diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2fbafdc..e4674b7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ ifdef HAS_PKGCONFIG
   NIX_RUN_PREFIX =
   NIX_RUN_SUFFIX =
 else
-  NIX_RUN_PREFIX = nix-shell -p pkg-config vips libheif golangci-lint git --run '
+  NIX_RUN_PREFIX = nix-shell -p pkg-config vips libheif git --run '
   NIX_RUN_SUFFIX = '
 endif
 
diff --git a/script/bootstrap b/script/bootstrap
index c1abf08..c22ef8e 100755
--- a/script/bootstrap
+++ b/script/bootstrap
@@ -3,20 +3,13 @@
 # this repo. Idempotent: every install is guarded by a check so already
 # installed tools are skipped. Base tooling comes from nix, apt, brew,
 # or apk (detected in that order); assumes NOTHING is present (not git,
-# make, or go). golangci-lint is packaged in nix, brew, and apk; on apt
-# it is installed from a hash-verified GitHub release archive (never
-# curl | sh). CGO image libraries (pkg-config, vips, libheif) are
-# installed for the govips bindings.
+# make, or go). The linter is never installed on the host: golangci-lint
+# runs only inside Dockerfile.lint (see script/lint). CGO image libraries
+# (pkg-config, vips, libheif) are installed for the govips bindings.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
 
-# Pinned versions, 2026-08-07. Never "latest"; exact versions only.
-GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION="2.12.2"
-# sha256 of golangci-lint-2.12.2-linux-<arch>.tar.gz release archives
-GOLANGCI_LINT_SHA256_AMD64="8df580d2670fed8fa984aac0507099af8df275e665215f5c7a2ae3943893a553"
-GOLANGCI_LINT_SHA256_ARM64="44cd40a8c76c86755375adfeea52cfd3533cb43d7bd647771e0ae065e166df3a"
-
 PKGMGR=""
 SUDO=""
 
@@ -57,52 +50,6 @@ missing() {
     ! command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
-# verify_sha256 <file> <expected-hash>
-verify_sha256() {
-    if command -v sha256sum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        actual="$(sha256sum "$1" | cut -d' ' -f1)"
-    else
-        actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$1" | cut -d' ' -f1)"
-    fi
-    if [ "$actual" != "$2" ]; then
-        echo "bootstrap: sha256 mismatch for $1" >&2
-        echo "  expected: $2" >&2
-        echo "  actual:   $actual" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-}
-
-# apt has no golangci-lint package: install a pinned release archive
-# from GitHub, verified by hardcoded sha256 (never curl | sh).
-install_golangci_lint_release() {
-    case "$(uname -m)" in
-        x86_64) goarch="amd64"; sha="$GOLANGCI_LINT_SHA256_AMD64" ;;
-        aarch64|arm64) goarch="arm64"; sha="$GOLANGCI_LINT_SHA256_ARM64" ;;
-        *)
-            echo "bootstrap: unsupported architecture $(uname -m)" >&2
-            exit 1
-            ;;
-    esac
-    if missing curl; then pkg_install curl curl curl curl; fi
-    name="golangci-lint-${GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}-linux-${goarch}"
-    tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
-    curl -fsSL -o "$tmp/$name.tar.gz" \
-        "https://github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/releases/download/v${GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}/${name}.tar.gz"
-    verify_sha256 "$tmp/$name.tar.gz" "$sha"
-    tar -xzf "$tmp/$name.tar.gz" -C "$tmp"
-    $SUDO install -m 0755 "$tmp/$name/golangci-lint" /usr/local/bin/golangci-lint
-    rm -rf "$tmp"
-}
-
-ensure_golangci_lint() {
-    if ! missing golangci-lint; then return 0; fi
-    detect_pkgmgr
-    case "$PKGMGR" in
-        apt) install_golangci_lint_release ;;
-        *) pkg_install golangci-lint golangci-lint golangci-lint golangci-lint ;;
-    esac
-}
-
 # CGO dependencies for govips (image processing)
 ensure_cgo_deps() {
     if missing pkg-config; then
@@ -123,9 +70,8 @@ main() {
     if missing git; then pkg_install git git git git; fi
     if missing make; then pkg_install gnumake make make make; fi
 
-    # Go toolchain and linter
+    # Go toolchain
     if missing go; then pkg_install go golang go go; fi
-    ensure_golangci_lint
 
     # CGO image libraries
     ensure_cgo_deps
diff --git a/script/test b/script/test
index e9b4954..c0bcc75 100755
--- a/script/test
+++ b/script/test
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ run_with_cgo_deps() {
     if command -v pkg-config >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         sh -c "$1"
     else
-        nix-shell -p pkg-config vips libheif golangci-lint git --run "$1"
+        nix-shell -p pkg-config vips libheif git --run "$1"
     fi
 }