diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 02ef91c6..75ad96d0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -51,14 +51,31 @@ jobs:
           set -euo pipefail
           test ! -e .gradle
           test ! -e "$GRADLE_USER_HOME"
-          mkdir -p "$GRADLE_USER_HOME"
           chmod +x ./gradlew
-          ./gradlew verifyMavenizerCompatibilityFixture help \
-            --no-daemon --no-build-cache --stacktrace --max-workers=2 \
-            -Dorg.gradle.java.installations.paths="$JAVA_HOME,$JAVA_HOME_8_X64,$JAVA_HOME_25_X64" \
-            -Dorg.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=false \
-            -Dorg.gradle.java.installations.auto-download=false \
-            | tee "$RUNNER_TEMP/cold-forge-bootstrap.log"
+          gradle_args=(
+            verifyMavenizerCompatibilityFixture help
+            --no-daemon --no-build-cache --stacktrace --max-workers=2
+            "-Dorg.gradle.java.installations.paths=$JAVA_HOME,$JAVA_HOME_8_X64,$JAVA_HOME_25_X64"
+            -Dorg.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=false
+            -Dorg.gradle.java.installations.auto-download=false
+          )
+          for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+            if (( attempt > 1 )); then
+              echo "Retrying the cold Forge bootstrap after transient download failure ($attempt/3)"
+              rm -rf -- "$GRADLE_USER_HOME/caches/minecraftforge" .gradle/mavenizer
+              sleep "$((attempt * 5))"
+            fi
+            mkdir -p "$GRADLE_USER_HOME"
+            attempt_log="$RUNNER_TEMP/cold-forge-bootstrap-attempt-$attempt.log"
+            if ./gradlew "${gradle_args[@]}" 2>&1 | tee "$attempt_log"; then
+              cp "$attempt_log" "$RUNNER_TEMP/cold-forge-bootstrap.log"
+              break
+            fi
+            if (( attempt == 3 )); then
+              echo "Cold Forge bootstrap failed after $attempt attempts" >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          done
           grep -F "OreSpawn Mavenizer compatibility runtime: Java 25.0.3" \
             "$RUNNER_TEMP/cold-forge-bootstrap.log"
           grep -F "OreSpawn Mavenizer compatibility: applied 0 rule(s) for net.minecraftforge:forge:1.21.1-52.1.0 (explicit no-op)" \
diff --git a/src/test/java/zone/moddev/mc/orespawn/ReleaseWorkflowContractTest.java b/src/test/java/zone/moddev/mc/orespawn/ReleaseWorkflowContractTest.java
index f0c480e5..f4b56472 100644
--- a/src/test/java/zone/moddev/mc/orespawn/ReleaseWorkflowContractTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/zone/moddev/mc/orespawn/ReleaseWorkflowContractTest.java
@@ -85,6 +85,20 @@ void codeQlUsesABoundedCachePreservingCompileRetry() throws Exception {
 				"CodeQL must fail rather than hide a persistent bootstrap defect");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void coldForgeBootstrapRetriesTransientDownloadsWithoutAcceptingPersistentFailure() throws Exception {
+		String text = new String(Files.readAllBytes(
+				Paths.get(".github", "workflows", "ci.yml")), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+		assertTrue(text.contains("for attempt in 1 2 3; do"),
+				"Cold Forge bootstrap must bound transient download retries");
+		assertTrue(text.contains("./gradlew \"${gradle_args[@]}\" 2>&1 | tee \"$attempt_log\""),
+				"Every retry must preserve the exact Gradle bootstrap arguments and diagnostics");
+		assertTrue(text.contains("rm -rf -- \"$GRADLE_USER_HOME/caches/minecraftforge\" .gradle/mavenizer"),
+				"Retries must discard partial Forge and Mavenizer state");
+		assertTrue(text.contains("Cold Forge bootstrap failed after $attempt attempts"),
+				"A persistent bootstrap failure must still fail CI");
+	}
+
 	private static int occurrences(String text, String needle) {
 		int count = 0;
 		int offset = 0;