diff --git a/.github/workflows/launcher.yml b/.github/workflows/launcher.yml
index f5157c69a..db8c5fac6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/launcher.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/launcher.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Smoke test
         env:
           HORIZON_LAUNCHER_NO_SELF_UPDATE: '1'
+          HORIZON_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           export HORIZON_LAUNCHER_HOME="${RUNNER_TEMP//\\//}/horizon-launcher-smoke"
diff --git a/launcher/src/backend.rs b/launcher/src/backend.rs
index 4cb0a453f..2932a4685 100644
--- a/launcher/src/backend.rs
+++ b/launcher/src/backend.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,14 @@ fn agent() -> ureq::Agent {
 }
 
 fn get(url: &str) -> Result<ureq::Response, String> {
-    agent().get(url).call().map_err(|e| match e {
+    let mut request = agent().get(url);
+    // CI runners share addresses and hit GitHub's anonymous rate limit; they pass their own token.
+    if let Some(token) = std::env::var("HORIZON_GITHUB_TOKEN").ok().filter(|t| !t.is_empty()) {
+        if url.starts_with("https://api.github.com/") {
+            request = request.set("Authorization", &format!("Bearer {token}"));
+        }
+    }
+    request.call().map_err(|e| match e {
         ureq::Error::Status(403, _) => "GitHub's rate limit was reached. Try again in a few minutes.".into(),
         ureq::Error::Status(code, _) => format!("{url} answered {code}"),
         ureq::Error::Transport(t) => format!("No connection: {t}"),