diff --git a/internal/git/git.go b/internal/git/git.go
index 397f10f..945e4b8 100644
--- a/internal/git/git.go
+++ b/internal/git/git.go
@@ -149,12 +149,16 @@ func GetInitialCommit() (string, error) {
 	return strings.TrimSpace(string(output)), nil
 }
 
-// GetLatestTag returns the most recent tag matching the given prefix, sorted by semver.
-// Returns empty string if no matching tags found.
-func GetLatestTag(prefix string) (string, string, error) {
+// GetLatestTag returns the most recent tag matching the given prefix, sorted by
+// semver. Tag lookups run against dir so the caller's repository is read even
+// when the process working directory points elsewhere; an empty dir falls back
+// to the process working directory. Returns empty string if no matching tags
+// found.
+func GetLatestTag(dir, prefix string) (string, string, error) {
 	// Get all tags matching prefix, sorted by version descending
 	// --sort=-v:refname sorts by version in descending order
 	cmd := exec.Command("git", "tag", "-l", prefix+"*", "--sort=-v:refname")
+	cmd.Dir = dir
 	output, err := cmd.Output()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("git tag: %w", err)
@@ -172,6 +176,7 @@ func GetLatestTag(prefix string) (string, string, error) {
 
 		// First valid tag is the latest (git sorted descending by version).
 		cmd = exec.Command("git", "rev-list", "-n", "1", tag)
+		cmd.Dir = dir
 		output, err = cmd.Output()
 		if err != nil {
 			return tag, "", fmt.Errorf("git rev-list for tag: %w", err)
@@ -393,8 +398,12 @@ func remoteRefAlreadyGone(out []byte) bool {
 
 // GetLatestReleaseTag returns the most recent non-prerelease tag (no -rc suffix).
 // This is used to find the base version for calculating next release versions.
-func GetLatestReleaseTag(prefix string) (string, string, error) {
+// Tag lookups run against dir so the caller's repository is read even when the
+// process working directory points elsewhere; an empty dir falls back to the
+// process working directory.
+func GetLatestReleaseTag(dir, prefix string) (string, string, error) {
 	cmd := exec.Command("git", "tag", "-l", prefix+"*", "--sort=-v:refname")
+	cmd.Dir = dir
 	output, err := cmd.Output()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("git tag: %w", err)
@@ -416,6 +425,7 @@ func GetLatestReleaseTag(prefix string) (string, string, error) {
 		if !strings.Contains(tag, "-rc.") {
 			// Get the SHA for this tag
 			cmd = exec.Command("git", "rev-list", "-n", "1", tag)
+			cmd.Dir = dir
 			output, err = cmd.Output()
 			if err != nil {
 				return tag, "", fmt.Errorf("git rev-list for tag: %w", err)
diff --git a/internal/git/git_test.go b/internal/git/git_test.go
index 38845aa..a898c86 100644
--- a/internal/git/git_test.go
+++ b/internal/git/git_test.go
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ func tagHead(t *testing.T, name string) {
 }
 
 func TestGetLatestTag_IgnoresNonVersionTags(t *testing.T) {
-	newScratchRepo(t)
+	dir := newScratchRepo(t)
 	commitFile(t, "a.txt", "one", "first commit")
 
 	// Valid version tags plus non-version tags that sort newer by base version.
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ func TestGetLatestTag_IgnoresNonVersionTags(t *testing.T) {
 	tagHead(t, "v0.6.0-dryrun.1") // higher base version, not a cascade version
 	tagHead(t, "vnightly")        // foreign tag matching the prefix glob
 
-	got, sha, err := GetLatestTag("v")
+	got, sha, err := GetLatestTag(dir, "v")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("GetLatestTag() unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ func TestGetLatestTag_IgnoresNonVersionTags(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGetLatestReleaseTag_IgnoresNonVersionTags(t *testing.T) {
-	newScratchRepo(t)
+	dir := newScratchRepo(t)
 	commitFile(t, "a.txt", "one", "first commit")
 
 	tagHead(t, "v0.5.0")
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ func TestGetLatestReleaseTag_IgnoresNonVersionTags(t *testing.T) {
 	tagHead(t, "v0.6.0-dryrun.1") // not an -rc tag, but also not a valid version
 	tagHead(t, "vnightly")
 
-	got, sha, err := GetLatestReleaseTag("v")
+	got, sha, err := GetLatestReleaseTag(dir, "v")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("GetLatestReleaseTag() unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ func TestGetLatestReleaseTag_SkipsRCButKeepsValidRelease(t *testing.T) {
 	tagHead(t, "v1.0.0")
 	tagHead(t, "v1.0.1-rc.0") // valid prerelease, must be skipped for "release"
 
-	got, _, err := GetLatestReleaseTag("v")
+	got, _, err := GetLatestReleaseTag("", "v")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("GetLatestReleaseTag() unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -384,6 +384,80 @@ func TestGetLatestReleaseTag_SkipsRCButKeepsValidRelease(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// initRepoAt initializes a git repository at dir, commits a file, and creates a
+// lightweight tag pointing at the resulting commit, all via "git -C" so the
+// process working directory is never changed.
+func initRepoAt(t *testing.T, dir, tag string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	for _, args := range [][]string{
+		{"-C", dir, "init"},
+		{"-C", dir, "config", "user.email", "test@example.com"},
+		{"-C", dir, "config", "user.name", "Test User"},
+		{"-C", dir, "config", "commit.gpgsign", "false"},
+	} {
+		if out, err := exec.Command("git", args...).CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("git %s: %v\n%s", strings.Join(args, " "), err, out)
+		}
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "f.txt"), []byte("x"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write file: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, args := range [][]string{
+		{"-C", dir, "add", "f.txt"},
+		{"-C", dir, "commit", "-m", "seed"},
+		{"-C", dir, "tag", tag},
+	} {
+		if out, err := exec.Command("git", args...).CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("git %s: %v\n%s", strings.Join(args, " "), err, out)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestGetLatestTag_ScopesToDir proves the lookup reads the repository at the
+// given dir, not the process working directory. The cwd repo carries a decoy
+// tag that sorts higher; a cwd-scoped lookup would return it.
+func TestGetLatestTag_ScopesToDir(t *testing.T) {
+	newScratchRepo(t) // cwd is a repo with a higher-sorting decoy tag
+	commitFile(t, "a.txt", "one", "first commit")
+	tagHead(t, "v9.9.9")
+
+	target := t.TempDir()
+	initRepoAt(t, target, "v1.2.3")
+
+	got, sha, err := GetLatestTag(target, "v")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetLatestTag() unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got != "v1.2.3" {
+		t.Errorf("GetLatestTag() = %q, want %q (must read the dir repo, not cwd)", got, "v1.2.3")
+	}
+	if sha == "" {
+		t.Errorf("GetLatestTag() returned empty SHA for %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestGetLatestReleaseTag_ScopesToDir mirrors TestGetLatestTag_ScopesToDir for
+// the release-tag lookup.
+func TestGetLatestReleaseTag_ScopesToDir(t *testing.T) {
+	newScratchRepo(t)
+	commitFile(t, "a.txt", "one", "first commit")
+	tagHead(t, "v9.9.9")
+
+	target := t.TempDir()
+	initRepoAt(t, target, "v1.2.3")
+
+	got, sha, err := GetLatestReleaseTag(target, "v")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetLatestReleaseTag() unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got != "v1.2.3" {
+		t.Errorf("GetLatestReleaseTag() = %q, want %q (must read the dir repo, not cwd)", got, "v1.2.3")
+	}
+	if sha == "" {
+		t.Errorf("GetLatestReleaseTag() returned empty SHA for %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestIsValidVersionTag(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		tag  string
diff --git a/internal/orchestrate/orchestrator.go b/internal/orchestrate/orchestrator.go
index daaedb1..7d9df8e 100644
--- a/internal/orchestrate/orchestrator.go
+++ b/internal/orchestrate/orchestrator.go
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) calculateVersion() (string, error) {
 
 		// If no state, check for latest RC tag
 		if currentDevVersion == "" {
-			latestTag, _, err := git.GetLatestTag(tagPrefix)
+			latestTag, _, err := git.GetLatestTag(o.baseDir, tagPrefix)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Warn("Failed to get latest tag: %v", err)
 			} else if latestTag != "" {
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) calculateVersion() (string, error) {
 
 		// Get latest published release (non-RC) as base version for version calculation
 		// This ensures we continue from v1.0.0 → v1.0.1-rc.0, not restart at v0.1.0-rc.0
-		latestRelease, releaseSHA, err := git.GetLatestReleaseTag(tagPrefix)
+		latestRelease, releaseSHA, err := git.GetLatestReleaseTag(o.baseDir, tagPrefix)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Warn("Failed to get latest release tag: %v", err)
 		} else if latestRelease != "" {