diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 650ef8e5..172498f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -38,9 +38,28 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
 
+      # `cargo check` runs standalone/src-tauri/build.rs, which fails the build
+      # unless the Node.js on PATH exactly matches package.json's
+      # devEngines.runtime.version pin. A bare `node-version: 22` tracks whatever
+      # 22.x the runner image ships, so a runner Node bump (e.g. 22.22.3 →
+      # 22.23.0) breaks the smoketest even though the pin is unchanged. Drive
+      # setup-node from the pin so the exact version is provisioned, mirroring
+      # release.yml's build-standalone job.
+      - name: Read pinned Node.js version
+        id: node-pin
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          version=$(jq -r '.devEngines.runtime.version' package.json)
+          if [[ ! "$version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "ERROR: package.json devEngines.runtime.version is not MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, got: '$version'" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "version=$version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e # v6.4.0
         with:
-          node-version: 22
+          node-version: ${{ steps.node-pin.outputs.version }}
 
       - uses: pnpm/action-setup@0ebf47130e4866e96fce0953f49152a61190b271 # v6.0.9
         with: