diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-book.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-book.yml
index fe7b672..5e0387a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-book.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-book.yml
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 
 name: deploy-book
 
-# Updates public documentation for new releases.
+# Updates public documentation for new releases, or on demand.
 on:
   release:
     types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
 
 # This job installs dependencies, builds the book, and pushes it to `gh-pages`
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint-notebooks.yml b/.github/workflows/lint-notebooks.yml
index e5acaeb..af9d65d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint-notebooks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint-notebooks.yml
@@ -5,16 +5,15 @@ name: lint-notebooks
 # place, MyST-NB/nbconvert renders that leftover state into the built docs,
 # so old widget content (e.g. stale progress-bar text) can silently reappear
 # in published pages even after the code that produced it is gone.
+#
+# No `paths:` filter: this check is required by branch protection on main,
+# and a required check that never runs (e.g. filtered out by paths) leaves a
+# PR permanently blocked rather than passing, even if it's unrelated to
+# notebooks. The check itself is cheap, so we just run it on every PR/push.
 on:
   pull_request:
-    paths:
-      - "**/*.ipynb"
-      - "scripts/check_notebook_widgets.py"
   push:
     branches: [main]
-    paths:
-      - "**/*.ipynb"
-      - "scripts/check_notebook_widgets.py"
 
 jobs:
   check-notebook-widgets: