diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d027e6a1..23890968 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ jobs:
         run: mkdir -p "$GOCACHE"
 
       - name: Enforce coverage floor
+        shell: bash
         run: bash hack/check_coverage.sh 85 | tee coverage.txt
 
       - name: Write coverage summary
diff --git a/test/workflow_pipefail_test.go b/test/workflow_pipefail_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ea4282a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/workflow_pipefail_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Alexander Alten (novatechflow), NovaTechflow (novatechflow.com).
+// This project is supported and financed by Scalytics, Inc. (www.scalytics.io).
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestWorkflowPipedStepsUsePipefail(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := filepath.Join(repoRoot(t), ".github", "workflows")
+	files, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(dir, "*.yml"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("glob workflows: %v", err)
+	}
+	checked := 0
+	for _, file := range files {
+		body, err := os.ReadFile(file)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("read %s: %v", file, err)
+		}
+		for _, step := range workflowSteps(string(body)) {
+			if !strings.Contains(step, "check_coverage.sh") {
+				continue
+			}
+			checked++
+			if !strings.Contains(step, "| tee") {
+				continue
+			}
+			if !stepUsesPipefail(step) {
+				t.Errorf("%s: coverage step pipes into tee without pipefail, so a failing gate is masked:\n%s", filepath.Base(file), step)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if checked == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("no workflow step runs hack/check_coverage.sh")
+	}
+}
+
+func workflowSteps(body string) []string {
+	var steps []string
+	var current []string
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(body, "\n") {
+		trimmed := strings.TrimLeft(line, " ")
+		if strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "- ") || (len(trimmed) > 0 && len(line)-len(trimmed) <= 2) {
+			if len(current) > 0 {
+				steps = append(steps, strings.Join(current, "\n"))
+			}
+			current = nil
+		}
+		current = append(current, line)
+	}
+	if len(current) > 0 {
+		steps = append(steps, strings.Join(current, "\n"))
+	}
+	return steps
+}
+
+func stepUsesPipefail(step string) bool {
+	if strings.Contains(step, "pipefail") {
+		return true
+	}
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(step, "\n") {
+		if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "shell: bash" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}