diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
index e06bcbce3..67b0af7fe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
@@ -386,9 +386,9 @@ jobs:
           set -euxo pipefail
           appimage_dir="packages/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage"
           appdir_path="$appimage_dir/Paseo.AppDir"
+          canonical_appimage="$appimage_dir/Paseo_${DESKTOP_VERSION}_amd64.AppImage"
           existing_appimage="$(find "$appimage_dir" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '*.AppImage' | head -n 1)"
           if [ -n "$existing_appimage" ]; then
-            canonical_appimage="$appimage_dir/Paseo_${DESKTOP_VERSION}_amd64.AppImage"
             if [ "$existing_appimage" != "$canonical_appimage" ]; then
               mv "$existing_appimage" "$canonical_appimage"
             fi
@@ -403,32 +403,9 @@ jobs:
           fi
           env | sort | grep -E '^(APPIMAGE|DESKTOP_VERSION|NO_STRIP|RELEASE_TAG|SOURCE_TAG|TAURI_)' || true
           tools_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
-          curl -fsSL https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy/releases/download/1-alpha-20251107-1/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage -o "$tools_dir/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage"
-          curl -fsSL https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy-plugin-appimage/releases/download/1-alpha-20250213-1/linuxdeploy-plugin-appimage-x86_64.AppImage -o "$tools_dir/linuxdeploy-plugin-appimage-x86_64.AppImage"
-          curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tauri-apps/linuxdeploy-plugin-gtk/master/linuxdeploy-plugin-gtk.sh -o "$tools_dir/linuxdeploy-plugin-gtk.sh"
-          curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tauri-apps/linuxdeploy-plugin-gstreamer/master/linuxdeploy-plugin-gstreamer.sh -o "$tools_dir/linuxdeploy-plugin-gstreamer.sh"
-          chmod +x "$tools_dir"/linuxdeploy*
-          export PATH="$tools_dir:$PATH"
-          export NO_STRIP=1
-          export APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1
-          (
-            cd "$appimage_dir"
-            "$tools_dir/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage" \
-              --verbosity 2 \
-              --appdir "Paseo.AppDir" \
-              --plugin gtk \
-              --plugin gstreamer \
-              --output appimage
-          )
-          manual_appimage="$(find "$appimage_dir" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '*.AppImage' | head -n 1)"
-          if [ -z "$manual_appimage" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Manual linuxdeploy run did not produce an AppImage"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          canonical_appimage="$appimage_dir/Paseo_${DESKTOP_VERSION}_amd64.AppImage"
-          if [ "$manual_appimage" != "$canonical_appimage" ]; then
-            mv "$manual_appimage" "$canonical_appimage"
-          fi
+          curl -fsSL https://github.com/AppImage/appimagetool/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage -o "$tools_dir/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage"
+          chmod +x "$tools_dir/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage"
+          ARCH=x86_64 APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1 "$tools_dir/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage" "$appdir_path" "$canonical_appimage"
           npx tauri signer sign "$canonical_appimage"
 
       - name: Fail Linux release when AppImage bundling fails
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/build-managed-runtime.mjs b/packages/desktop/scripts/build-managed-runtime.mjs
index e699f8ef5..7ccaa50da 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/build-managed-runtime.mjs
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/build-managed-runtime.mjs
@@ -288,27 +288,23 @@ async function installPackedWorkspaces(runtimeRoot, bundledNodeRoot, tarballs) {
   const npmCli = process.platform === "win32"
     ? path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js")
     : path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "lib", "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js");
-  const install = spawnSync(
-    nodeExecutable,
-    [
-      npmCli,
-      "install",
-      "--include=optional",
-      "--omit=dev",
-      "--no-package-lock",
-      "--no-save",
-      ...tarballs,
-    ],
-    {
-      cwd: runtimeRoot,
-      stdio: "inherit",
-      env: {
-        ...process.env,
-        npm_config_audit: "false",
-        npm_config_fund: "false",
-      },
-    }
-  );
+  const install = spawnSync(nodeExecutable, [
+    npmCli,
+    "install",
+    "--include=optional",
+    "--omit=dev",
+    "--no-package-lock",
+    "--no-save",
+    ...tarballs,
+  ], {
+    cwd: runtimeRoot,
+    stdio: "inherit",
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      npm_config_audit: "false",
+      npm_config_fund: "false",
+    },
+  });
   if (install.status !== 0) {
     throw new Error(
       `Managed runtime dependency install failed with exit code ${install.status ?? 1}.`
@@ -316,6 +312,67 @@ async function installPackedWorkspaces(runtimeRoot, bundledNodeRoot, tarballs) {
   }
 }
 
+function resolveSherpaNativePackageName() {
+  const sherpaPlatformMap = {
+    darwin: "darwin",
+    linux: "linux",
+    win32: "win",
+  };
+  const sherpaPlatform = sherpaPlatformMap[process.platform];
+  if (!sherpaPlatform) {
+    throw new Error(`Managed runtime sherpa package is not implemented for ${process.platform}.`);
+  }
+  return `sherpa-onnx-${sherpaPlatform}-${process.arch}`;
+}
+
+async function ensureSherpaNativePackage(runtimeRoot, bundledNodeRoot) {
+  const packageName = resolveSherpaNativePackageName();
+  const packageDir = path.join(runtimeRoot, "node_modules", packageName);
+  if (await pathExists(packageDir)) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const sherpaNodePackageJson = JSON.parse(
+    await fs.readFile(
+      path.join(runtimeRoot, "node_modules", "sherpa-onnx-node", "package.json"),
+      "utf8"
+    )
+  );
+  const versionRange = sherpaNodePackageJson.optionalDependencies?.[packageName];
+  if (!versionRange) {
+    throw new Error(`Unable to resolve optional sherpa package version for ${packageName}.`);
+  }
+
+  const nodeExecutable = process.platform === "win32"
+    ? path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "node.exe")
+    : path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "bin", "node");
+  const npmCli = process.platform === "win32"
+    ? path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js")
+    : path.join(bundledNodeRoot, "lib", "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js");
+  const install = spawnSync(nodeExecutable, [
+    npmCli,
+    "install",
+    "--include=optional",
+    "--omit=dev",
+    "--no-package-lock",
+    "--no-save",
+    `${packageName}@${versionRange}`,
+  ], {
+    cwd: runtimeRoot,
+    stdio: "inherit",
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      npm_config_audit: "false",
+      npm_config_fund: "false",
+    },
+  });
+  if (install.status !== 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Managed runtime sherpa package install failed with exit code ${install.status ?? 1}.`
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 async function writeRuntimePackageJson(runtimeRoot) {
   await fs.writeFile(
     path.join(runtimeRoot, "package.json"),
@@ -529,6 +586,7 @@ async function main() {
       path.join(runtimeRoot, "node"),
       tarballs.map((entry) => entry.path)
     );
+    await ensureSherpaNativePackage(runtimeRoot, path.join(runtimeRoot, "node"));
     await pruneManagedRuntime(runtimeRoot);
 
     const nodeRelativePath = process.platform === "win32"