diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/release-windows.yml
index 20868c1c607..430fcf833ca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-windows.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'danmar' }}
 
     env:
+      PYTHON_VERSION: 3.14
       # see https://www.pcre.org/original/changelog.txt
       PCRE_VERSION: 8.45
       QT_VERSION: 6.10.0
@@ -35,6 +36,12 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+          check-latest: true
+
       - name: Set up Visual Studio environment
         uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1