diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 57b070e..82156c7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ lexicon-check: ## fail if any dev.mokkenstorm.* lexicon has a BREAKING change vs
 		git fetch --depth=1 origin "$${ref#origin/}" 2>/dev/null || true; \
 	fi; \
 	base_dir="$$(mktemp -d)"; \
-	trap 'rm -rf "$$base_dir"' EXIT; \
-	git archive "$$ref" -- lexicons | tar -x -C "$$base_dir"; \
-	cd shared && gleam run -m tools/lexicon_check -- ../lexicons "$$base_dir/lexicons"
+	trap 'git worktree remove --force "$$base_dir/ref" 2>/dev/null; rm -rf "$$base_dir"' EXIT; \
+	git worktree add --detach --quiet "$$base_dir/ref" "$$ref"; \
+	cd shared && gleam run -m tools/lexicon_check -- ../lexicons "$$base_dir/ref/lexicons"
 
 lexicon-vendor: ## re-resolve vendored third-party lexicons (com.atproto.*, blue.microcosm.*) and refresh lexicons.lock.json (network access; never run in CI)
 	cd shared && gleam run -m tools/lexicon_vendor -- ../lexicons "$$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"