diff --git a/scripts/ship-release.mjs b/scripts/ship-release.mjs
index 4e9dcb7..3644a94 100644
--- a/scripts/ship-release.mjs
+++ b/scripts/ship-release.mjs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { join } from 'node:path';
 
 const qaVersion = process.env.PUBLIC_QA_VERSION ?? makeQaVersion();
 
+assertNoTrackedChanges();
 runPnpmScript('verify:local-release');
 runPnpmScript('qa:early');
 writeReleaseManifest(qaVersion);
@@ -17,6 +18,21 @@ function makeQaVersion() {
   return `ship-${stamp}`;
 }
 
+function assertNoTrackedChanges() {
+  const result = spawnSync('git', ['status', '--porcelain', '--untracked-files=no'], {
+    cwd: process.cwd(),
+    encoding: 'utf8'
+  });
+  if (result.status !== 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Could not inspect tracked git status before shipping:\n${result.stderr.trim()}`);
+  }
+
+  const dirty = result.stdout.trim();
+  if (dirty) {
+    throw new Error(`Refusing to ship release with uncommitted tracked changes:\n${dirty}`);
+  }
+}
+
 function writeReleaseManifest(qaVersion) {
   const manifest = {
     app: 'heros_web',