diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-android.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-android.yml
index 117f9c6fe5..55dff90da5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-android.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-android.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ on:
       version:
         description: "Version/tag to publish (e.g., v0.7.0-rc.50 or 0.7.0-rc.50)"
         required: true
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Build and upload CI artifacts without publishing"
+        type: boolean
+        required: false
+        default: false
 
 jobs:
   publish:
@@ -24,14 +29,21 @@ jobs:
     - name: Normalize release version
       id: version
       shell: bash
+      env:
+        INPUT_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version || github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
       run: |
-        VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version || github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}"
-        TAG="$VERSION"
+        if [[ ! "$INPUT_VERSION" =~ ^v?[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(-[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?(\+[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?$ ]]; then
+          echo "Invalid release version/tag" >&2
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        TAG="$INPUT_VERSION"
         if [[ "$TAG" != v* ]]; then
           TAG="v$TAG"
         fi
         echo "tag=$TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
         echo "version=${TAG#v}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        echo "RELEASE_TAG=$TAG" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+        echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${TAG#v}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
 
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       with:
@@ -52,6 +64,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Set up Android SDK
       uses: android-actions/setup-android@v3
+      with:
+        packages: platform-tools
 
     - name: Set up Android NDK
       id: setup-ndk
@@ -73,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Build with Gradle
       working-directory: bindings/kotlin/ldk-node-android
-      run: ./gradlew build -Pversion=${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
+      run: ./gradlew build "-Pversion=$RELEASE_VERSION"
 
     - name: Upload native debug symbols artifact
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -82,14 +96,16 @@ jobs:
         path: bindings/kotlin/ldk-node-android/native-debug-symbols.zip
 
     - name: Upload native debug symbols to release
+      if: ${{ !inputs.dry_run }}
       env:
         GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-      run: gh release upload "${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}" bindings/kotlin/ldk-node-android/native-debug-symbols.zip --clobber
+      run: gh release upload "$RELEASE_TAG" bindings/kotlin/ldk-node-android/native-debug-symbols.zip --clobber
 
     - name: Publish to GitHub Packages
+      if: ${{ !inputs.dry_run }}
       working-directory: bindings/kotlin/ldk-node-android
       env:
         GITHUB_ACTOR: ${{ github.actor }}
         GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         GITHUB_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
-      run: ./gradlew publish -Pversion=${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
+      run: ./gradlew publish "-Pversion=$RELEASE_VERSION"