diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
index 8dcaf02..926de94 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ jobs:
   release-please:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
+      actions: write # restart checks after GITHUB_TOKEN updates release PR branches
       contents: write # create release tags, GitHub releases, and the release PR
       pull-requests: write # open/update the release PR
     outputs:
diff --git a/packages/release-please-ai/src/check-reruns.ts b/packages/release-please-ai/src/check-reruns.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43a69d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/release-please-ai/src/check-reruns.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import type { PullRequest } from "release-please";
+import type { GitHubApi } from "release-please/build/src/github-api.js";
+
+type CheckRerunClient = {
+  pulls: Pick<GitHubApi["octokit"]["pulls"], "get">;
+  actions: Pick<GitHubApi["octokit"]["actions"], "listWorkflowRunsForRepo" | "reRunWorkflow">;
+};
+
+interface RetryOptions {
+  attempts?: number;
+  delayMs?: number;
+  sleep?: (delayMs: number) => Promise<void>;
+}
+
+const DEFAULT_ATTEMPTS = 15;
+const DEFAULT_DELAY_MS = 1_000;
+
+export async function rerunActionRequiredChecks(
+  client: CheckRerunClient,
+  repository: { owner: string; repo: string },
+  pullRequests: ReadonlyArray<Pick<PullRequest, "number" | "headBranchName">>,
+  options: RetryOptions = {},
+): Promise<number> {
+  if (pullRequests.length === 0) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  if (!repository.owner || !repository.repo) {
+    throw new Error("GitHub repository owner and name are required");
+  }
+
+  const attempts = options.attempts ?? DEFAULT_ATTEMPTS;
+  const delayMs = options.delayMs ?? DEFAULT_DELAY_MS;
+  const sleep =
+    options.sleep ?? ((delay: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, delay)));
+  if (!Number.isInteger(attempts) || attempts < 1) {
+    throw new Error(`attempts must be a positive integer, got: ${attempts}`);
+  }
+  if (!Number.isFinite(delayMs) || delayMs < 0) {
+    throw new Error(`delayMs must be non-negative, got: ${delayMs}`);
+  }
+
+  const targets = await Promise.all(
+    pullRequests.map(async (pullRequest) => {
+      if (!pullRequest.headBranchName) {
+        throw new Error(`Release pull request #${pullRequest.number} has no head branch`);
+      }
+      const response = await client.pulls.get({
+        ...repository,
+        pull_number: pullRequest.number,
+      });
+      const sha = response.data.head.sha;
+      if (!sha) {
+        throw new Error(`Release pull request #${pullRequest.number} has no head SHA`);
+      }
+      return { branch: pullRequest.headBranchName, sha };
+    }),
+  );
+
+  const rerunIds = new Set<number>();
+  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < attempts; attempt++) {
+    for (const target of targets) {
+      const response = await client.actions.listWorkflowRunsForRepo({
+        ...repository,
+        event: "pull_request",
+        branch: target.branch,
+        per_page: 20,
+      });
+      for (const run of response.data.workflow_runs) {
+        if (
+          run.head_sha !== target.sha ||
+          run.conclusion !== "action_required" ||
+          rerunIds.has(run.id)
+        ) {
+          continue;
+        }
+        await client.actions.reRunWorkflow({ ...repository, run_id: run.id });
+        rerunIds.add(run.id);
+      }
+    }
+    if (attempt + 1 < attempts) {
+      await sleep(delayMs);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return rerunIds.size;
+}
diff --git a/packages/release-please-ai/src/cli.ts b/packages/release-please-ai/src/cli.ts
index 84128a1..e185b98 100644
--- a/packages/release-please-ai/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/release-please-ai/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { appendFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { GitHub, Manifest } from "release-please";
-import type { CreatedRelease } from "release-please";
+import type { CreatedRelease, PullRequest } from "release-please";
 import { registerAiChangelogNotes } from "./changelog-notes.js";
+import { rerunActionRequiredChecks } from "./check-reruns.js";
 
 function required(name: string): string {
   const value = process.env[name];
@@ -36,8 +37,16 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   const result = await runReleasePlease(() =>
     Manifest.fromManifest(github, targetBranch, configFile, manifestFile),
   );
+  const rerunCount = await rerunActionRequiredChecks(
+    github.getGitHubApi().octokit,
+    { owner, repo },
+    result.pullRequests,
+  );
+  if (rerunCount > 0) {
+    process.stderr.write(`release-please: restarted ${rerunCount} release PR check run(s)\n`);
+  }
 
-  emitOutputs(result.pullRequestCount, result.releases);
+  emitOutputs(result.pullRequests.length, result.releases);
 }
 
 interface ReleasePleaseManifest {
@@ -47,7 +56,7 @@ interface ReleasePleaseManifest {
 
 export async function runReleasePlease(
   loadManifest: () => Promise<ReleasePleaseManifest>,
-): Promise<{ pullRequestCount: number; releases: CreatedRelease[] }> {
+): Promise<{ pullRequests: PullRequest[]; releases: CreatedRelease[] }> {
   const releaseManifest = await loadManifest();
   const releases = (await releaseManifest.createReleases()).filter(
     (release): release is CreatedRelease => Boolean(release),
@@ -56,9 +65,11 @@ export async function runReleasePlease(
   // Reload after tagging merged releases. Otherwise createPullRequests sees the
   // just-merged release PR as untagged and aborts before refreshing sibling PRs.
   const pullRequestManifest = await loadManifest();
-  const pullRequests = (await pullRequestManifest.createPullRequests()).filter(Boolean);
+  const pullRequests = (await pullRequestManifest.createPullRequests()).filter(
+    (pullRequest): pullRequest is PullRequest => Boolean(pullRequest),
+  );
 
-  return { pullRequestCount: pullRequests.length, releases };
+  return { pullRequests, releases };
 }
 
 /** Write GitHub Actions step outputs (mirrors googleapis/release-please-action). */
diff --git a/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/check-reruns.test.ts b/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/check-reruns.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9f6c37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/check-reruns.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { rerunActionRequiredChecks } from "../../src/check-reruns.js";
+
+describe("rerunActionRequiredChecks", () => {
+  it("reruns action-required checks for the current release PR head", async () => {
+    const get = vi.fn(async () => ({ data: { head: { sha: "current-sha" } } }));
+    const listWorkflowRunsForRepo = vi.fn(async () => ({
+      data: {
+        workflow_runs: [
+          { id: 1, head_sha: "current-sha", conclusion: "action_required" },
+          { id: 2, head_sha: "current-sha", conclusion: "action_required" },
+          { id: 3, head_sha: "current-sha", conclusion: "success" },
+          { id: 4, head_sha: "stale-sha", conclusion: "action_required" },
+        ],
+      },
+    }));
+    const reRunWorkflow = vi.fn(async () => ({}));
+    const sleep = vi.fn(async () => undefined);
+
+    const count = await rerunActionRequiredChecks(
+      {
+        pulls: { get },
+        actions: { listWorkflowRunsForRepo, reRunWorkflow },
+      } as never,
+      { owner: "coder", repo: "ai-sdk" },
+      [{ number: 27, headBranchName: "release-please--sandbox" }],
+      { attempts: 2, delayMs: 0, sleep },
+    );
+
+    expect(get).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ owner: "coder", repo: "ai-sdk", pull_number: 27 });
+    expect(listWorkflowRunsForRepo).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(reRunWorkflow.mock.calls).toEqual([
+      [{ owner: "coder", repo: "ai-sdk", run_id: 1 }],
+      [{ owner: "coder", repo: "ai-sdk", run_id: 2 }],
+    ]);
+    expect(sleep).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(count).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it("does not query GitHub when no release PR was updated", async () => {
+    const get = vi.fn();
+    const listWorkflowRunsForRepo = vi.fn();
+    const reRunWorkflow = vi.fn();
+
+    await expect(
+      rerunActionRequiredChecks(
+        {
+          pulls: { get },
+          actions: { listWorkflowRunsForRepo, reRunWorkflow },
+        } as never,
+        { owner: "coder", repo: "ai-sdk" },
+        [],
+      ),
+    ).resolves.toBe(0);
+    expect(get).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(listWorkflowRunsForRepo).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(reRunWorkflow).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/cli.test.ts b/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/cli.test.ts
index c046c6c..706a3b2 100644
--- a/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/cli.test.ts
+++ b/packages/release-please-ai/test/unit/cli.test.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,6 @@ describe("runReleasePlease", () => {
 
     expect(calls).toEqual(["createReleases", "createPullRequests"]);
     expect(loadManifest).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
-    expect(result).toEqual({ pullRequestCount: 1, releases: [release] });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ pullRequests: [{ number: 27 }], releases: [release] });
   });
 });