diff --git a/.github/workflows/clang-tidy-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/clang-tidy-check.yaml
index 88bfe7364..6aa1009c3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/clang-tidy-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/clang-tidy-check.yaml
@@ -129,8 +129,18 @@ jobs:
         cd "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/phlex-build"
 
         echo "➡️ Running clang-tidy checks..."
-        cmake --build . --target clang-tidy-check -- --export-fixes clang-tidy-fixes.yaml > clang-tidy.log 2>&1 || true
-        if [ -s clang-tidy-fixes.yaml ]; then
+        cmake_status=0
+        cmake --build . --target clang-tidy-check -- --export-fixes clang-tidy-fixes.yaml > clang-tidy.log 2>&1 || cmake_status=$?
+
+        # Distinguish tooling failures from issue detection by checking log content
+        if [ "$cmake_status" -ne 0 ]; then
+          if ! grep -qE '^/.+\.(cpp|hpp|c|h):[0-9]+:[0-9]+: (warning|error):' clang-tidy.log; then
+            echo "::error::clang-tidy failed without producing diagnostic output (exit code $cmake_status)"
+            exit "$cmake_status"
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        if grep -qE '^/.+\.(cpp|hpp|c|h):[0-9]+:[0-9]+: (warning|error):' clang-tidy.log; then
           echo "has_issues=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "::warning::Clang-tidy found issues in the code"
           echo "Error count by check (full details in clang-tidy-log artifact):"