diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-branch-validate.yml b/.github/workflows/release-branch-validate.yml
index 2176bb51ff7a..822c0b5c0f41 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-branch-validate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-branch-validate.yml
@@ -46,10 +46,12 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 20
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout with history
+      - name: Checkout with parent
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Shallow: just HEAD and HEAD~1. Multi-commit pushes fetch the
+          # older base on demand in the "Determine changed X files" step.
+          fetch-depth: 2
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Determine changed Java files
@@ -61,6 +63,9 @@ jobs:
           if [ -z "${BEFORE}" ] || [ "${BEFORE}" = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" ]; then
             BASE=$(git rev-parse HEAD~1)
           else
+            # Multi-commit push: BEFORE may be older than the shallow depth 2
+            # checkout carries, so pull just that one object on demand.
+            git cat-file -e "${BEFORE}" 2>/dev/null || git fetch --depth=1 origin "${BEFORE}"
             BASE="${BEFORE}"
           fi
           CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only --diff-filter=ACMR "${BASE}" HEAD -- '*.java' | tr '\n' ' ')
@@ -90,35 +95,37 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-maven-
 
-      - name: Run spotless (full tree apply)
-        if: steps.files.outputs.any == 'true'
-        run: mvn -B spotless:apply
-
-      - name: Fail only if changed Java files diverged
+      - name: Run spotless:check on changed Java files only
         if: steps.files.outputs.any == 'true'
         env:
           CHANGED: ${{ steps.files.outputs.changed }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          # Guard against baseline drift: only assert on files the push touched.
-          # xargs is used so an empty CHANGED simply exits 0 rather than diffing all.
-          if [ -z "${CHANGED}" ]; then exit 0; fi
-          if [ -n "$(echo ${CHANGED} | xargs git status --porcelain --)" ]; then
-            echo "spotless:apply rewrote files pushed by this commit:"
-            echo ${CHANGED} | xargs git status --porcelain --
-            echo ${CHANGED} | xargs git --no-pager diff --
-            exit 1
-          fi
+          # spotless-maven-plugin accepts a comma-separated list of regexes
+          # matched against absolute file paths. Build one regex per file with
+          # `.` escaped and a `.*` prefix so it survives Maven's absolutization.
+          PATTERNS=""
+          for f in ${CHANGED}; do
+            # Escape regex metacharacters we might see in filenames.
+            ESCAPED=$(printf '%s' "$f" | sed 's/[][().^$+*?|\\]/\\&/g')
+            PATTERNS="${PATTERNS}${PATTERNS:+,}.*${ESCAPED}"
+          done
+          echo "spotless:check regex: ${PATTERNS}"
+          # Baseline drift on other files is intentionally ignored; scope
+          # matches the "Determine changed X files" step above.
+          mvn -B spotless:check "-DspotlessFiles=${PATTERNS}"
 
   python-checkstyle:
     name: Python Checkstyle
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 10
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout with history
+      - name: Checkout with parent
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Shallow: just HEAD and HEAD~1. Multi-commit pushes fetch the
+          # older base on demand in the "Determine changed X files" step.
+          fetch-depth: 2
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Determine changed Python files
@@ -130,6 +137,9 @@ jobs:
           if [ -z "${BEFORE}" ] || [ "${BEFORE}" = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" ]; then
             BASE=$(git rev-parse HEAD~1)
           else
+            # Multi-commit push: BEFORE may be older than the shallow depth 2
+            # checkout carries, so pull just that one object on demand.
+            git cat-file -e "${BEFORE}" 2>/dev/null || git fetch --depth=1 origin "${BEFORE}"
             BASE="${BEFORE}"
           fi
           # Scope to the two dirs ingestion/Makefile:py_format_check targets.
@@ -176,10 +186,12 @@ jobs:
     env:
       UI_WORKING_DIRECTORY: openmetadata-ui/src/main/resources/ui
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout with history
+      - name: Checkout with parent
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Shallow: just HEAD and HEAD~1. Multi-commit pushes fetch the
+          # older base on demand in the "Determine changed X files" step.
+          fetch-depth: 2
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Determine changed UI files
@@ -191,6 +203,9 @@ jobs:
           if [ -z "${BEFORE}" ] || [ "${BEFORE}" = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" ]; then
             BASE=$(git rev-parse HEAD~1)
           else
+            # Multi-commit push: BEFORE may be older than the shallow depth 2
+            # checkout carries, so pull just that one object on demand.
+            git cat-file -e "${BEFORE}" 2>/dev/null || git fetch --depth=1 origin "${BEFORE}"
             BASE="${BEFORE}"
           fi
           # Match existing ui-checkstyle: src globs only, exclude generated/**.