diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index baee1975..5c7966cc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -210,6 +210,8 @@ jobs:
 
   package:
     name: native distributions
+    # Qualify packages once, on the same vetted source as the GPU checks.
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.repository == 'NVIDIA/cuPhoton'
     uses: ./.github/workflows/wheels.yml
 
   conda:
@@ -217,7 +219,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/conda.yml
 
   ci-required:
-    # PR checks do not satisfy the merge gate before GPU qualification.
+    # PR checks do not satisfy the merge gate before package and GPU qualification.
     name: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && 'ci-pr-checks' || 'ci-required' }}
     needs: [lint, test-cpu, test-gpu, package, conda]
     if: ${{ always() }}
@@ -229,15 +231,17 @@ jobs:
           LINT_RESULT: ${{ needs.lint.result }}
           CPU_RESULT: ${{ needs.test-cpu.result }}
           GPU_RESULT: ${{ needs.test-gpu.result }}
-          REQUIRE_GPU: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.repository == 'NVIDIA/cuPhoton' }}
+          REQUIRE_FULL_CI: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.repository == 'NVIDIA/cuPhoton' }}
           PACKAGE_RESULT: ${{ needs.package.result }}
           CONDA_RESULT: ${{ needs.conda.result }}
         run: |
-          for result in "${LINT_RESULT}" "${CPU_RESULT}" "${PACKAGE_RESULT}" "${CONDA_RESULT}"; do
+          for result in "${LINT_RESULT}" "${CPU_RESULT}" "${CONDA_RESULT}"; do
             test "${result}" = success || exit 1
           done
-          if [ "${REQUIRE_GPU}" = true ]; then
+          if [ "${REQUIRE_FULL_CI}" = true ]; then
             test "${GPU_RESULT}" = success || exit 1
+            test "${PACKAGE_RESULT}" = success || exit 1
           else
             test "${GPU_RESULT}" = skipped || exit 1
+            test "${PACKAGE_RESULT}" = skipped || exit 1
           fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
index 2513c329..32f08929 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
@@ -89,23 +89,27 @@ jobs:
           if-no-files-found: error
 
   install:
-    name: installed wheel / py${{ matrix.python.version }} / ${{ matrix.platform.arch }}
+    name: installed wheel and runtimes / py${{ matrix.python.version }} / ${{ matrix.platform.arch }}
     needs: wheels
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         python:
           - version: "3.12"
+            dragon: true
             image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.12-slim-bookworm@sha256:392307d22300de8b5986851a12d9176dfc0fc073e65bf6523ebd7dcbeb23564e
           - version: "3.13"
+            dragon: true
             image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.13-slim-bookworm@sha256:2325bb286ec344af3e5898cc224b5844e2707ac6e26b1632516fd3edc84a5e26
+          # Dragon 0.14.2 has no Python 3.14 wheel or source distribution.
           - version: "3.14"
+            dragon: false
             image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.14-slim-bookworm@sha256:82bc3c539b8813ada9d68c63b40158fa002f7f33de9bf3312a3dfdc0620dff56
         platform:
           - {runner: ubuntu-24.04, arch: x86_64}
           - {runner: ubuntu-24.04-arm, arch: aarch64}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform.runner }}
-    timeout-minutes: 20
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6
         with:
@@ -115,12 +119,26 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: cuphoton-wheels-${{ matrix.platform.arch }}
           path: wheelhouse
+      - name: Pull the pinned Python image
+        timeout-minutes: 8
+        env:
+          PYTHON_IMAGE: ${{ matrix.python.image }}
+        run: |
+          # Retry image delivery only; installation and test failures are final.
+          for delay in 0 15 30; do
+            sleep "$delay"
+            if timeout --kill-after=10s 120s docker pull "$PYTHON_IMAGE"; then
+              exit 0
+            fi
+          done
+          echo "Unable to pull the pinned Python image after three attempts" >&2
+          exit 1
       - name: Install without a compiler, toolkit, or system CFITSIO
         env:
           PYTHON_VERSION: ${{ matrix.python.version }}
           PYTHON_IMAGE: ${{ matrix.python.image }}
         run: |
-          docker run --rm \
+          docker run --pull=never --rm \
             -e WHEEL_ABI="cp${PYTHON_VERSION/./}" \
             -v "$PWD/wheelhouse:/wheels:ro" \
             -v "$PWD/scripts/wheels:/checks:ro" \
@@ -135,37 +153,6 @@ jobs:
               python -I /checks/test_installed.py --mode native
             '
 
-  runtimes:
-    name: installed runtimes / py${{ matrix.python.version }} / ${{ matrix.platform.arch }}
-    needs: wheels
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        python:
-          - version: "3.12"
-            dragon: true
-            image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.12-slim-bookworm@sha256:392307d22300de8b5986851a12d9176dfc0fc073e65bf6523ebd7dcbeb23564e
-          - version: "3.13"
-            dragon: true
-            image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.13-slim-bookworm@sha256:2325bb286ec344af3e5898cc224b5844e2707ac6e26b1632516fd3edc84a5e26
-          # Dragon 0.14.2 has no Python 3.14 wheel or source distribution.
-          - version: "3.14"
-            dragon: false
-            image: public.ecr.aws/docker/library/python:3.14-slim-bookworm@sha256:82bc3c539b8813ada9d68c63b40158fa002f7f33de9bf3312a3dfdc0620dff56
-        platform:
-          - {runner: ubuntu-24.04, arch: x86_64}
-          - {runner: ubuntu-24.04-arm, arch: aarch64}
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform.runner }}
-    timeout-minutes: 25
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-          ref: ${{ inputs.source-ref || github.sha }}
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
-        with:
-          name: cuphoton-wheels-${{ matrix.platform.arch }}
-          path: wheelhouse
       - name: Exercise installed cuTile imports and distributed CPU runtimes
         env:
           PYTHON_VERSION: ${{ matrix.python.version }}
@@ -173,7 +160,7 @@ jobs:
           WITH_DRAGON: ${{ matrix.python.dragon }}
         run: |
           mkdir -p stack-reports
-          docker run --rm --shm-size=2g \
+          docker run --pull=never --rm --shm-size=2g \
             -e WHEEL_ABI="cp${PYTHON_VERSION/./}" \
             -e WITH_DRAGON \
             -e OMPI_ALLOW_RUN_AS_ROOT=1 \
@@ -223,7 +210,7 @@ jobs:
           if-no-files-found: error
 
   distributions:
-    needs: [sdist, wheels, install, runtimes]
+    needs: [sdist, wheels, install]
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 10
     steps:
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 57767921..1e597343 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -106,10 +106,11 @@ Use `make format` for Python fixes and `make ci-lint` for the complete checks.
 Validation logs should be clean. If warnings are expected, describe them in the
 pull request.
 
-### GPU CI
+### Package and GPU CI
 
-Pull requests first run CPU and package checks on GitHub-hosted runners.
-GPU CI starts when `copy-pr-bot` copies a vetted revision to
+Pull requests first run lint, CPU, and conda checks on GitHub-hosted runners.
+Native wheel builds, installed-wheel/runtime checks, and GPU CI start when
+`copy-pr-bot` copies a vetted revision to
 `pull-request/<number>` in this repository. Ready PRs from verified NVIDIA
 contributors with signed commits sync automatically. Draft PRs need an
 explicit maintainer trigger; each new external contribution revision needs
@@ -123,7 +124,12 @@ not qualify new changes.
 
 The required `ci-required` check combines CPU, package, and GPU results for
 that revision. The initial `ci-pr-checks` result does not satisfy the merge
-gate. Pushes to `main` and `0.1.x` also run the GPU checks.
+gate. Pushes to `main` and `0.1.x` also run the full package and GPU checks.
+
+Installed-wheel and runtime checks cover Python 3.12–3.14 on x86-64 and
+arm64. Each matrix job pulls its pinned Python image once and runs both
+checks in separate fresh containers. Image pulls have bounded retries;
+installation and test failures fail the job without retrying.
 
 The GPU job uses one L40G with Python 3.12 and the locked CUDA 13 dependencies.
 It checks CuPy/PyTorch execution, runs six xFit GPU parity cases, and runs