diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9bad0d1..5eeaa65 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.2.3] - 2026-06-25
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Fixed the crates.io release preflight to check exact crate versions via the
+  crates.io API instead of `cargo info`, which could treat an existing crate as
+  an existing version.
+
 ## [0.2.2] - 2026-06-25
 
 ### Fixed
@@ -78,7 +86,8 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 - Self-documenting OKF bundle at `docs/okf/`, linted under the strict profile in
   CI (dogfood).
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.2.2...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.2.3...HEAD
+[0.2.3]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.2.2...v0.2.3
 [0.2.2]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.2.1...v0.2.2
 [0.2.1]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.2.0...v0.2.1
 [0.2.0]: https://github.com/ryansann/okftool/compare/v0.1.5...v0.2.0
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 53c57f6..fc28178 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "okftool-cli"
-version = "0.2.2"
+version = "0.2.3"
 dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "flate2",
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "okftool-core"
-version = "0.2.2"
+version = "0.2.3"
 dependencies = [
  "globset",
  "regex",
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "okftool-wasm"
-version = "0.2.2"
+version = "0.2.3"
 dependencies = [
  "console_error_panic_hook",
  "okftool-core",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 576bbed..0be02c5 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ resolver = "2"
 members = ["crates/okftool-core", "crates/okftool-cli", "crates/okftool-wasm"]
 
 [workspace.package]
-version = "0.2.2"
+version = "0.2.3"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "Apache-2.0"
 repository = "https://github.com/ryansann/okftool"
diff --git a/crates/okftool-cli/Cargo.toml b/crates/okftool-cli/Cargo.toml
index 8b5c4c7..2319d36 100644
--- a/crates/okftool-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/okftool-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ name = "okftool"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
-okftool-core = { path = "../okftool-core", version = "0.2.2" }
+okftool-core = { path = "../okftool-core", version = "0.2.3" }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
 clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
 tar = "0.4"
diff --git a/crates/okftool-wasm/Cargo.toml b/crates/okftool-wasm/Cargo.toml
index e13d17f..7f59a38 100644
--- a/crates/okftool-wasm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/okftool-wasm/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ publish = false
 crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]
 
 [dependencies]
-okftool-core = { path = "../okftool-core", version = "0.2.2" }
+okftool-core = { path = "../okftool-core", version = "0.2.3" }
 serde = { workspace = true }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
 wasm-bindgen = "0.2"
diff --git a/scripts/publish-crates.sh b/scripts/publish-crates.sh
index a590058..1f4ea21 100755
--- a/scripts/publish-crates.sh
+++ b/scripts/publish-crates.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,13 @@ fi
 
 crate_published() {
   local crate="$1"
-  cargo info "${crate}@${version}" --quiet >/dev/null 2>&1
+  curl --fail --silent --show-error \
+    --retry 3 \
+    --retry-delay 2 \
+    --header "Accept: application/json" \
+    --header "User-Agent: okftool-release-script" \
+    "https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/${crate}/${version}" \
+    >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
 }
 
 publish_or_skip() {