diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-trusted.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-trusted.yml
index 960c415ba6..30fc834655 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-trusted.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-trusted.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
           EVENT_SENDER_ID: ${{ github.event.sender.id }}
           EVENT_BASE_REPOSITORY_ID: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.repo.id }}
           EVENT_BASE_REF: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}
+          EVENT_BASE_SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
           EVENT_HEAD_SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
           EVENT_MERGE_SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merge_commit_sha }}
           RUN_ID: ${{ github.run_id }}
@@ -59,6 +60,10 @@ jobs:
             [[ "$1" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]
           }
 
+          is_commit_sha() {
+            [[ "$1" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{40}$ ]]
+          }
+
           is_allowed() {
             local user_id="$1"
             jq -e --argjson user_id "$user_id" 'index($user_id) != null' \
@@ -86,6 +91,10 @@ jobs:
             is_allowed "$user_id" || fail_closed "GitHub user ID $user_id is not allowlisted"
           done
 
+          for commit_sha in "$EVENT_BASE_SHA" "$EVENT_HEAD_SHA" "$EVENT_MERGE_SHA"; do
+            is_commit_sha "$commit_sha" || fail_closed 'event contains a malformed commit SHA'
+          done
+
           pr_json="$(gh api \
             -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
             -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28' \
@@ -96,18 +105,69 @@ jobs:
             --argjson repository_id 1170821064 \
             --argjson author_id "$EVENT_PR_AUTHOR_ID" \
             --arg base_ref "$EVENT_BASE_REF" \
+            --arg base_sha "$EVENT_BASE_SHA" \
             --arg head_sha "$EVENT_HEAD_SHA" \
-            --arg merge_sha "$EVENT_MERGE_SHA" '
+            '
               .state == "open" and
               .user.id == $author_id and
               .base.repo.id == $repository_id and
               .base.ref == $base_ref and
-              .head.sha == $head_sha and
-              ($merge_sha != "") and
-              .merge_commit_sha == $merge_sha
+              .base.sha == $base_sha and
+              .head.sha == $head_sha
             ' <<< "$pr_json" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
             || fail_closed 'current pull request state does not match the triggering event'
 
+          live_merge_sha="$(jq -r '.merge_commit_sha // empty' <<< "$pr_json")"
+          is_commit_sha "$live_merge_sha" || fail_closed 'current pull request has no valid merge SHA'
+
+          base_ref_json="$(gh api \
+            -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
+            -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28' \
+            "/repos/paperclipai/paperclip/git/ref/heads/$EVENT_BASE_REF" 2>/dev/null)" \
+            || fail_closed 'could not refresh the base branch ref'
+
+          jq -e --arg base_sha "$EVENT_BASE_SHA" '
+            .object.type == "commit" and .object.sha == $base_sha
+          ' <<< "$base_ref_json" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+            || fail_closed 'base branch moved after the triggering event'
+
+          event_merge_json="$(gh api \
+            -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
+            -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28' \
+            "/repos/paperclipai/paperclip/git/commits/$EVENT_MERGE_SHA" 2>/dev/null)" \
+            || fail_closed 'could not inspect the event merge commit'
+
+          live_merge_json="$(gh api \
+            -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
+            -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28' \
+            "/repos/paperclipai/paperclip/git/commits/$live_merge_sha" 2>/dev/null)" \
+            || fail_closed 'could not inspect the current merge commit'
+
+          validate_merge_commit() {
+            local merge_json="$1"
+            local expected_sha="$2"
+            jq -e \
+              --arg expected_sha "$expected_sha" \
+              --arg base_sha "$EVENT_BASE_SHA" \
+              --arg head_sha "$EVENT_HEAD_SHA" '
+                .sha == $expected_sha and
+                (.parents | length) == 2 and
+                .parents[0].sha == $base_sha and
+                .parents[1].sha == $head_sha and
+                (.tree.sha | test("^[0-9a-f]{40}$"))
+              ' <<< "$merge_json" >/dev/null 2>&1
+          }
+
+          validate_merge_commit "$event_merge_json" "$EVENT_MERGE_SHA" \
+            || fail_closed 'event merge commit does not match the current base and head'
+          validate_merge_commit "$live_merge_json" "$live_merge_sha" \
+            || fail_closed 'current merge commit does not match the triggering base and head'
+
+          event_merge_tree="$(jq -r '.tree.sha' <<< "$event_merge_json")"
+          live_merge_tree="$(jq -r '.tree.sha' <<< "$live_merge_json")"
+          [[ "$event_merge_tree" == "$live_merge_tree" ]] \
+            || fail_closed 'current merge tree differs from the triggering merge tree'
+
           run_json="$(gh api \
             -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
             -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28' \