diff --git a/.github/workflows/IssueLabelChecker.yml b/.github/workflows/IssueLabelChecker.yml
index 4409efa..fd4664b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/IssueLabelChecker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/IssueLabelChecker.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,22 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v6
     - name: Check and Add label
       run: |
-        LABELS=$(gh issue view ${{ github.event.issue.number }} --json labels -q '.labels[].name')
-        if [[ $LABELS != *"needs review"* ]]; then
-          gh issue edit ${{ github.event.issue.number }} --add-label "needs review"
+        # The cryptic head -c -1 is because otherwise gh always terminates output with a newline
+        readarray -d $'\0' lifecycles < <(gh issue view ${{ github.event.issue.number }} --json labels -q '[.labels[] | .name | select(startswith("lifecycle/"))] | join("\u0000")' | head -c -1)
+        if [[ ${#lifecycles[@]} -ne 1 ]]; then
+          if [[ ${#lifecycles[@]} -ge 1 ]]; then
+            echo 'Too many lifecycle labels; replacing all with `lifecycle/needs-review`'
+          fi
+          commands=()
+          for label in "${lifecycles[@]}"; do
+            if [[ "$label" != "lifecycle/needs-review" ]]; then
+              echo "Removing label ${label}"
+              commands+=("--remove-label" "${label}")
+            fi
+          done
+          echo 'Adding `lifecycle/needs-review`'
+          commands+=("--add-label" "lifecycle/needs-review")
+          gh issue edit ${{ github.event.issue.number }} "${commands[@]}"
         fi
       env:
         GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
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diff --git a/.github/workflows/PRLabelChecker.yml b/.github/workflows/PRLabelChecker.yml
index 36b0977..9e16fdb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/PRLabelChecker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/PRLabelChecker.yml
@@ -12,18 +12,18 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
-      - name: Check for specific labels
+      - name: Ensure exactly one "kind/*" label is applied
         run: |
-          PR_NUMBER=$(echo ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }})
-          LABELS_JSON=$(gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json labels -q '.labels.[] | .name')
-          REQUIRED_LABELS=("chore" "ignore" "breaking-change" "enhancement" "feature" "dependencies" "bug" "security" "performance" "refactor" "testing" "documentation" "github-actions")
-          for REQUIRED_LABEL in "${REQUIRED_LABELS[@]}"; do
-            if echo "$LABELS_JSON" | grep -q "$REQUIRED_LABEL"; then
-              echo "One of the required labels is present"
-              exit 0
-            fi
-          done
-          echo "None of the required labels are present"
-          exit 1
+          # Count the number of "kind/*" labels directly from the PR labels
+          PR_NUMBER=${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          KIND_LABEL_COUNT=$(gh pr view "$PR_NUMBER" --json labels -q '.labels.[].name' | grep -c '^kind/')
+
+          if [[ "$KIND_LABEL_COUNT" -eq 1 ]]; then
+            echo "✅ Exactly one 'kind/*' label is applied."
+            exit 0
+          else
+            echo "❌ PR must have exactly one 'kind/*' label, but found $KIND_LABEL_COUNT."
+            exit 1
+          fi
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file