diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e864ad34..16ab008c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -172,15 +172,6 @@ jobs:
             ./output/stimcirq/*.tar.gz
             ./output/sinter/*.tar.gz
             ./output/stim/*
-    merge:
-      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-      needs: upload
-      steps:
-        - name: Merge Artifacts
-          uses: actions/upload-artifact/merge@v4
-          with:
-            name: dist
-            pattern: dist-*
   check_sdist_installs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
@@ -189,8 +180,17 @@ jobs:
       - run: python -m pip install pybind11~=2.11.1 cibuildwheel~=2.16.2 setuptools wheel
       - run: python setup.py sdist
       - run: pip install dist/*.tar.gz
-  upload_dev_release_to_pypi:
+  merge_upload_artifacts:
     needs: ["build_dist"]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Merge Artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact/merge@v4
+        with:
+          name: dist
+          pattern: dist-*
+  upload_dev_release_to_pypi:
+    needs: ["merge_upload_artifacts"]
     if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps: