diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml
index 83225b6dc..534911fcd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ jobs:
             const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
             const issue_number = context.payload.pull_request.number;
             const marker = "<!-- pr-template-check -->";
-            const comments = await github.rest.issues.listComments({ owner, repo, issue_number });
-            const existing = comments.data.find((c) => c.body?.includes(marker));
+            const comments = await github.paginate(github.rest.issues.listComments, { owner, repo, issue_number });
+            const existing = comments.find((c) => c.body?.includes(marker));
             const payload = `${marker}\n${body}`;
             if (existing) await github.rest.issues.updateComment({ owner, repo, comment_id: existing.id, body: payload });
             else await github.rest.issues.createComment({ owner, repo, issue_number, body: payload });
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
             const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
             const issue_number = context.payload.pull_request.number;
             const marker = "<!-- pr-template-check -->";
-            const comments = await github.rest.issues.listComments({ owner, repo, issue_number });
-            const existing = comments.data.find((c) => c.body?.includes(marker));
+            const comments = await github.paginate(github.rest.issues.listComments, { owner, repo, issue_number });
+            const existing = comments.find((c) => c.body?.includes(marker));
             if (existing) await github.rest.issues.deleteComment({ owner, repo, comment_id: existing.id });
             try { await github.rest.issues.removeLabel({ owner, repo, issue_number, name: "blocked: template" }); } catch {}
diff --git a/scripts/check-pr-template.mjs b/scripts/check-pr-template.mjs
index 53cebb047..eeffb4a0a 100644
--- a/scripts/check-pr-template.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-pr-template.mjs
@@ -19,7 +19,13 @@ if (!bodyFile) {
   process.exit(2);
 }
 
-const body = readFileSync(bodyFile, "utf8").replace(/\r\n/g, "\n");
+let body;
+try {
+  body = readFileSync(bodyFile, "utf8").replace(/\r\n/g, "\n");
+} catch (e) {
+  console.error(`cannot read body file ${bodyFile}: ${e.message}`);
+  process.exit(2);
+}
 const association = (process.env.AUTHOR_ASSOCIATION || "").toUpperCase();
 const isMaintainer = ["OWNER", "MEMBER", "COLLABORATOR"].includes(association);