diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/coder-templates.yml b/.gitea/workflows/coder-templates.yml
index c304e78..ea822f4 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/coder-templates.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/coder-templates.yml
@@ -162,31 +162,39 @@ jobs:
 
             # templates/<name>/VERSION lets a template opt out of being
             # reprovisioned on every push: bump it and coder templates push
-            # names the new version "v<N>"; leave it as-is and this looks up
-            # whether that version name is already pushed and skips if so.
-            # This is a manual contract, not a content hash - editing a
-            # template without bumping its VERSION means the change won't
-            # go out until someone does. paths: on this workflow's trigger
-            # is templates/** as a whole, so without this every template
-            # gets a new (identical) version on any push under templates/,
-            # even ones whose own directory didn't change.
+            # names the new version "v<N>". This is a manual contract, not a
+            # content hash - editing a template without bumping its VERSION
+            # means the change won't go out until someone does. paths: on
+            # this workflow's trigger is templates/** as a whole, so without
+            # this every template gets a new (identical) version on any push
+            # under templates/, even ones whose own directory didn't change.
+            #
+            # Rather than pre-checking `coder templates versions list` for
+            # whether v<N> already exists (fragile - depends on its exact
+            # JSON shape matching what we expect), just attempt the push and
+            # treat its specific "version already exists" failure as the
+            # skip signal instead.
             version=""
             if [ -f "$dir/VERSION" ]; then
               version="$(tr -d '[:space:]' < "$dir/VERSION")"
             fi
-            if [ -n "$version" ]; then
-              existing="$(coder templates versions list "$full" -o json 2>/dev/null || true)"
-              if [ -n "$existing" ] && echo "$existing" | jq -e --arg v "v$version" 'any(.[]; .name == $v)' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-                echo "Skipping $full - version v$version (templates/$name/VERSION) is already pushed. Bump the VERSION file to push a new one."
-                continue
-              fi
-            fi
 
             args=(-d "$dir" --yes -m "auto-provisioned from ${GITHUB_SHA:0:12}")
             [ -n "$version" ] && args+=(--name "v$version")
 
             echo "::group::Pushing $full from $dir"
-            coder templates push "$full" "${args[@]}"
+            if push_output="$(coder templates push "$full" "${args[@]}" 2>&1)"; then
+              echo "$push_output"
+            else
+              push_status=$?
+              echo "$push_output"
+              if [ -n "$version" ] && printf '%s' "$push_output" | grep -qF "A template version with name \"v$version\" already exists"; then
+                echo "Version v$version (templates/$name/VERSION) is already pushed - nothing to do. Bump the VERSION file to push a new one."
+              else
+                echo "::endgroup::"
+                exit "$push_status"
+              fi
+            fi
             echo "::endgroup::"
           done