diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index e714474..bc84337 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "givework",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
+  "version": "0.5.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "givework",
-      "version": "0.4.0",
+      "version": "0.5.1",
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
         "@hono/node-server": "^1.13.7",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 34e2d13..41473bd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "givework",
-  "version": "0.5.0",
+  "version": "0.5.1",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Volunteer your AI agent's spare capacity to open mathematics",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
diff --git a/src/code-contrib.ts b/src/code-contrib.ts
index b090e33..e3fb3ec 100644
--- a/src/code-contrib.ts
+++ b/src/code-contrib.ts
@@ -112,15 +112,33 @@ export async function publishCodeContribution(
     await run('git', ['commit', '-s', '-m', message], dir);
 
     // Direct push if this volunteer has rights on the contrib repo; fall back
-    // to the fork flow (gh handles creating/reusing the fork) otherwise.
+    // to the fork flow otherwise.
     let head = branch;
     try {
       await run('git', ['push', '-u', 'origin', branch], dir);
-    } catch {
-      await run('gh', ['repo', 'fork', repo, '--remote', '--remote-name', 'contribfork'], dir);
-      await run('git', ['push', '-u', 'contribfork', branch], dir);
-      const login = (await run('gh', ['api', 'user', '--jq', '.login'], dir)).trim();
-      head = `${login}:${branch}`;
+    } catch (pushErr) {
+      try {
+        // `gh repo fork <repo> --remote` is rejected by gh ("the --remote flag
+        // is unsupported when a repository argument is provided"), so fork
+        // without touching remotes and wire the fork up with plain git.
+        await run('gh', ['repo', 'fork', repo, '--clone=false'], dir);
+        const login = (await run('gh', ['api', 'user', '--jq', '.login'], dir)).trim();
+        const name = repo.split('/')[1] ?? repo;
+        await run(
+          'git',
+          ['remote', 'add', 'contribfork', `https://github.com/${login}/${name}.git`],
+          dir,
+        );
+        await run('git', ['push', '-u', 'contribfork', branch], dir);
+        head = `${login}:${branch}`;
+      } catch (forkErr) {
+        // Both causes, or the runner only ever sees the fork error and the
+        // reason the direct push was refused stays invisible.
+        throw new Error(
+          `direct push refused (${(pushErr as Error).message}); ` +
+            `fork fallback failed (${(forkErr as Error).message})`,
+        );
+      }
     }
 
     const body =
diff --git a/test/code-contrib.test.ts b/test/code-contrib.test.ts
index c90b3e5..d8be992 100644
--- a/test/code-contrib.test.ts
+++ b/test/code-contrib.test.ts
@@ -71,8 +71,10 @@ describe('publishCodeContribution', () => {
 
   it('falls back to the fork flow when direct push is refused', async () => {
     const calls: string[] = [];
+    const argv: string[][] = [];
     const run = async (cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
       calls.push(`${cmd} ${args.slice(0, 2).join(' ')}`);
+      argv.push([cmd, ...args]);
       if (cmd === 'git' && args[0] === 'push' && args.includes('origin'))
         throw new Error('permission denied');
       if (cmd === 'gh' && args[0] === 'api') return 'volunteer-login\n';
@@ -83,5 +85,34 @@ describe('publishCodeContribution', () => {
     expect(pub.branch.startsWith('volunteer-login:contrib/ffff0000-')).toBe(true);
     expect(calls).toContain('gh repo fork');
     expect(pub.pr_url).toBe('https://github.com/o/r/pull/9');
+
+    // gh refuses --remote/--remote-name alongside a repository argument.
+    const fork = argv.find((a) => a[0] === 'gh' && a[1] === 'repo' && a[2] === 'fork');
+    expect(fork).toBeDefined();
+    expect(fork).toContain('o/r');
+    expect(fork?.some((a) => a.startsWith('--remote'))).toBe(false);
+    // The fork remote is wired up with plain git instead.
+    const remote = argv.find((a) => a[0] === 'git' && a[1] === 'remote');
+    expect(remote).toEqual([
+      'git',
+      'remote',
+      'add',
+      'contribfork',
+      'https://github.com/volunteer-login/r.git',
+    ]);
+    expect(argv.some((a) => a[0] === 'git' && a[1] === 'push' && a.includes('contribfork'))).toBe(
+      true,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('reports both causes when the fork fallback also fails', async () => {
+    const run = async (cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
+      if (cmd === 'git' && args[0] === 'push') throw new Error('could not read Username');
+      if (cmd === 'gh' && args[0] === 'repo') throw new Error('gh repo exited 1: HTTP 404');
+      return '';
+    };
+    await expect(
+      publishCodeContribution(cc, { taskId: 'ffff0000-x', repo: 'o/r', run }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/direct push refused .*could not read Username.*fork fallback failed .*404/s);
   });
 });