name: Sync dev + type_checking dependencies
         run: uv sync --group dev --group type_checking