diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e2e48bc..e95cff5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@ jobs:
         # it, `check_budget.py` falls back to characters/constant, and the two paths must agree.
         # Installing it here means CI exercises the real tokenizer path, and the unit test comparing
         # both paths runs instead of skipping.
-        run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip pytest tiktoken
+        # Not upgrading pip itself: it is not a goal here, and a pip self-upgrade failing would be
+        # reported as this repository's regression.
+        run: python -m pip install --upgrade pytest tiktoken
 
       - name: Structural gate - repository layout
         run: python check_repo.py