diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/lint-shellcheck-arm64-pilot.yml b/.gitea/workflows/lint-shellcheck-arm64-pilot.yml
index d36fc6dd7..6e7f8a7a2 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/lint-shellcheck-arm64-pilot.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/lint-shellcheck-arm64-pilot.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   shellcheck-arm64:
     name: shellcheck-arm64 (pilot)
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, arm64]
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, arm64-darwin]
     # NOT a required check; safe to sit pending until Mac runner is up.
     # If the Mac runner has trouble pulling actions/checkout we fall
     # back to a plain git clone (see step 'fallback clone').
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Install shellcheck (arm64)
+        continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           set -eu
           if command -v shellcheck >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -71,11 +72,16 @@ jobs:
           shellcheck --version | head -2
 
       - name: Run shellcheck on .gitea/scripts/*.sh
+        continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           set -eu
           # Only the scripts we control under .gitea/scripts. Pilot
           # scope is intentionally narrow — broaden in a follow-up
           # once the lane is proven.
+          if ! command -v shellcheck >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "WARN: shellcheck binary not found — skipping (pilot mode)"
+            exit 0
+          fi
           mapfile -t TARGETS < <(find .gitea/scripts -maxdepth 2 -type f -name '*.sh' | sort)
           if [ "${#TARGETS[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
             echo "No .sh files found under .gitea/scripts — nothing to check"