diff --git a/.github/workflows/workflow-failure-issue.yml b/.github/workflows/workflow-failure-issue.yml
index dad3602ef..c15465f28 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/workflow-failure-issue.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/workflow-failure-issue.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ permissions: {}
 jobs:
   workflow-failure-issue:
     name: Open or close workflow failure issue
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'open-telemetry'
     permissions:
       issues: write # needed to open, comment on, and close workflow failure issues
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/workflow-failure-issue/README.md b/workflow-failure-issue/README.md
index 31ce4675b..ba6232347 100644
--- a/workflow-failure-issue/README.md
+++ b/workflow-failure-issue/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 Reusable GitHub Actions workflow that tracks the pass/fail state of another
 workflow (typically a scheduled one) by opening, commenting on, and closing a
-GitHub issue in the calling repository.
+GitHub issue in the calling repository. The workflow runs only when the calling
+repository belongs to the `open-telemetry` organization, preventing runs in
+forks from creating failure issues.
 
 This is useful because GitHub notifies only a single user of scheduled-workflow
 failures. Per the [GitHub docs on scheduled workflows](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/events-that-trigger-workflows#actor-for-scheduled-workflows):