diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 18ccd11c62f..4b6fca3beda 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -657,6 +657,7 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: read
       actions: read
+      checks: read
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v6
@@ -666,27 +667,31 @@ jobs:
         with:
           bun-version: 1.4.4
 
-      # Diff from the head of the last earlier run whose submission succeeded, not the previous
+      # Diff from the last earlier main commit whose `indexnow` check succeeded, not the previous
       # push: a push that never deployed, or whose submission failed, would otherwise drop its
-      # changed URLs for good. Falls back to the previous push when no such run is in view. The
-      # diff needs only the two trees, so that one commit is fetched alone; an all-zero `before`
-      # (the branch's first push) has no base, which the script skips.
+      # changed URLs for good. The check-runs lookup asks for this one check per commit, so it
+      # stays small and counts every attempt of a re-run; a lookup that errors counts as no
+      # success. With no success in view, the base is the oldest run in view, so URLs that no
+      # submission ever covered are sent now. The diff needs only the two trees, so that one
+      # commit is fetched alone; an all-zero `before` (the branch's first push) has no base,
+      # which the script skips.
       - name: Submit changed URLs to IndexNow
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           PUSH_BEFORE: ${{ github.event.before }}
         run: |
           BASE_SHA=""
-          while read -r run_id head_sha; do
-            conclusion="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/actions/runs/$run_id/jobs?per_page=100" \
-              --jq '.jobs[] | select(.name == "indexnow") | .conclusion')"
-            if [[ "$conclusion" == "success" ]]; then
+          OLDEST_SHA=""
+          while read -r head_sha; do
+            OLDEST_SHA="$head_sha"
+            if succeeded="$(gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/commits/$head_sha/check-runs?check_name=indexnow&filter=all" \
+              --jq '[.check_runs[] | select(.conclusion == "success")] | length')" && [[ "$succeeded" -gt 0 ]]; then
               BASE_SHA="$head_sha"
               break
             fi
           done < <(gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/actions/workflows/ci.yml/runs?branch=main&event=push&per_page=30" \
-            --jq ".workflow_runs[] | select(.id < $GITHUB_RUN_ID) | \"\\(.id) \\(.head_sha)\"")
-          BASE_SHA="${BASE_SHA:-$PUSH_BEFORE}"
+            --jq ".workflow_runs[] | select(.id < $GITHUB_RUN_ID) | .head_sha")
+          BASE_SHA="${BASE_SHA:-${OLDEST_SHA:-$PUSH_BEFORE}}"
           echo "Submitting URLs changed in $BASE_SHA..$GITHUB_SHA"
           if [[ ! "$BASE_SHA" =~ ^0+$ ]]; then
             git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 origin "$BASE_SHA"