diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/reusable/checkout.yml b/.gitea/workflows/reusable/checkout.yml
index a85154f..aca5575 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/reusable/checkout.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/reusable/checkout.yml
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ on:
         default: 1
       verify-sha:
         required: false
-        type: boolean
-        default: true
-        description: "Fail unless the checked-out HEAD equals the triggering commit"
+        type: string
+        default: "yes"
+        description: "Empty disables; otherwise fail unless HEAD equals the triggering commit (boolean inputs are NOT reliable through workflow_call with:)"
 
 jobs:
   checkout:
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: ${{ inputs.fetch-depth }}
 
       - name: verify HEAD equals triggering commit
-        if: inputs.verify-sha
+        if: inputs.verify-sha != ''
         run: |
           set -eu
           test "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" = "${GITHUB_SHA}"
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/reusable/node-quality.yml b/.gitea/workflows/reusable/node-quality.yml
index 574c532..3ae90fc 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/reusable/node-quality.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/reusable/node-quality.yml
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@ on:
         description: "fixed: one shared persistent dir. per-run: fresh mktemp child per run + always() cleanup (for scripts with from-zero guards on commit-keyed tool caches)"
       mount-docker-socket:
         required: false
-        type: boolean
-        default: false
-        description: "Mount /var/run/docker.sock into the toolchain containers (install scripts that pull images)"
+        type: string
+        default: ""
+        description: "Non-empty (e.g. 'yes') mounts /var/run/docker.sock into the toolchain containers (boolean inputs are NOT passed reliably through workflow_call with:)"
       commit-env-name:
         required: false
         type: string
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -eu
           mount_args=""
-          if [ "${{ inputs.mount-docker-socket }}" = "true" ]; then
+          if [ -n "${{ inputs.mount-docker-socket }}" ]; then
             mount_args="-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
           fi
           env_args=""