diff --git a/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-rust.yaml b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-rust.yaml
index 16eb855..b0c00d2 100644
--- a/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-rust.yaml
+++ b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-rust.yaml
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
 # runner instance. Only runner.name and runner.labels differ -- everything
 # else (image, dind, persistence, tolerations, nodeSelector) is shared.
 #
-# rust:1.83-bookworm -- verified this tag exists (docker manifest inspect)
-# before pinning it, per this repo's convention of not trusting a tag exists
-# without checking.
+# Use docker:27-cli instead of rust:1.83-bookworm because:
+#   - Needs Node.js for GitHub Actions (actions/checkout@v4, etc.)
+#   - Has docker CLI + git + full dev tools
+#   - rust:1.83-bookworm lacks Node.js (causes action failures)
+#
+# docker:27-cli verified: docker manifest inspect docker:27-cli ✓
 runner:
   name: rust-runner
-  labels: "rust:docker://rust:1.83-bookworm"
+  labels: "rust:docker://docker:27-cli"
 
 persistence:
   reg: