diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9a384da..5ce23fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -93,12 +93,11 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$RUNNER_TEMP/firelink-native-packages/deb" "$RUNNER_TEMP/firelink-native-packages/rpm"
           cp src-tauri/target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/bundle/deb/*.deb "$RUNNER_TEMP/firelink-native-packages/deb/"
           cp src-tauri/target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/bundle/rpm/*.rpm "$RUNNER_TEMP/firelink-native-packages/rpm/"
-      - name: Build Linux AppImage
+      - name: Build Linux AppImage from existing binary
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
-        run: npm run tauri build -- -vv --target ${{ matrix.target }} --bundles appimage
+        run: node scripts/build-linux-appimage.js --target ${{ matrix.target }}
         env:
           APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN: 1
-          FIRELINK_OMIT_ENGINE_DIST_FOR_TAURI_BUNDLE: '1'
       - name: Install pinned appimagetool (Linux only)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         env:
diff --git a/scripts/before-tauri-build.js b/scripts/before-tauri-build.js
index ecdcc14..a6b22f7 100755
--- a/scripts/before-tauri-build.js
+++ b/scripts/before-tauri-build.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
-import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
@@ -53,11 +52,4 @@ process.env.VITE_BUILD_ID = `${configuredBuildId || 'artifact'}-${randomUUID()}`
 run(process.execPath, ['scripts/stage-engines.js']);
 run(process.execPath, ['scripts/verify-binaries.js', '--staged']);
 
-if (process.env.FIRELINK_OMIT_ENGINE_DIST_FOR_TAURI_BUNDLE === '1') {
-  const engineDist = path.join(repoRoot, 'src-tauri', 'engine-dist');
-  fs.rmSync(engineDist, { recursive: true, force: true });
-  fs.mkdirSync(engineDist, { recursive: true });
-  console.log('Omitted engine-dist from the initial Tauri bundle; release packaging will repack verified engines.');
-}
-
 runNpmScript('build');
diff --git a/scripts/build-linux-appimage.js b/scripts/build-linux-appimage.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd41ff1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-linux-appimage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const repoRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
+let activeChild;
+let receivedSignal;
+
+export const APPIMAGE_CONFIG = JSON.stringify({
+  bundle: {
+    resources: {
+      'engine-dist/': null,
+    },
+  },
+});
+
+function argValue(name) {
+  const index = process.argv.indexOf(name);
+  return index >= 0 ? process.argv[index + 1] : undefined;
+}
+
+function signalExitCode(signal) {
+  return {
+    SIGHUP: 129,
+    SIGINT: 130,
+    SIGTERM: 143,
+  }[signal] ?? 1;
+}
+
+function npmInvocation(args) {
+  if (process.env.npm_execpath) {
+    return [process.execPath, [process.env.npm_execpath, ...args]];
+  }
+
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+    return ['cmd.exe', ['/d', '/s', '/c', 'npm', ...args]];
+  }
+
+  return ['npm', args];
+}
+
+export function appImageBundleArguments(target) {
+  return [
+    'run',
+    'tauri',
+    '--',
+    'bundle',
+    '-vv',
+    '--target',
+    target,
+    '--bundles',
+    'appimage',
+    '--config',
+    APPIMAGE_CONFIG,
+  ];
+}
+
+function run(command, args, options = {}) {
+  const child = spawn(command, args, {
+    cwd: options.cwd ?? repoRoot,
+    env: { ...process.env, ...options.env },
+    stdio: options.stdio ?? 'inherit',
+    windowsHide: true,
+    detached: process.platform !== 'win32',
+  });
+
+  activeChild = child;
+
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    let settled = false;
+
+    child.once('error', error => {
+      if (activeChild === child) activeChild = undefined;
+      if (!settled) {
+        settled = true;
+        reject(error);
+      }
+    });
+
+    child.once('close', (code, signal) => {
+      if (activeChild === child) activeChild = undefined;
+      if (!settled) {
+        settled = true;
+        resolve({ code, signal });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+async function runChecked(command, args, label = command) {
+  let result;
+  try {
+    result = await run(command, args);
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new Error(`Failed to run ${label}: ${error.message}`, { cause: error });
+  }
+
+  if (result.signal) {
+    const error = new Error(`${label} was terminated by ${result.signal}.`);
+    error.exitCode = signalExitCode(result.signal);
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  if (result.code !== 0) {
+    const error = new Error(`${label} exited with status ${result.code}.`);
+    error.exitCode = result.code ?? 1;
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+function assertSafeTarget(target) {
+  if (!/^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._-]*$/.test(target)) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid target triple: ${target}`);
+  }
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  const target = argValue('--target') || process.env.FIRELINK_TARGET_TRIPLE;
+  if (!target) {
+    throw new Error('Pass --target <triple>.');
+  }
+  assertSafeTarget(target);
+
+  // The native-package build has already staged and verified the engines.
+  // Verify once more before creating the AppImage so a failed preparation
+  // cannot produce an artifact that later appears valid only because its
+  // payload is absent.
+  await runChecked(
+    process.execPath,
+    ['scripts/verify-binaries.js', '--staged', '--target', target],
+    'staged engine verification'
+  );
+
+  if (receivedSignal) {
+    const error = new Error(`Build interrupted by ${receivedSignal}.`);
+    error.exitCode = signalExitCode(receivedSignal);
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  const [npmCommand, npmArgs] = npmInvocation(appImageBundleArguments(target));
+  await runChecked(npmCommand, npmArgs, 'Tauri AppImage bundling');
+
+  if (receivedSignal) {
+    const error = new Error(`Build interrupted by ${receivedSignal}.`);
+    error.exitCode = signalExitCode(receivedSignal);
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  console.log(`Built the Linux AppImage from the existing ${target} release binary.`);
+}
+
+const isMain = process.argv[1] && path.resolve(process.argv[1]) === fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+
+if (isMain) {
+  const handleSignal = signal => {
+    receivedSignal ??= signal;
+
+    // npm and Tauri can have Rust/packaging descendants. On POSIX, the child
+    // is a detached process-group leader, so signal the whole group instead of
+    // leaving descendants running after the wrapper exits.
+    if (activeChild && activeChild.exitCode === null && activeChild.signalCode === null) {
+      try {
+        if (process.platform === 'win32' || !activeChild.pid) {
+          activeChild.kill(signal);
+        } else {
+          process.kill(-activeChild.pid, signal);
+        }
+      } catch (error) {
+        if (error.code !== 'ESRCH') {
+          console.error(`[WARN] Could not terminate the AppImage build process group: ${error.message}`);
+        }
+      }
+    } else {
+      process.exitCode = signalExitCode(signal);
+    }
+  };
+
+  for (const signal of ['SIGHUP', 'SIGINT', 'SIGTERM']) {
+    process.once(signal, () => handleSignal(signal));
+  }
+
+  main()
+    .catch(error => {
+      console.error(`[FAIL] ${error.message}`);
+      process.exitCode = error.exitCode ?? 1;
+    })
+    .finally(() => {
+      for (const signal of ['SIGHUP', 'SIGINT', 'SIGTERM']) {
+        process.removeAllListeners(signal);
+      }
+    });
+}
diff --git a/scripts/build-linux-appimage.node-test.js b/scripts/build-linux-appimage.node-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f1c69f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-linux-appimage.node-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import test from 'node:test';
+import { APPIMAGE_CONFIG, appImageBundleArguments } from './build-linux-appimage.js';
+
+test('AppImage config removes only engine-dist from Tauri resources', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(APPIMAGE_CONFIG), {
+    bundle: {
+      resources: {
+        'engine-dist/': null,
+      },
+    },
+  });
+});
+
+test('AppImage bundling uses the existing binary instead of tauri build', () => {
+  const args = appImageBundleArguments('x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu');
+  assert.equal(args[3], 'bundle');
+  assert.equal(args.includes('build'), false);
+  assert.deepEqual(args.slice(-2), ['--config', APPIMAGE_CONFIG]);
+});
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 43cd004..2c39b3a 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -5334,6 +5334,7 @@ async fn wait_for_aria2_stopped(port: u16, secret: &str, gid: &str) -> Result<()
 static NEXT_DOCK_BADGE_SESSION: std::sync::atomic::AtomicU64 =
     std::sync::atomic::AtomicU64::new(1);
 
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
 fn should_apply_dock_badge_update(
     current_session: u64,
     current_generation: u64,
@@ -8041,6 +8042,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!is_media_artifact_name("video.f1.backup", "video.mp4", "video"));
     }
 
+    #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
     #[test]
     fn dock_badge_updates_reject_stale_sessions_and_generations() {
         assert!(should_apply_dock_badge_update(1, 99, 2, 1));