diff --git a/.github/workflows/manual-release.yml b/.github/workflows/manual-release.yml
index 9c393f8..a07f777 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/manual-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/manual-release.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create Build
         run: npm run build
 
+      # NPM expects to be authenticated for publishing. This step will fail CI if NPM is not authenticated
+      - name: Check NPM authentication
+        run: |
+          echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${{ secrets.SEMANTIC_RELEASE_NPM_TOKEN }}" >> .npmrc
+          npm whoami
+
       - name: Release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SEMANTIC_RELEASE_GITHUB_TOKEN }}