diff --git a/packages/config/src/cargo.ts b/packages/config/src/cargo.ts
index d0b9a54a..6527d0bd 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/cargo.ts
+++ b/packages/config/src/cargo.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ export function parseCargoToml(cargoPath: string): CargoManifest {
   return TOML.parse(content) as CargoManifest;
 }
 
+export function isCratePublishable(manifest: CargoManifest): boolean {
+  const publish = manifest.package?.publish;
+  const noRegistries = Array.isArray(publish) && publish.length === 0;
+  return publish !== false && !noRegistries;
+}
+
 export function isCargoToml(filePath: string): boolean {
   return path.basename(filePath) === 'Cargo.toml';
 }
diff --git a/packages/config/src/index.ts b/packages/config/src/index.ts
index 2aa9f02b..beb395cb 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/config/src/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export { type CargoManifest, isCargoToml, parseCargoToml } from './cargo.js';
+export { type CargoManifest, isCargoToml, isCratePublishable, parseCargoToml } from './cargo.js';
 export { ConfigError } from './errors.js';
 export {
   type LoadOptions,
diff --git a/packages/publish/src/registry/cargo.ts b/packages/publish/src/registry/cargo.ts
index 6cefe8a2..7c0ddf43 100644
--- a/packages/publish/src/registry/cargo.ts
+++ b/packages/publish/src/registry/cargo.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
+import { isCratePublishable } from '@releasekit/config';
 import { buildDependencyGraph, debug, type GraphPackage } from '@releasekit/core';
 import { createGitCli } from '@releasekit/git';
 import { createPublishError, PublishErrorCode } from '../errors/index.js';
@@ -129,6 +130,10 @@ function findCrates(updates: Array<{ newVersion: string; filePath: string; dir:
       if (!cargo.package?.name) {
         continue;
       }
+      if (!isCratePublishable(cargo)) {
+        debug(`Skipping crate ${cargo.package.name}: publish = false`);
+        continue;
+      }
 
       crates.push({
         packageName: cargo.package.name,
diff --git a/packages/publish/test/unit/stages/cargo-publish.spec.ts b/packages/publish/test/unit/stages/cargo-publish.spec.ts
index 6d7e6ab1..16166157 100644
--- a/packages/publish/test/unit/stages/cargo-publish.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/publish/test/unit/stages/cargo-publish.spec.ts
@@ -399,6 +399,28 @@ describe('cargo-publish stage', () => {
     expect((init?.headers as Record<string, string>)?.['User-Agent']).toMatch(/releasekit/);
   });
 
+  it.each(['publish = false', 'publish = []'])('should skip a crate with %s', async (publishLine) => {
+    const { execCommand } = await import('../../../src/utils/exec.js');
+    const dir = createTmpDir();
+    const pkgDir = path.join(dir, 'packages', 'napi');
+    fs.mkdirSync(pkgDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(pkgDir, 'package.json'), '{"name":"napi","version":"1.0.0"}');
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(pkgDir, 'Cargo.toml'), `[package]\nname = "napi"\nversion = "1.0.0"\n${publishLine}\n`);
+
+    const ctx = createContext(dir, {
+      input: {
+        dryRun: false,
+        updates: [{ packageName: 'napi', newVersion: '1.1.0', filePath: 'packages/napi/package.json' }],
+        changelogs: [],
+        tags: [],
+      },
+    });
+    await runCargoPublishStage(ctx);
+
+    expect(vi.mocked(execCommand).mock.calls.filter((c) => c[0] === 'cargo')).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(ctx.output.cargo).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
   it('should skip packages without Cargo.toml', async () => {
     const { execCommand } = await import('../../../src/utils/exec.js');
     const dir = createTmpDir();
diff --git a/packages/version/src/core/versionEngine.ts b/packages/version/src/core/versionEngine.ts
index ce9a4655..4bfe58d8 100644
--- a/packages/version/src/core/versionEngine.ts
+++ b/packages/version/src/core/versionEngine.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { cwd } from 'node:process';
 import { inspect } from 'node:util';
 import { getPackagesSync, type Package, type Packages } from '@manypkg/get-packages';
-import { filterPackagesByConfig, parseCargoToml, parsePubspec } from '@releasekit/config';
+import { filterPackagesByConfig, isCratePublishable, parseCargoToml, parsePubspec } from '@releasekit/config';
 import { isPrivatePackageJson, shouldMatchPackageTargets } from '@releasekit/core';
 import { minimatch } from 'minimatch';
 import * as yaml from 'yaml';
@@ -187,9 +187,7 @@ export class VersionEngine {
         // Parse Cargo.toml
         const cargoData = parseCargoToml(fullCargoPath);
 
-        // Skip crates that explicitly opt out of publishing (`publish = false` or `publish = []`).
-        const publishField = cargoData.package?.publish;
-        if (publishField === false || (Array.isArray(publishField) && publishField.length === 0)) {
+        if (!isCratePublishable(cargoData)) {
           log(`Skipping Rust package at ${packageDir}: publish = false`, 'debug');
           continue;
         }