diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 71ddef87faa..8bb1a70f2d9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -180,6 +180,9 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [build-amd64, build-arm64, build-arm, build-airgap]
     steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
     - name: Read Prime artifacts secrets
       uses: rancher-eio/read-vault-secrets@main
       with:
@@ -204,6 +207,7 @@ jobs:
     
     - name: "Combine and format sha256sum files"
       run: |
+        cp scripts/airgap/image-list.txt dist/artifacts/k3s-images.txt
         for ARCH in amd64 arm64 arm; do
           OUTPUT_FILE="./dist/artifacts/sha256sum-${ARCH}.txt"
           cat ./dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-${ARCH}*.sha256sum >> "${OUTPUT_FILE}"
@@ -216,6 +220,10 @@ jobs:
             rm ./dist/artifacts/k3s-${ARCH}.sha256sum # Remove the original file to avoid uploading it
           fi
         done
+
+    - name: Validate Assets for Release
+      run: |
+        ./scripts/validate-artifacts
     
     - name: Upload Assets to Release
       uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2.2.1
diff --git a/scripts/validate-artifacts b/scripts/validate-artifacts
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..b334e4c270e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-artifacts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+shopt -s nullglob
+
+EXPECTED_ARTIFACTS=(
+  dist/artifacts/k3s
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-amd64.tar
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-amd64.tar.gz
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-amd64.tar.zst
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm.tar
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm.tar.gz
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm.tar.zst
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm64.tar
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm64.tar.gz
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-airgap-images-arm64.tar.zst
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-arm64
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-armhf
+  dist/artifacts/k3s-images.txt
+  dist/artifacts/sha256sum-amd64.txt
+  dist/artifacts/sha256sum-arm.txt
+  dist/artifacts/sha256sum-arm64.txt
+)
+
+CURRENT_ARTIFACTS=(
+  dist/artifacts/k3s*
+  dist/artifacts/sha256sum*
+)
+
+UNEXPECTED=$(IFS=$'\n'; comm -13 /dev/fd/4 /dev/fd/5 4<<<"${EXPECTED_ARTIFACTS[*]}" 5<<<"${CURRENT_ARTIFACTS[*]}")
+MISSING=$(IFS=$'\n'; comm -23 /dev/fd/4 /dev/fd/5 4<<<"${EXPECTED_ARTIFACTS[*]}" 5<<<"${CURRENT_ARTIFACTS[*]}")
+
+if [[ -n "${UNEXPECTED}" ]] || [[ -n "${MISSING}" ]]; then
+  echo "Unexpected Files: " ${UNEXPECTED}
+  echo "Missing Files:    " ${MISSING}
+  exit 1
+fi