diff --git a/.github/actions/rendered-content-link-checker.js b/.github/actions/rendered-content-link-checker.js
index 7b762399da..d2b49b5524 100755
--- a/.github/actions/rendered-content-link-checker.js
+++ b/.github/actions/rendered-content-link-checker.js
@@ -51,9 +51,6 @@ const deprecatedVersionPrefixesRegex = new RegExp(
 
 // When this file is invoked directly from action as opposed to being imported
 if (import.meta.url.endsWith(process.argv[1])) {
-  // Validate that required action inputs are present
-  getEnvInputs(['GITHUB_TOKEN'])
-
   // Optional env vars
   const {
     ACTION_RUN_URL,
@@ -94,7 +91,7 @@ if (import.meta.url.endsWith(process.argv[1])) {
     language: 'en',
     actionUrl: ACTION_RUN_URL,
     checkExternalLinks: CHECK_EXTERNAL_LINKS === 'true',
-    shouldComment: SHOULD_COMMENT === 'true',
+    shouldComment: Boolean(JSON.parse(SHOULD_COMMENT)),
     commentLimitToExternalLinks: COMMENT_LIMIT_TO_EXTERNAL_LINKS === 'true',
     failOnFlaw: FAIL_ON_FLAW === 'true',
     createReport: CREATE_REPORT === 'true',
@@ -104,6 +101,12 @@ if (import.meta.url.endsWith(process.argv[1])) {
     actionContext: getActionContext(),
   }
 
+  if (opts.shouldComment || opts.createReport) {
+    // `GITHUB_TOKEN` is optional. If you need the token to post a comment
+    // or open an issue report, you might get cryptic error messages from Octokit.
+    getEnvInputs(['GITHUB_TOKEN'])
+  }
+
   main(coreLib, octokit, uploadArtifactLib, opts, {})
 }
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/link-check-on-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/link-check-on-pr.yml
index 1af11a5ce2..076140e4e5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/link-check-on-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/link-check-on-pr.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
-  pull_request_target:
+  pull_request:
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
           LEVEL: 'critical'
           ACTION_RUN_URL: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DOCS_BOT_FR }}
-          SHOULD_COMMENT: true
+          SHOULD_COMMENT: ${{ secrets.DOCS_BOT_FR != '' }}
           CHECK_EXTERNAL_LINKS: false
           CREATE_REPORT: false
         run: node .github/actions/rendered-content-link-checker.js