diff --git a/tests/wordpress-release-artifact-version-smoke.sh b/tests/wordpress-release-artifact-version-smoke.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..629bcc6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/wordpress-release-artifact-version-smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Smoke test for wordpress/scripts/release/verify-artifact-version.sh:
+# the guard that refuses to publish a release ZIP whose internal plugin/theme
+# version does not match the version the release is shipping (the
+# data-machine-socials v0.14.0 stale-asset incident).
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+VERIFY="${ROOT_DIR}/wordpress/scripts/release/verify-artifact-version.sh"
+TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"' EXIT
+
+make_plugin_zip() {
+  local zip_path="$1"
+  local version="$2"
+  local stage="${TMP_DIR}/stage-$RANDOM"
+  mkdir -p "${stage}/test-plugin"
+  cat > "${stage}/test-plugin/test-plugin.php" <<EOF
+<?php
+/**
+ * Plugin Name: Test Plugin
+ * Version: ${version}
+ */
+EOF
+  (cd "${stage}" && zip -q -r "${zip_path}" "test-plugin/")
+  rm -rf "${stage}"
+}
+
+make_theme_zip() {
+  local zip_path="$1"
+  local version="$2"
+  local stage="${TMP_DIR}/stage-$RANDOM"
+  mkdir -p "${stage}/test-theme"
+  cat > "${stage}/test-theme/style.css" <<EOF
+/*
+Theme Name: Test Theme
+Version: ${version}
+*/
+EOF
+  (cd "${stage}" && zip -q -r "${zip_path}" "test-theme/")
+  rm -rf "${stage}"
+}
+
+# 1. Matching plugin version passes and prints the version.
+make_plugin_zip "${TMP_DIR}/match.zip" "1.2.3"
+got="$(bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/match.zip" "1.2.3")"
+if [[ "${got}" != "1.2.3" ]]; then
+  echo "expected matched version output '1.2.3', got '${got}'" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# 2. Mismatched plugin version fails (the stale-artifact case).
+make_plugin_zip "${TMP_DIR}/stale.zip" "0.8.1"
+if bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/stale.zip" "0.14.0" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "stale artifact (0.8.1 vs expected 0.14.0) was not rejected" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# 3. Theme style.css fallback passes on match.
+make_theme_zip "${TMP_DIR}/theme.zip" "2.0.0"
+got="$(bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/theme.zip" "2.0.0")"
+if [[ "${got}" != "2.0.0" ]]; then
+  echo "expected theme version output '2.0.0', got '${got}'" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# 4. Theme mismatch fails.
+if bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/theme.zip" "2.1.0" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "stale theme artifact (2.0.0 vs expected 2.1.0) was not rejected" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# 5. ZIP without any version header fails rather than passing silently.
+stage="${TMP_DIR}/stage-noheader"
+mkdir -p "${stage}/mystery"
+echo "<?php // no headers" > "${stage}/mystery/file.php"
+(cd "${stage}" && zip -q -r "${TMP_DIR}/noheader.zip" "mystery/")
+if bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/noheader.zip" "1.0.0" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "artifact without a version header was not rejected" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# 6. Missing artifact path fails.
+if bash "${VERIFY}" "${TMP_DIR}/does-not-exist.zip" "1.0.0" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "missing artifact was not rejected" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "wordpress release artifact version smoke passed"
diff --git a/wordpress/scripts/release/package.sh b/wordpress/scripts/release/package.sh
index 444aa08f..9d2e1cbb 100755
--- a/wordpress/scripts/release/package.sh
+++ b/wordpress/scripts/release/package.sh
@@ -78,5 +78,35 @@ fi
 
 echo "Built ${ARTIFACT_PATH}" >&2
 
+# Assert the ZIP we just built actually contains the version this release
+# is shipping. Catches stale artifacts (e.g. a pre-existing build/*.zip that
+# was restored instead of rebuilt) before they can reach the publish step.
+# The expected version comes from the release payload when homeboy invokes
+# this action; standalone dry-runs fall back to the on-disk header so the
+# check still validates build output against source.
+EXPECTED_VERSION=""
+if [[ -n "${HOMEBOY_SETTINGS_JSON:-}" ]]; then
+  EXPECTED_VERSION="$(echo "${HOMEBOY_SETTINGS_JSON}" | jq -r '.release.version // empty')"
+fi
+if [[ -z "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  for candidate in *.php; do
+    [[ -f "${candidate}" ]] || continue
+    if grep -qi 'Plugin Name:' "${candidate}"; then
+      EXPECTED_VERSION="$(grep -i -m1 'Version:' "${candidate}" | sed 's/.*[Vv]ersion:[[:space:]]*//' | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+      break
+    fi
+  done
+  if [[ -z "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" ]] && [[ -f "style.css" ]]; then
+    EXPECTED_VERSION="$(grep -i -m1 'Version:' "style.css" | sed 's/.*[Vv]ersion:[[:space:]]*//' | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [[ -n "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  bash "${SCRIPT_DIR}/verify-artifact-version.sh" "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" >/dev/null
+  echo "Verified ${ARTIFACT_PATH} contains version ${EXPECTED_VERSION}" >&2
+else
+  echo "Warning: could not determine expected version; skipping artifact version verification" >&2
+fi
+
 jq -cn --arg path "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" \
   '[{path: $path, type: "wordpress-zip", platform: null}]'
diff --git a/wordpress/scripts/release/publish.sh b/wordpress/scripts/release/publish.sh
index ff76e120..9376543b 100755
--- a/wordpress/scripts/release/publish.sh
+++ b/wordpress/scripts/release/publish.sh
@@ -168,6 +168,16 @@ fi
 
 apply_github_host_env "${GITHUB_HOST}"
 
+# Assert the artifact's internal version matches the release tag before
+# uploading. This is the last chokepoint before a ZIP becomes the GitHub
+# Release asset that deploys consume — a stale artifact here means silent
+# production rollback (data-machine-socials v0.14.0 shipped a v0.8.1 zip
+# for 6 days). Strip the leading "v" and any monorepo "<component>-v"
+# prefix from the tag to get the bare semver.
+EXPECTED_VERSION="${TAG##*v}"
+bash "${SCRIPT_DIR}/verify-artifact-version.sh" "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" >/dev/null
+echo "Verified ${ARTIFACT_PATH} contains version ${EXPECTED_VERSION} (tag ${TAG})" >&2
+
 echo "Uploading ${ARTIFACT_PATH} to ${REPO_SLUG} release ${TAG}..." >&2
 
 gh release upload "${TAG}" "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" \
diff --git a/wordpress/scripts/release/verify-artifact-version.sh b/wordpress/scripts/release/verify-artifact-version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..524c2a74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wordpress/scripts/release/verify-artifact-version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Verify that a packaged WordPress plugin/theme ZIP contains the expected
+# version before it is published. Guards against stale artifacts reaching
+# GitHub Release assets — the data-machine-socials v0.14.0 incident shipped
+# a v0.8.1 zip (restored from a stale git-tracked blob during release
+# recovery) as the release asset, and production silently ran rolled-back
+# code for 6 days because nothing in the pipeline ever opened the zip.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   verify-artifact-version.sh <artifact.zip> <expected-version>
+#
+# <expected-version> is the bare semver (no leading "v"). The internal
+# version is read from the plugin main-file header (any top-level
+# "<root>/<name>.php" containing a "Plugin Name:" header) or, for themes,
+# from "<root>/style.css".
+#
+# Exits 0 and prints the matched version on stdout when versions agree.
+# Exits 1 with a diagnostic on stderr when they do not, or when no version
+# header can be located inside the artifact.
+
+ARTIFACT_PATH="${1:-}"
+EXPECTED_VERSION="${2:-}"
+
+if [[ -z "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" ]] || [[ -z "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  echo "Usage: verify-artifact-version.sh <artifact.zip> <expected-version>" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: artifact '${ARTIFACT_PATH}' does not exist" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! command -v unzip >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "Error: unzip is required to verify artifact versions" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+extract_version_header() {
+  # Pull "Version: x.y.z" out of header text on stdin.
+  grep -i -m1 '^[[:space:]*]*Version:' | sed 's/.*[Vv]ersion:[[:space:]]*//' | tr -d '[:space:]'
+}
+
+ARTIFACT_VERSION=""
+
+# Plugin probe: top-level PHP files inside the wrapper directory that carry
+# a "Plugin Name:" header.
+while IFS= read -r entry; do
+  header="$(unzip -p "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" "${entry}" 2>/dev/null | head -n 60 || true)"
+  if echo "${header}" | grep -qi 'Plugin Name:'; then
+    candidate="$(echo "${header}" | extract_version_header)"
+    if [[ -n "${candidate}" ]]; then
+      ARTIFACT_VERSION="${candidate}"
+      break
+    fi
+  fi
+done < <(unzip -Z1 "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" | grep -E '^[^/]+/[^/]+\.php$' || true)
+
+# Theme fallback: style.css at the wrapper root.
+if [[ -z "${ARTIFACT_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  style_entry="$(unzip -Z1 "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" | grep -E '^[^/]+/style\.css$' | head -n 1 || true)"
+  if [[ -n "${style_entry}" ]]; then
+    ARTIFACT_VERSION="$(unzip -p "${ARTIFACT_PATH}" "${style_entry}" 2>/dev/null | head -n 60 | extract_version_header || true)"
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${ARTIFACT_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: could not locate a plugin/theme version header inside ${ARTIFACT_PATH}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "${ARTIFACT_VERSION}" != "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: artifact ${ARTIFACT_PATH} contains version ${ARTIFACT_VERSION} but the release expects ${EXPECTED_VERSION} — refusing to ship a stale artifact" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "${ARTIFACT_VERSION}"