diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml b/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
index a16a0797..5e57c6e4 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/nightly.yml
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ jobs:
           HOST="staging.raddatz.cloud"
           URL="https://$HOST"
           HOST_IP=$(ip route show default | awk '/default/ {print $3}')
+          [ -n "$HOST_IP" ] || { echo "ERROR: could not detect Docker bridge gateway via 'ip route'"; exit 1; }
           RESOLVE="--resolve $HOST:443:$HOST_IP"
           echo "Smoke test: $URL (pinned to $HOST_IP via bridge gateway)"
           curl -fsS $RESOLVE --max-time 10 "$URL/login" -o /dev/null
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 4dafb0e3..714dc864 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ jobs:
           HOST="archiv.raddatz.cloud"
           URL="https://$HOST"
           HOST_IP=$(ip route show default | awk '/default/ {print $3}')
+          [ -n "$HOST_IP" ] || { echo "ERROR: could not detect Docker bridge gateway via 'ip route'"; exit 1; }
           RESOLVE="--resolve $HOST:443:$HOST_IP"
           echo "Smoke test: $URL (pinned to $HOST_IP via bridge gateway)"
           curl -fsS $RESOLVE --max-time 10 "$URL/login" -o /dev/null