diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4e91be94c..4326a4ee1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ __pycache__
 /dist
 .repopickle_*
 /repoc
+/.cipd_bin
 /.tox
 /.venv
 
diff --git a/cipd_manifest.txt b/cipd_manifest.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da6dd8e02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cipd_manifest.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2026 The Android Open Source Project
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# This file contains version pins of a few tools used by run_tests.
+
+# Pin resolved versions in the repo, to reduce trust in the CIPD backend.
+#
+# Most of these tools are generated via builders at
+# https://ci.chromium.org/p/infra/g/infra/console
+#
+# For these, the git revision is the one of
+# https://chromium.googlesource.com/infra/infra.git.
+#
+# To regenerate them (after modifying this file):
+#   cipd ensure-file-resolve -ensure-file cipd_manifest.txt
+$ResolvedVersions cipd_manifest.versions
+
+# Supported platforms.  Feel free to add more as long as the tools work.
+$VerifiedPlatform linux-amd64 linux-arm64 mac-amd64 mac-arm64
+
+infra/3pp/tools/help2man/${platform} version:3@1.47.8.chromium.1
diff --git a/cipd_manifest.versions b/cipd_manifest.versions
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..135f54048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cipd_manifest.versions
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# This file is auto-generated by 'cipd ensure-file-resolve'.
+# Do not modify manually. All changes will be overwritten.
+
+infra/3pp/tools/help2man/linux-amd64
+	version:3@1.47.8.chromium.1
+	Ftn7OHsJBffbIuK3KERGGF21oKqMmnV00B6ZKmjxKe4C
+
+infra/3pp/tools/help2man/linux-arm64
+	version:3@1.47.8.chromium.1
+	_7lsBiY7fUeLXx1UJc_LEE8H9DG7CGGM9M2gjyqB9T4C
+
+infra/3pp/tools/help2man/mac-amd64
+	version:3@1.47.8.chromium.1
+	E7Dldyd8BvjuW2ZuZy3ILNt7KNN2Cs_F_5dkwRfaL8IC
+
+infra/3pp/tools/help2man/mac-arm64
+	version:3@1.47.8.chromium.1
+	K5qjjtmIDBnibI_76qoEEgsbwzkQUGrZxbBsaUgOeisC
diff --git a/man/repo-manifest.1 b/man/repo-manifest.1
index 35c7d0216..75c9fa9e1 100644
--- a/man/repo-manifest.1
+++ b/man/repo-manifest.1
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man.
-.TH REPO "1" "May 2026" "repo manifest" "Repo Manual"
+.TH REPO "1" "April 2026" "repo manifest" "Repo Manual"
 .SH NAME
 repo \- repo manifest - manual page for repo manifest
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ default to which all projects in the included manifest belong. This recurses,
 meaning it will apply to all projects in all manifests included as a result of
 this element.
 .PP
-Local Manifests 
+Local Manifests
 .PP
 Additional remotes and projects may be added through local manifest files stored
 in `$TOP_DIR/.repo/local_manifests/*.xml`.
diff --git a/release/update_manpages.py b/release/update_manpages.py
index 8bd69b6a7..ecf51bb7a 100644
--- a/release/update_manpages.py
+++ b/release/update_manpages.py
@@ -66,7 +66,11 @@ def main(argv: List[str]) -> int:
     parser = get_parser()
     opts = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
-    if not shutil.which("help2man"):
+    help2man = ["help2man"]
+    cipd_help2man = TOPDIR / ".cipd_bin/bin/help2man"
+    if cipd_help2man.exists():
+        help2man = ["perl", cipd_help2man]
+    elif not shutil.which("help2man"):
         sys.exit("Please install help2man to continue.")
 
     # Let repo know we're generating man pages so it can avoid some dynamic
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ def main(argv: List[str]) -> int:
     version = RepoSourceVersion()
     cmdlist = [
         [
-            "help2man",
+            *help2man,
             "-N",
             "-n",
             f"repo {cmd} - manual page for repo {cmd}",
@@ -100,7 +104,7 @@ def main(argv: List[str]) -> int:
     ]
     cmdlist.append(
         [
-            "help2man",
+            *help2man,
             "-N",
             "-n",
             "repository management tool built on top of git",
diff --git a/run_tests b/run_tests
index 7491ec5ae..33311f03d 100755
--- a/run_tests
+++ b/run_tests
@@ -157,11 +157,6 @@ def run_check_metadata():
 
 def run_update_manpages() -> int:
     """Returns the exit code from release/update-manpages."""
-    # Allow this to fail on CI, but not local devs.
-    if is_ci() and not shutil.which("help2man"):
-        print("update-manpages: help2man not found; skipping test")
-        return 0
-
     argv = ["--check"]
     log_cmd("release/update-manpages", argv)
     return subprocess.run(
@@ -171,8 +166,24 @@ def run_update_manpages() -> int:
     ).returncode
 
 
+def cipd_bootstrap() -> None:
+    """Install packages via cipd if available."""
+    argv = ["ensure", "-root", ".cipd_bin", "-ensure-file", "cipd_manifest.txt"]
+    log_cmd("cipd", argv)
+    try:
+        subprocess.run(
+            ["cipd"] + argv,
+            check=True,
+            cwd=ROOT_DIR,
+        )
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        # Skip if the user doesn't have cipd from depot_tools.
+        return
+
+
 def main(argv):
     """The main entry."""
+    cipd_bootstrap()
     checks = (
         functools.partial(run_pytest, argv),
         functools.partial(run_pytest_py38, argv),