diff --git a/.github/workflows/external-plugin.yml b/.github/workflows/external-plugin.yml
index 51627c5c744..8c8d7702cee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/external-plugin.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/external-plugin.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Clone the code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Fetching only recent history to avoid .git permission issues
+          fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Setup Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
@@ -47,9 +50,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build Kubebuilder Binary
         run: |
-          make build
-          # Add the bin directory directly to the PATH
-          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+          # Set kb_root_dir to avoid .git permissions issues
+          export kb_root_dir=$(pwd)
+          go build -o "${kb_root_dir}/bin/kubebuilder" ./cmd
+          echo "${kb_root_dir}/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
 
       - name: Run Kubebuilder Commands
         env: