diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml b/.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml
index 8afe5753b2..62286fc044 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
-      - name: Install Python build tools
-        run: pip install build
+      - name: Install Python build and test tools
+        run: python3 -m pip install build pytest pytest-asyncio
 
       - name: Build packages
         run: pnpm run build
@@ -304,8 +304,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
-      - name: Install Python build tools
-        run: pip install build
+      - name: Install Python build and test tools
+        run: python3 -m pip install build pytest pytest-asyncio
 
       - name: Show current version
         run: |
@@ -425,8 +425,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
-      - name: Install Python build tools
-        run: pip install build
+      - name: Install Python build and test tools
+        run: python3 -m pip install build pytest pytest-asyncio
 
       - name: Compute smoke version
         id: smoke_version
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-stable.yml b/.github/workflows/release-stable.yml
index d9c85b7473..246fc12033 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-stable.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-stable.yml
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
-      - name: Install Python build tools
-        run: pip install build
+      - name: Install Python build and test tools
+        run: python3 -m pip install build pytest pytest-asyncio
 
       - name: Build packages
         run: pnpm run build
diff --git a/packages/sdk/scripts/__tests__/release-order.test.mjs b/packages/sdk/scripts/__tests__/release-order.test.mjs
index 34d1b6b8db..416c3c9ef5 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/scripts/__tests__/release-order.test.mjs
+++ b/packages/sdk/scripts/__tests__/release-order.test.mjs
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ function assertOrder(content, first, second, context) {
   assert.ok(firstIndex < secondIndex, `${context}: expected "${first}" before "${second}"`);
 }
 
+function sectionBetween(content, start, end, context) {
+  const startIndex = content.indexOf(start);
+  const endIndex = content.indexOf(end, startIndex + start.length);
+  assert.notEqual(startIndex, -1, `${context}: missing section start "${start}"`);
+  assert.notEqual(endIndex, -1, `${context}: missing section end "${end}"`);
+  return content.slice(startIndex, endIndex);
+}
+
 test('sdk-release.mjs builds Node SDK before validate', async () => {
   const content = await readRepoFile('packages/sdk/scripts/sdk-release.mjs');
   assertOrder(
@@ -39,6 +47,45 @@ test('release-sdk fallback workflow builds Node SDK before validate', async () =
   assertOrder(content, '- name: Build Node SDK', '- name: Validate SDK', '.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml');
 });
 
+test('release workflows install Python SDK test dependencies before validation', async () => {
+  const installCommand = 'python3 -m pip install build pytest pytest-asyncio';
+
+  const releaseSdk = await readRepoFile('.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml');
+  const autoRelease = sectionBetween(
+    releaseSdk,
+    '  auto-release:',
+    '  sync-labs-agent:',
+    '.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml',
+  );
+  assertOrder(
+    autoRelease,
+    installCommand,
+    '- name: Run semantic-release',
+    '.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml auto-release',
+  );
+
+  const manualRelease = sectionBetween(
+    releaseSdk,
+    '  manual-release:',
+    '  testpypi-smoke:',
+    '.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml',
+  );
+  assertOrder(
+    manualRelease,
+    installCommand,
+    '- name: Validate SDK',
+    '.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml manual-release',
+  );
+
+  const stableRelease = await readRepoFile('.github/workflows/release-stable.yml');
+  assertOrder(
+    stableRelease,
+    installCommand,
+    '- name: Release stable packages (orchestrator)',
+    '.github/workflows/release-stable.yml',
+  );
+});
+
 test('release-sdk fallback workflow publishes Node SDK via sdk-release-publish', async () => {
   const content = await readRepoFile('.github/workflows/release-sdk.yml');
   const expectedCmd = 'node packages/sdk/scripts/sdk-release-publish.mjs --tag "${{ inputs.npm-tag }}" --npm-only';