diff --git a/scripts/install-pulse.sh b/scripts/install-pulse.sh
index 6879a3a07..7e74a5da6 100755
--- a/scripts/install-pulse.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-pulse.sh
@@ -592,27 +592,44 @@ perform_tarball_install() {
             print_info "NPM dependencies already present in tarball."
         fi
         
-        # Always check if CSS assets need building for tarball installs
+        # Always check if CSS assets are valid after tarball extraction
         print_info "Verifying CSS assets in $PULSE_DIR..."
         
         # Check if output.css exists and is valid (not corrupted with HTML content)
-        css_needs_fix=false
         if [ ! -f "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" ]; then
-            print_warning "output.css file is missing - should be present in tarball"
-            css_needs_fix=true
+            print_error "Critical: output.css file is missing after tarball extraction. Attempting recovery..."
+            # Try to re-extract just the CSS file as a fallback
+            if curl -sL "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/$TARGET_TAG/pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}.tar.gz" | tar -xzf - --to-stdout "pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}/src/public/output.css" > "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" 2>/dev/null; then
+                print_success "CSS file recovered using direct extraction."
+                chown "$PULSE_USER":"$PULSE_USER" "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css"
+            else
+                print_error "Failed to recover CSS file. Installation will continue but frontend may not display correctly."
+            fi
         elif [ ! -s "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" ]; then
-            print_warning "output.css file is empty - should contain CSS from tarball"
-            css_needs_fix=true
+            print_error "Critical: output.css file is empty after tarball extraction. Attempting recovery..."
+            # Try to re-extract just the CSS file as a fallback
+            if curl -sL "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/$TARGET_TAG/pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}.tar.gz" | tar -xzf - --to-stdout "pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}/src/public/output.css" > "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" 2>/dev/null; then
+                print_success "CSS file recovered using direct extraction."
+                chown "$PULSE_USER":"$PULSE_USER" "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css"
+            else
+                print_error "Failed to recover CSS file. Installation will continue but frontend may not display correctly."
+            fi
         elif head -1 "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "<!DOCTYPE\|<html\|<head"; then
-            print_warning "output.css contains HTML instead of CSS (this should not happen in fresh tarball)"
-            css_needs_fix=true
-        fi
-        
-        if [ "$css_needs_fix" = "true" ]; then
-            print_error "CSS assets in tarball are invalid. This indicates a problem with the release tarball."
-            return 1
+            print_warning "output.css contains HTML instead of CSS - attempting to recover from tarball..."
+            # Try to re-extract just the CSS file as a fallback
+            if curl -sL "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/$TARGET_TAG/pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}.tar.gz" | tar -xzf - --to-stdout "pulse-${TARGET_TAG#v}/src/public/output.css" > "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" 2>/dev/null; then
+                # Verify the recovery worked
+                if [ -s "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" ] && ! head -1 "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "<!DOCTYPE\|<html\|<head"; then
+                    print_success "CSS file recovered and verified."
+                    chown "$PULSE_USER":"$PULSE_USER" "$PULSE_DIR/src/public/output.css"
+                else
+                    print_error "CSS recovery failed. Installation will continue but frontend may not display correctly."
+                fi
+            else
+                print_error "Failed to recover CSS file. Installation will continue but frontend may not display correctly."
+            fi
         else
-            print_info "CSS assets verified and ready."
+            print_success "CSS assets verified and ready."
         fi
         
         print_success "Tarball installation completed successfully."