diff --git a/.github/actions/complain/action.yml b/.github/actions/complain/action.yml
index dae283ae53..6bcba72153 100644
--- a/.github/actions/complain/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/complain/action.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ inputs:
   pkg:
     description: project to complain about
     required: true
+  platform:
+    description: platform that failed, noted in the log comment
+    required: false
   token:
     description: github token
     required: true
@@ -19,37 +22,10 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: sleep $(( RANDOM % 120 ))
 
-    - name: Find or Create Issue
-      id: issue
+    - name: Find, Reopen or Create Issue
       shell: bash
       env:
         GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
-        TITLE: '❌ build issues: ${{ inputs.pkg }}'
-      run: |
-        issue_number=$(gh api --method GET search/issues \
-          -f q="repo:${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} is:issue is:open label:build-failure in:title ${TITLE}" \
-          -f per_page=1 \
-          --jq '.items[0].number // empty')
-
-        if test -z "$issue_number"; then
-          issue_number=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/issues" \
-            -f title="$TITLE" \
-            -f body='Running log of build failure for ${{ inputs.pkg }}' \
-            -f labels[]=build-failure \
-            -f assignees[]=jhheider \
-            --jq '.number')
-        fi
-
-        echo "number=$issue_number" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-
-    - name: Log Comment
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
-        ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ steps.issue.outputs.number }}
-      run: |
-        gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/issues/${ISSUE_NUMBER}/comments" \
-          -f body="# Build failure
-        ## ${{ inputs.pkg }}
-
-        logs: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        PKG: ${{ inputs.pkg }}
+        PLATFORM: ${{ inputs.platform }}
+      run: ${{ github.action_path }}/complain.sh
diff --git a/.github/actions/complain/complain.sh b/.github/actions/complain/complain.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..24bbdb66f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/complain/complain.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# finds (or reopens, or creates) the build-failure issue for $PKG and logs this failure on it
+# DRY_RUN=1 prints the writes instead of making them
+set -euo pipefail
+
+TITLE="❌ build issues: $PKG"
+LOGS="$GITHUB_SERVER_URL/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/actions/runs/$GITHUB_RUN_ID/attempts/${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT:-1}"
+TRIAGE_LABELS='["gha-issue","404","version-lockstep-required"]'
+
+write() {
+  if [ -n "${DRY_RUN:-}" ]; then
+    echo "DRY_RUN: gh $*" >&2
+    echo 0
+  else
+    gh "$@"
+  fi
+}
+
+# exact-title matches as "number state state_reason", oldest first.
+# the REST list is consistent immediately (sees issues created seconds ago);
+# search reaches older issues, but its index lags, so it can't be the only source.
+matches() {
+  {
+    gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues?labels=build-failure&state=all&sort=created&direction=desc&per_page=100" --jq '.[]'
+    gh api -X GET search/issues \
+      -f q="repo:$GITHUB_REPOSITORY is:issue label:build-failure in:title \"$TITLE\"" \
+      -f per_page=100 --jq '.items[]' ||
+      echo "::warning::issue search failed; only recent issues were checked" >&2
+  } | jq -rs --arg t "$TITLE" '
+    map(select(.title == $t and .pull_request == null))
+    | unique_by(.number) | .[]
+    | "\(.number) \(.state) \(.state_reason // "")"'
+}
+
+oldest_open() { awk '$2 == "open" { print $1; exit }'; }
+
+found=$(matches)
+issue=$(oldest_open <<<"$found")
+note=""
+
+if [ -z "$issue" ]; then
+  read -r closed reason < <(awk '$2 == "closed" { n = $1; r = $3 } END { print n, r }' <<<"$found")
+  if [ -n "$closed" ] && [ "$reason" != "not_planned" ]; then
+    # closed as transient (gha-issue, 404…) or fixed; it failed again, so reopen it.
+    # drop the triage label so applying it again closes the issue again
+    issue=$closed
+    write api -X PATCH "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue" -f state=open >/dev/null
+    for label in $(gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue/labels" \
+      --jq ".[].name | select(IN(${TRIAGE_LABELS}[]))"); do
+      write api -X DELETE "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue/labels/$label" >/dev/null
+    done
+    note="Reopened: this failed again after the issue was closed."
+  elif [ -n "$closed" ]; then
+    # closed as not planned (yanked, old-version): log it there without reopening
+    issue=$closed
+  else
+    issue=$(write api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues" \
+      -f title="$TITLE" \
+      -f body="Running log of build failure for $PKG" \
+      -f labels[]=build-failure \
+      -f assignees[]=jhheider \
+      --jq '.number')
+
+    # another platform's complain job may have created one at the same moment;
+    # the oldest open issue wins and the rest close as duplicates
+    sleep $(( 5 + RANDOM % 10 ))
+    winner=$(matches | oldest_open)
+    if [ -n "$winner" ] && [ "$winner" != "$issue" ]; then
+      write api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue/comments" -f body="Duplicate of #$winner" >/dev/null
+      write api -X PATCH "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue" \
+        -f state=closed -f state_reason=not_planned >/dev/null
+      issue=$winner
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
+
+echo "logging to #$issue" >&2
+write api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/issues/$issue/comments" -f body="# Build failure
+## $PKG${PLATFORM:+ ($PLATFORM)}
+${note:+
+$note
+}
+logs: $LOGS" >/dev/null
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pkg-platform.yml b/.github/workflows/pkg-platform.yml
index 0c7d250b3f..8c28027401 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pkg-platform.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pkg-platform.yml
@@ -306,3 +306,4 @@ jobs:
       - uses: ./.github/actions/complain
         with:
           pkg: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.pkg).project }}=${{ fromJSON(inputs.pkg).version.value }}
+          platform: ${{ inputs.name }}