diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2191c5fc..917408b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ on:
       version:
         description: "Version number to release"
         required: true
+      overwrite_existing:
+        description: "Overwrite version if already published to Galaxy"
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 concurrency:
   group: release-${{ github.ref }}
@@ -24,6 +29,7 @@ jobs:
       contents: write  # Required for creating releases and tags
     env:
       VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}  # zizmor: ignore[template-injection] -- User input is required for this workflow
+      OVERWRITE_EXISTING: ${{ github.event.inputs.overwrite_existing }}  # zizmor: ignore[template-injection] -- Boolean input is safe for this comparison
       GHP_BASE_URL: https://${{ github.repository_owner }}.github.io/${{ github.event.repository.name }}
       GALAXY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.GALAXY_API_KEY }}  # zizmor: ignore[secrets-outside-env] -- Galaxy API key needed for publishing; workflow_dispatch only
       GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}  # zizmor: ignore[secrets-outside-env] -- GitHub token needed for release creation; workflow_dispatch only
@@ -41,11 +47,43 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install PyYaml
         run: pip install pyyaml
 
+      - name: Validate version matches galaxy.yml
+        run: |
+          GALAXY_VERSION=$(python -c "import yaml; print(yaml.safe_load(open('galaxy.yml'))['version'])")
+          if [ "${GALAXY_VERSION}" != "${VERSION}" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Input version '${VERSION}' does not match galaxy.yml version '${GALAXY_VERSION}'."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Version ${VERSION} matches galaxy.yml"
+
+      - name: Check if version exists on Galaxy
+        id: check_galaxy_version
+        run: |
+          if curl --head -s -f -o /dev/null "https://galaxy.ansible.com/download/lowlydba-sqlserver-${VERSION}.tar.gz"; then
+            echo "exists=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "Version ${VERSION} already exists on Galaxy"
+          else
+            echo "exists=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "Version ${VERSION} does not yet exist on Galaxy"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Abort if version exists and overwrite not enabled
+        if: steps.check_galaxy_version.outputs.exists == 'true' && env.OVERWRITE_EXISTING != 'true'
+        run: |
+          echo "::error::Version ${VERSION} already exists on Galaxy. Set overwrite_existing=true to overwrite."
+          exit 1
+
       - name: Publish to Galaxy
         uses: artis3n/ansible_galaxy_collection@ffbca2460a5a1c600b941bbf1536bd61de1c2227 # v3.0.0
         with:
           api_key: ${{ env.GALAXY_API_KEY }}
 
+      - name: Upload collection artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: lowlydba-sqlserver-${{ env.VERSION }}
+          path: ${{ github.workspace }}/lowlydba-sqlserver-${{ env.VERSION }}.tar.gz
+
       - name: Validate version is published to Galaxy
         run: curl --head -s -f -o /dev/null "https://galaxy.ansible.com/download/lowlydba-sqlserver-${VERSION}.tar.gz"
 
@@ -87,10 +125,7 @@ jobs:
               e.write("RELEASE_DESCRIPTION<<EOF\n%s\nEOF" % description)
 
       - name: Create Release
-        id: create_release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@153bb8e04406b158c6c84fc1615b65b24149a1fe  # zizmor: ignore[superfluous-actions] -- Using action for release creation provides better GitHub API integration and version tagging features
-        with:
-          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          tag_name: ${{ env.VERSION }}
-          name: ${{ env.VERSION }}
-          body: ${{ env.RELEASE_DESCRIPTION }}
+        run: |
+          gh release create "${VERSION}" \
+            --title "${VERSION}" \
+            --notes "${RELEASE_DESCRIPTION}"
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/setup_sqlserver_test_plugins/connection_plugins/local_pwsh.py b/tests/integration/targets/setup_sqlserver_test_plugins/connection_plugins/local_pwsh.py
index b78d2ade..26c48608 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/setup_sqlserver_test_plugins/connection_plugins/local_pwsh.py
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/setup_sqlserver_test_plugins/connection_plugins/local_pwsh.py
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@ def exec_command(self, cmd, in_data=None, sudoable=True):
 
         display.debug("in local_pwsh.exec_command()")
 
-        # mac (darwin) has different pwsh install location than linux
-        if sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
-            executable = '/usr/local/bin/pwsh'
-        else:
-            executable = '/usr/bin/pwsh'
-        # executable = C.DEFAULT_EXECUTABLE.split()[0] if C.DEFAULT_EXECUTABLE else None
+        # Locate pwsh dynamically; fall back to platform-specific defaults
+        executable = shutil.which('pwsh')
+        if executable is None:
+            if sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
+                executable = '/usr/local/bin/pwsh'
+            else:
+                executable = '/usr/bin/pwsh'
 
         if not os.path.exists(to_bytes(executable, errors='surrogate_or_strict')):
             raise AnsibleError("failed to find the executable specified %s."