diff --git a/.github/workflows/render-cv.yml b/.github/workflows/render-cv.yml
index af2c558..f34293f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/render-cv.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/render-cv.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ on:
       - "assets/rendercv/design.yaml"
       - "assets/rendercv/locale.yaml"
       - "assets/rendercv/settings.yaml"
+      - ".github/workflows/render-cv.yml"
   workflow_call:
   workflow_dispatch:
 permissions:
@@ -18,20 +19,44 @@ jobs:
     name: RenderCV
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
+      - name: Detect RenderCV input
+        id: detect
+        run: |
+          cv_file=$(find _data -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name "cv.yaml" -o -name "cv.yml" \) -print -quit)
+          if [ -z "$cv_file" ]; then
+            echo "enabled=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice::RenderCV skipped because no CV data file exists."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          if ! python - "$cv_file" <<'PY'
+          import re
+          import sys
+          from pathlib import Path
+
+          content = Path(sys.argv[1]).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+          raise SystemExit(0 if re.search(r"(?m)^cv:\s*(?:#.*)?$", content) else 1)
+          PY
+          then
+            echo "enabled=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice::RenderCV skipped because $cv_file uses the legacy display-only format."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          echo "enabled=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "cv_file=$cv_file" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - name: Install RenderCV
+        if: steps.detect.outputs.enabled == 'true'
         run: |
           pip install -r requirements.txt
       - name: RenderCV
+        if: steps.detect.outputs.enabled == 'true'
         run: |
-          cv_file=$(find _data  -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name "cv.yaml" -o -name "cv.yml" \))
-          if [ -z "$cv_file" ]; then
-            echo "No cv.yml file found!"
-            exit 1
-          fi
+          cv_file="${{ steps.detect.outputs.cv_file }}"
           rendercv_dir=$(find assets -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "rendercv")
           if [ -z "$rendercv_dir" ]; then
             echo "No RenderCV config directory found!"
@@ -45,14 +70,20 @@ jobs:
           rendercv render $cv_file --settings $settings
           rm assets/rendercv/rendercv_output/*.typ
       - name: Upload rendercv_output as an artifact
+        if: steps.detect.outputs.enabled == 'true'
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: RenderCV Output
           path: assets/rendercv/rendercv_output
       - name: Push the changes
+        if: steps.detect.outputs.enabled == 'true'
         run: |
           git config --global user.name "${{ github.actor }}"
           git config --global user.email "${{ github.actor }}@users.noreply.github.com"
           git add -A
+          if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+            echo "RenderCV output is already up to date."
+            exit 0
+          fi
           git commit -m "chore: render the latest CV"
           git push