diff --git a/.github/workflows/README.md b/.github/workflows/README.md
index f5d511ec535..a5ab21b2a04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/README.md
+++ b/.github/workflows/README.md
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ There are a few that only get triggered manually.
 - call-workflows.yml
 - codespell.yml checks spelling
 - cve.yml executes test_hdf5_cve.sh script
-- hdfeos5.yml configures and builds HDF5 then tests HDF-EOS5
+- hdfeos5.yml configures and builds HDF5 then tests HDF-EOS5 (runs on a daily schedule, not on pull requests)
 - linkchecker.yml verifies the links in generated doxygen files
 - netcdf.yml configures and builds HDF5 then tests NetCDF
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/hdfeos5.yml b/.github/workflows/hdfeos5.yml
index 2b1ff445db3..63002d1f441 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/hdfeos5.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/hdfeos5.yml
@@ -1,27 +1,16 @@
 name: hdfeos5 dev
 
-# Triggers the workflow on push or pull request or on demand
+# Triggers the workflow on a daily schedule or on demand.
+#
+# This test downloads an HDF-EOS5 source tarball from an external host
+# (git.earthdata.nasa.gov) that has proven unreliable. Running it on a daily
+# schedule rather than on every pull request prevents transient network
+# failures to that host from blocking PR merges, while still catching genuine
+# HDF-EOS5 compatibility regressions on a daily cadence. See issue #6495.
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
-  push:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - '.github/CODEOWNERS'
-      - '.github/FUNDING.yml'
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - 'release_docs/**'
-      - 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS'
-      - 'LICENSE**'
-      - '**.md'
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ develop ]
-    paths-ignore:
-      - '.github/CODEOWNERS'
-      - '.github/FUNDING.yml'
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - 'release_docs/**'
-      - 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS'
-      - 'LICENSE**'
-      - '**.md'
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "30 0 * * *"
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -35,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
   build:
     name: Build hdfeos5
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: "github.repository_owner == 'HDFGroup'"
     steps:
       - name: Install System dependencies
         run: |