diff --git a/.github/actions/prepare-linkedin-release-post/prepare.py b/.github/actions/prepare-linkedin-release-post/prepare.py
index 24df321..6561e3e 100644
--- a/.github/actions/prepare-linkedin-release-post/prepare.py
+++ b/.github/actions/prepare-linkedin-release-post/prepare.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 def truncate(value, limit):
     if len(value) <= limit:
         return value
+    if limit <= 3:
+        return value[:limit]
     return value[: limit - 3].rstrip() + "..."
 
 
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ def truncate_little_text(value, limit):
     if len(escaped) <= limit:
         return escaped
 
-    available = limit - 3
+    available = limit if limit <= 3 else limit - 3
     result = []
     length = 0
     for character in value:
@@ -35,7 +37,8 @@ def truncate_little_text(value, limit):
             break
         result.append(token)
         length += len(token)
-    return "".join(result).rstrip() + "..."
+    joined = "".join(result).rstrip()
+    return joined if limit <= 3 else f"{joined}..."
 
 
 def is_release_heading(value, tag):
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-linkedin-release-shared.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-linkedin-release-shared.yml
index 710877d..fe50931 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-linkedin-release-shared.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-linkedin-release-shared.yml
@@ -48,8 +48,12 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-slim
     permissions: {}
     steps:
+      - id: check-token
+        env:
+          TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.telegram-bot-token }}
+        run: echo "present=${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN:+true}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - name: Notify success
-        if: needs.publish.result == 'success'
+        if: needs.publish.result == 'success' && steps.check-token.outputs.present == 'true'
         uses: $/.github/actions/send-telegram-message
         with:
           message: >-
@@ -58,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:
           telegram-bot-token: ${{ secrets.telegram-bot-token }}
           telegram-chat-id: ${{ inputs.telegram-chat-id }}
       - name: Notify failure
-        if: needs.publish.result == 'failure'
+        if: needs.publish.result == 'failure' && steps.check-token.outputs.present == 'true'
         uses: $/.github/actions/send-telegram-message
         with:
           message: >-
diff --git a/test/test_linkedin_release.py b/test/test_linkedin_release.py
index 93673cb..ca0bebb 100644
--- a/test/test_linkedin_release.py
+++ b/test/test_linkedin_release.py
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ def test_normalizes_and_deduplicates_repository_topics(self):
             "#GithubActions #CPlusPlus",
         )
 
+    def test_truncate_never_exceeds_limit_for_small_limits(self):
+        for limit in range(4):
+            with self.subTest(limit=limit):
+                self.assertLessEqual(len(PREPARE.truncate("hello world", limit)), limit)
+
+    def test_truncate_little_text_never_exceeds_limit_for_small_limits(self):
+        for limit in range(4):
+            with self.subTest(limit=limit):
+                self.assertLessEqual(len(PREPARE.truncate_little_text("hello #world", limit)), limit)
+
     def test_truncates_body_and_preserves_release_url(self):
         self.release["body"] = "x" * 4000
 
@@ -270,15 +280,18 @@ def test_shared_workflow_notifies_telegram_when_chat_id_is_set(self):
         self.assertIn("needs.publish.result == 'success'", job["if"])
         self.assertIn("needs.publish.result == 'failure'", job["if"])
         self.assertEqual(job["permissions"], {})
-        self.assertEqual(
-            [step["uses"] for step in job["steps"]],
-            ["$/.github/actions/send-telegram-message", "$/.github/actions/send-telegram-message"],
-        )
-        for step in job["steps"]:
+
+        check_token, notify_success, notify_failure = job["steps"]
+        self.assertEqual(check_token["id"], "check-token")
+        self.assertIn("secrets.telegram-bot-token", check_token["env"]["TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"])
+
+        for step in (notify_success, notify_failure):
+            self.assertEqual(step["uses"], "$/.github/actions/send-telegram-message")
+            self.assertIn("steps.check-token.outputs.present == 'true'", step["if"])
             self.assertEqual(step["with"]["telegram-bot-token"], "${{ secrets.telegram-bot-token }}")
             self.assertEqual(step["with"]["telegram-chat-id"], "${{ inputs.telegram-chat-id }}")
-        self.assertEqual(job["steps"][0]["if"], "needs.publish.result == 'success'")
-        self.assertEqual(job["steps"][1]["if"], "needs.publish.result == 'failure'")
+        self.assertIn("needs.publish.result == 'success'", notify_success["if"])
+        self.assertIn("needs.publish.result == 'failure'", notify_failure["if"])
 
     def test_baseline_caller_passes_token_explicitly(self):
         path = BASELINE_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "publish-linkedin-release.yml"