diff --git a/.github/workflows/README.md b/.github/workflows/README.md
index d50ef7cd58a..4d39a9280cb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/README.md
+++ b/.github/workflows/README.md
@@ -378,18 +378,19 @@ exist in repository settings, like the `run-*` labels above.
 These workflows have their own triggers because they fire on events the
 umbrella doesn't watch, or operate independently of the rest of CI:
 
-| File                   | Why standalone                                                                                       |
-| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `pr_title_check.yml`   | Fires on `pull_request.types: [edited]` so it re-runs when a PR title is edited without a code push. |
-| `codeql.yml`           | Security scanner; weekly schedule + on every push/PR.                                                |
-| `miri.yml`             | Nightly Miri safety checks.                                                                          |
-| `publish_snapshot.yml` | Nightly SNAPSHOT jars to repository.apache.org; skips when main has not changed. `dry_run` dispatch. |
-| `stale.yml`            | Daily stale-PR closer.                                                                               |
-| `take.yml`             | Issue-comment trigger for `take` / `untake`.                                                         |
-| `label_new_issues.yml` | Issue trigger to apply `requires-triage`.                                                            |
-| `label_prs.yml`        | Runs on `pull_request_target` so it can label pull requests opened from forks.                       |
-| `ci_fork.yml`          | Runs `ci.yml` on a push to a fork's branch; skipped upstream. See [Fork runs](#fork-runs).           |
-| `fork_ci_status.yml`   | Mirrors a fork's run onto its pull request as `CI (fork)`. See [Fork runs](#fork-runs).              |
+| File                    | Why standalone                                                                                          |
+| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `pr_title_check.yml`    | Fires on `pull_request.types: [edited]` so it re-runs when a PR title is edited without a code push.    |
+| `codeql.yml`            | Security scanner; weekly schedule + on every push/PR.                                                   |
+| `miri.yml`              | Nightly Miri safety checks.                                                                             |
+| `publish_snapshot.yml`  | Nightly SNAPSHOT jars to repository.apache.org; skips when main has not changed. `dry_run` dispatch.    |
+| `stale.yml`             | Daily stale-PR closer.                                                                                  |
+| `take.yml`              | Issue-comment trigger for `take` / `untake`.                                                            |
+| `label_new_issues.yml`  | Issue trigger to apply `requires-triage`.                                                               |
+| `label_prs_trigger.yml` | Fires on `pull_request` with a read-only token and does nothing; its completion starts `label_prs.yml`. |
+| `label_prs.yml`         | Runs on `workflow_run` from the default branch so it can label pull requests opened from forks.         |
+| `ci_fork.yml`           | Runs `ci.yml` on a push to a fork's branch; skipped upstream. See [Fork runs](#fork-runs).              |
+| `fork_ci_status.yml`    | Mirrors a fork's run onto its pull request as `CI (fork)`. See [Fork runs](#fork-runs).                 |
 
 ## Reusable workflows (called by `ci.yml`)
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/label_prs.yml b/.github/workflows/label_prs.yml
index 7eaff2baf8f..e052011551a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/label_prs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/label_prs.yml
@@ -15,73 +15,101 @@
 # specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
+
 name: Label pull requests
 
-# Runs on pull_request_target so it can label pull requests from forks. Nothing from the pull
-# request is checked out or executed: the labeler reads the changed file list through the API
-# and the title step reads the event payload.
+# Labels a pull request after label_prs_trigger.yml runs for it. GitHub blocks
+# pull_request_target on public repositories, and a pull_request run from a fork only gets a
+# read-only token, so the labels are written here: workflow_run runs this file from the default
+# branch with a token that can write them. Nothing from the pull request is checked out or
+# executed, and nothing its run produced is read. The pull request is looked up from the run's
+# head repository, branch and commit, and its title, labels and changed files come from the API.
 on:
-  pull_request_target:
-    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
+  workflow_run:
+    workflows: [Label pull requests trigger]
+    types: [completed]
 
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-  pull-requests: write
+permissions: {}
 
-# One group per pull request with cancellation, so at most one run writes labels at a time:
-# the labeler action reads the label set and writes it back whole, and two runs writing at
-# once can drop a label the other just added. A cancelled or replaced run loses nothing
-# because every step below is safe to repeat on the next event.
+# One group per pull request branch with cancellation, so at most one run writes labels at a
+# time: the labeler action reads the label set and writes it back whole, and two runs writing at
+# once can drop a label the other just added. A cancelled or replaced run loses nothing because
+# every step below is safe to repeat on the next event. workflow_run carries the head repository
+# and branch rather than the pull request number.
 concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_repository.full_name }}-${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
   label:
+    if: >-
+      github.repository == 'apache/datafusion-comet'
+      && github.event.workflow_run.event == 'pull_request'
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      pull-requests: write
     runs-on: ubuntu-slim
+    timeout-minutes: 10
     steps:
-      # Checks out the base branch, never the pull request's code: under pull_request_target the
-      # default ref is the base commit, and only dev/ci/pr-type-label.mjs is read from it.
+      # Checks out the default branch, never the pull request's code: under workflow_run the
+      # default ref is the default branch, and only dev/ci/pr-type-label.mjs is read from it.
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       # The type label follows the conventional commit prefix in the title, matching how
-      # maintainers label by hand. The decision reads the pull request's current labels, not the
-      # event payload, so a type label a maintainer applied before this run started stays and
-      # a run cut short by a newer push is completed by that push. Dependabot pull requests
-      # already carry their label.
-      - name: Label by title prefix
-        if: github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]'
+      # maintainers label by hand. The decision reads the pull request's current labels, so a
+      # type label a maintainer applied before this run started stays. A pull request whose head
+      # has moved on since the triggering run is skipped: the run for the newer push labels it.
+      # Dependabot pull requests already carry their label.
+      - name: Find the pull request and label by title prefix
+        id: pr
         uses: actions/github-script@v9
         with:
           script: |
+            const run = context.payload.workflow_run;
+            const head = run.head_repository;
+            if (!head) {
+              core.info('The head repository no longer exists');
+              return;
+            }
+            const repo = { owner: context.repo.owner, repo: context.repo.repo };
+            const pulls = await github.paginate(github.rest.pulls.list, {
+              ...repo,
+              state: 'open',
+              head: `${head.owner.login}:${run.head_branch}`,
+              per_page: 100,
+            });
+            const pr = pulls.find((item) =>
+              item.head.sha === run.head_sha && item.head.repo?.full_name === head.full_name);
+            if (!pr) {
+              core.info(`No open pull request has head ${head.full_name}@${run.head_sha}`);
+              return;
+            }
+            core.setOutput('number', pr.number);
+            if (pr.user.login === 'dependabot[bot]') {
+              core.info('Dependabot pull requests already carry their type label');
+              return;
+            }
             const { typeLabelsToAdd } = await import(
               `${process.env.GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/dev/ci/pr-type-label.mjs`
             );
             const { data: current } = await github.rest.issues.listLabelsOnIssue({
-              owner: context.repo.owner,
-              repo: context.repo.repo,
-              issue_number: context.issue.number,
+              ...repo,
+              issue_number: pr.number,
               per_page: 100,
             });
-            const labels = typeLabelsToAdd(
-              context.payload.pull_request.title,
-              current.map((label) => label.name),
-            );
+            const labels = typeLabelsToAdd(pr.title, current.map((label) => label.name));
             if (labels.length === 0) {
               core.info('No type label to add');
               return;
             }
-            await github.rest.issues.addLabels({
-              owner: context.repo.owner,
-              repo: context.repo.repo,
-              issue_number: context.issue.number,
-              labels,
-            });
+            await github.rest.issues.addLabels({ ...repo, issue_number: pr.number, labels });
 
       - name: Label by changed paths
+        if: steps.pr.outputs.number != ''
         uses: actions/labeler@v7
         with:
           configuration-path: .github/labeler.yml
+          pr-number: ${{ steps.pr.outputs.number }}
           sync-labels: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/label_prs_trigger.yml b/.github/workflows/label_prs_trigger.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5ce8c6ecb8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/label_prs_trigger.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+
+name: Label pull requests trigger
+
+# Starts the labeler for a pull request. This run gets a read-only token and does nothing itself;
+# when it completes, label_prs.yml runs from the default branch through workflow_run and writes
+# the labels. Kept separate from Comet CI so labels arrive in seconds rather than after CI.
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  trigger:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-slim
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    steps:
+      - name: Hand off to label_prs.yml
+        run: echo "Labels for pull request ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} are applied by label_prs.yml"