diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 17c6bda12..5500978bd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -124,6 +124,10 @@ jobs:
           mkdir dist
           for p in ${{ inputs.component }}*
           do
+            # exclude cython test artifacts
+            if [[ "${p}" == *-tests ]]; then
+              continue
+            fi
             mv ${p}/*.whl dist/
           done
           rmdir ${{ inputs.component }}*