diff --git a/config/packaged-runtime-node-modules.cjs b/config/packaged-runtime-node-modules.cjs
index 3d4a968ea23..c88d70350eb 100644
--- a/config/packaged-runtime-node-modules.cjs
+++ b/config/packaged-runtime-node-modules.cjs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const {
 } = require('node:fs')
 const { dirname, join, resolve } = require('node:path')
 const { builtinModules, createRequire } = require('node:module')
+const { PE_MACHINE, readPeMachine } = require('./scripts/windows-pe-machine.cjs')
 
 const projectDir = resolve(__dirname, '..')
 const requireFromProject = createRequire(join(projectDir, 'package.json'))
@@ -367,6 +368,16 @@ function ensurePackagedNodePtyConptyRuntime(nodePtyDir, electronArch) {
   }
 }
 
+/** Whether node-pty's source build holds a conpty.node the `electronArch` slice could load. */
+function conptyTargetsArch(nodePtyDir, electronArch) {
+  const releaseAddon = join(nodePtyDir, 'build', 'Release', 'conpty.node')
+  if (!existsSync(releaseAddon)) {
+    return false
+  }
+  // Null (not a PE) counts as unloadable, so a truncated or quarantined build keeps the fallback.
+  return readPeMachine(releaseAddon) === PE_MACHINE[normalizeNodePtyWindowsArch(electronArch)]
+}
+
 function prunePackagedNodePty(resourcesDir, electronPlatformName, electronArch) {
   const nodePtyDir = join(resourcesDir, 'node_modules', 'node-pty')
   if (!existsSync(nodePtyDir)) {
@@ -388,14 +399,14 @@ function prunePackagedNodePty(resourcesDir, electronPlatformName, electronArch)
   // require, and its caller resolves null with silent: true), and removes the
   // winpty backend that node-pty still selects below Windows build 18309.
   //
-  // Why the arch check: a cross-arch package copies the host's build/Release,
-  // so its mere presence does not mean it matches electronArch -- deleting the
-  // target-arch prebuild would then remove the only loadable binary.
-  if (
-    electronPlatformName === 'win32' &&
-    electronArch === process.arch &&
-    existsSync(join(nodePtyDir, 'build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'))
-  ) {
+  // Why the arch check: a cross-HOST package can copy a build/Release that is not a Windows
+  // binary at all, so its mere presence does not mean the target can load it -- deleting the
+  // target-arch prebuild would then remove the only loadable binary. This used to approximate
+  // that with `electronArch === process.arch`, which also skipped the arm64 slice cross-built on
+  // an x64 Windows host -- a rebuild that DOES emit a correct arm64 addon. That slice kept the
+  // unpatched prebuild as a reachable fallback for any later load failure of build/Release.
+  // Read the PE header instead of guessing.
+  if (electronPlatformName === 'win32' && conptyTargetsArch(nodePtyDir, electronArch)) {
     const prebuildDir = join(nodePtyDir, 'prebuilds', `win32-${electronArch}`)
     for (const staleFallback of ['conpty.node', 'conpty.pdb']) {
       rmSync(join(prebuildDir, staleFallback), { force: true })
diff --git a/config/scripts/packaged-node-pty-prebuild-prune.test.mjs b/config/scripts/packaged-node-pty-prebuild-prune.test.mjs
index c0b24b8a8a2..196e6aceb23 100644
--- a/config/scripts/packaged-node-pty-prebuild-prune.test.mjs
+++ b/config/scripts/packaged-node-pty-prebuild-prune.test.mjs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url)
 const { prunePackagedNodePty } = require('../packaged-runtime-node-modules.cjs')
+const { PE_MACHINE } = require('./windows-pe-machine.cjs')
 
 /**
  * node-pty's loader tries build/Release, then build/Debug, then
@@ -22,18 +23,29 @@ describe('prunePackagedNodePty: the Windows conpty fallback', () => {
   const HOST_ARCH = process.arch
 
   const nodePty = () => join(resources, 'node_modules', 'node-pty')
-  const write = (relative) => {
+  const write = (relative, contents = 'x') => {
     const target = join(nodePty(), relative)
     mkdirSync(join(target, '..'), { recursive: true })
-    writeFileSync(target, 'x')
+    writeFileSync(target, contents)
+  }
+
+  /** Minimal PE far enough to carry a `Machine`, which is what the prune now reads. */
+  const peAddon = (arch) => {
+    const buffer = Buffer.alloc(0x50)
+    buffer.write('MZ')
+    buffer.writeUInt32LE(0x40, 0x3c)
+    buffer.write('PE\0\0', 0x40)
+    buffer.writeUInt16LE(PE_MACHINE[arch], 0x44)
+    return buffer
   }
   const prebuilt = (name, arch = HOST_ARCH) => join(nodePty(), 'prebuilds', `win32-${arch}`, name)
 
   /** What a real packaged win32 prebuilds/<arch> directory holds. */
   const SIBLINGS = ['conpty_console_list.node', 'pty.node', 'winpty.dll', 'winpty-agent.exe']
 
-  const seedWindowsTree = (arch = HOST_ARCH) => {
-    write(join('build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'))
+  /** `buildArch` is what build/Release actually holds, which is not always the slice's arch. */
+  const seedWindowsTree = (arch = HOST_ARCH, buildArch = arch) => {
+    write(join('build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'), peAddon(buildArch))
     write(join('third_party', 'conpty', 'v1', `win10-${arch}`, 'conpty.dll'))
     write(join('third_party', 'conpty', 'v1', `win10-${arch}`, 'OpenConsole.exe'))
     write(join('prebuilds', `win32-${arch}`, 'conpty.node'))
@@ -79,23 +91,44 @@ describe('prunePackagedNodePty: the Windows conpty fallback', () => {
     expect(existsSync(prebuilt('conpty.node'))).toBe(true)
   })
 
-  it('keeps the fallback on a cross-arch package, where build/Release is the host arch', () => {
-    // electron-builder --win --arm64 on an x64 host copies an x64
-    // build/Release; deleting the arm64 prebuild would remove the only binary
-    // the shipped app could load.
+  it('keeps the fallback when build/Release holds a different arch than the slice', () => {
+    // A cross-HOST package can copy a build/Release that the target cannot load;
+    // deleting the prebuild would remove the only binary the shipped app has.
     const target = HOST_ARCH === 'arm64' ? 'x64' : 'arm64'
-    seedWindowsTree(target)
+    seedWindowsTree(target, HOST_ARCH)
 
     prunePackagedNodePty(resources, 'win32', target)
 
     expect(existsSync(prebuilt('conpty.node', target))).toBe(true)
   })
 
+  it('removes the fallback on a cross-arch package whose build/Release IS the slice arch', () => {
+    // Measured on Windows: `electron-builder --win --arm64` on an x64 host does
+    // cross-rebuild a correct arm64 addon. Keying off the host arch skipped this
+    // case, so the slice shipped the unpatched prebuild as a reachable fallback.
+    const target = HOST_ARCH === 'arm64' ? 'x64' : 'arm64'
+    seedWindowsTree(target, target)
+
+    prunePackagedNodePty(resources, 'win32', target)
+
+    expect(existsSync(prebuilt('conpty.node', target))).toBe(false)
+    expect(existsSync(prebuilt('pty.node', target))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the fallback when build/Release is not a readable PE at all', () => {
+    seedWindowsTree()
+    write(join('build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'), 'not-a-pe')
+
+    prunePackagedNodePty(resources, 'win32', HOST_ARCH)
+
+    expect(existsSync(prebuilt('conpty.node'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
   it.each([
     ['darwin', 'arm64'],
     ['linux', 'x64']
   ])('leaves %s prebuilds alone', (platform, arch) => {
-    write(join('build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'))
+    write(join('build', 'Release', 'conpty.node'), peAddon('x64'))
     write(join('prebuilds', `${platform}-${arch}`, 'pty.node'))
 
     prunePackagedNodePty(resources, platform, arch)
diff --git a/docs/reference/windows-msys-job-breakaway.md b/docs/reference/windows-msys-job-breakaway.md
index f4221078afb..d50e3413b28 100644
--- a/docs/reference/windows-msys-job-breakaway.md
+++ b/docs/reference/windows-msys-job-breakaway.md
@@ -119,18 +119,29 @@ never carries the patch:
 | -------------------- | ----------------------------- | ---------------- | ------------------ |
 | same host, same arch | patched                       | yes              | `build/Release`    |
 | cross host           | absent, cannot be cross-built | no               | the prebuild       |
-| cross arch, built    | patched, target arch          | no               | `build/Release`    |
+| cross arch, built    | patched, target arch          | yes              | `build/Release`    |
 | cross arch, failed   | the host's arch               | no               | the prebuild       |
 
 `beforeBuild` runs `rebuild-native-deps.mjs --platform=win32 --arch=<target>`, so
 a cross-arch slice normally does get a patched `build/Release` for the target —
-row three is a correct package whose leftover prebuild is never reached.
-`prunePackagedNodePty` keeps that prebuild anyway, because its guard is
-`electronArch === process.arch` rather than the arch of the binary.
+row three is a correct package. `prunePackagedNodePty` asks the same question the
+loader does, reading the PE machine of `build/Release` rather than comparing
+`electronArch` to `process.arch`, so row three's leftover prebuild goes. Keying
+off the host arch kept it: unreached in the normal case, but still the binary the
+loader takes if `build/Release` ever fails to load for an unrelated reason — an
+AV quarantine, a missing dependency — which is the silent fall-through this whole
+gate exists to close. Rows two and four keep the prebuild because it is the only
+thing there the target could load. Measured on Windows 11 x64 with the VS 2022
+ARM64 cross toolset: `node-gyp rebuild --arch=arm64` does emit a `conpty.node`
+with machine `0xaa64`, so row three is a real package shape — but as of this
+writing no release produces it, because `electron-builder --win` is run without
+an arch and packages x64 only.
 
-So presence alone cannot separate row three from row four, and failing on any
-unmarked file present would reject a correct package with advice its builder
-could not act on. `verifyPackagedConptyBreakawayMarker` instead resolves the
+The verifier still does not key on presence: the prune is the step it is
+checking, and `build/Debug` is never pruned, so an unmarked file beside a
+correct `build/Release` cannot by itself separate row three from row four, and
+failing on one would reject a correct package with advice its builder could not
+act on. `verifyPackagedConptyBreakawayMarker` instead resolves the
 addon the way the loader does — first candidate whose PE `IMAGE_FILE_HEADER`
 machine matches the target — and checks the marker on that one. A package with
 no candidate at all, or none of the target's architecture, is refused: it has no