diff --git a/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.test.ts b/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.test.ts
index 903d67827f9..f9a7319ee1c 100644
--- a/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { dirname, join } from 'node:path'
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import {
-  hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment,
+  hasAppImagePathEnvironment,
   resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity
 } from './appimage-runtime-identity'
 
@@ -231,10 +231,10 @@ describe.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')('resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity',
   })
 })
 
-describe('hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment', () => {
-  it('detects either AppImage runtime variable', () => {
-    expect(hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment({ APPIMAGE: '/tmp/Orca.AppImage' })).toBe(true)
-    expect(hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment({ APPDIR: '/tmp/.mount_Orca123' })).toBe(true)
-    expect(hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment({ APPIMAGE: '', APPDIR: '' })).toBe(false)
+describe('hasAppImagePathEnvironment', () => {
+  it('requires the AppImage file path before treating the runtime as verifiable', () => {
+    expect(hasAppImagePathEnvironment({ APPIMAGE: '/tmp/Orca.AppImage' })).toBe(true)
+    expect(hasAppImagePathEnvironment({ APPDIR: '/tmp/.mount_Orca123' })).toBe(false)
+    expect(hasAppImagePathEnvironment({ APPIMAGE: '', APPDIR: '/tmp/.mount_Orca123' })).toBe(false)
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.ts b/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.ts
index 860d6c83a63..08b2a92dd65 100644
--- a/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.ts
+++ b/src/main/appimage-runtime-identity.ts
@@ -143,10 +143,9 @@ function hasAppImagePackageEvidence(runtimeRoot: string, resourcesPath: string):
   }
 }
 
-export function hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment(
-  environment: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env
-): boolean {
-  return Boolean(environment.APPIMAGE || environment.APPDIR)
+/** Returns whether the process inherited an AppImage file path to validate. */
+export function hasAppImagePathEnvironment(environment: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): boolean {
+  return Boolean(environment.APPIMAGE)
 }
 
 export function resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity(
diff --git a/src/main/cli/cli-install-location.ts b/src/main/cli/cli-install-location.ts
index e65c17cc1cd..228e574addc 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/cli-install-location.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/cli-install-location.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { basename, dirname, join } from 'node:path'
 import { getAppEnvironment } from '../../shared/app-environment'
 import type { CliInstallStatus } from '../../shared/cli-install-types'
 import {
-  hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment,
+  hasAppImagePathEnvironment,
   resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity
 } from '../appimage-runtime-identity'
 import {
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export abstract class CliInstallLocation {
       this.platform === 'linux' &&
       this.isPackaged &&
       !hasExplicitAppImagePath &&
-      hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment() &&
+      hasAppImagePathEnvironment() &&
       !runtimeAppImageIdentity
     this.appImagePath =
       this.platform === 'linux' && this.isPackaged
diff --git a/src/main/cli/cli-installer-appimage-ownership.test.ts b/src/main/cli/cli-installer-appimage-ownership.test.ts
index 92fb7325ec8..81147e09886 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/cli-installer-appimage-ownership.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/cli-installer-appimage-ownership.test.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,38 @@ function installerOptions(fixture: Fixture) {
 }
 
 describe.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')('AppImage CLI ownership', () => {
+  it('uses the mounted bundled launcher when only APPDIR is inherited', async () => {
+    const fixture = await makeFixture()
+    const resourcesPath = join(fixture.root, 'mounted', 'resources')
+    const launcherPath = join(resourcesPath, 'bin', 'orca-ide')
+    await mkdir(dirname(launcherPath), { recursive: true })
+    await writeFile(launcherPath, '#!/usr/bin/env bash\n', { mode: 0o755 })
+    vi.stubEnv('APPIMAGE', '')
+    vi.stubEnv('APPDIR', dirname(resourcesPath))
+
+    const installer = new CliInstaller({
+      platform: 'linux',
+      isPackaged: true,
+      userDataPath: join(fixture.root, 'user-data'),
+      resourcesPath,
+      execPath: join(dirname(resourcesPath), 'orca-ide'),
+      appPath: join(resourcesPath, 'app.asar'),
+      homePath: join(fixture.root, 'home'),
+      processPathEnv: fixture.commandDirectory,
+      commandPathOverride: fixture.commandPath
+    })
+
+    await expect(installer.getStatus()).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      state: 'not_installed',
+      launcherPath
+    })
+    await expect(installer.install()).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      state: 'installed',
+      launcherPath
+    })
+    await expect(readlink(fixture.commandPath)).resolves.toBe(launcherPath)
+  })
+
   it('ignores inherited APPIMAGE without the matching runtime identity', async () => {
     const fixture = await makeFixture()
     const resourcesPath = join(fixture.root, 'installed', 'resources')
diff --git a/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.test.ts b/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.test.ts
index 18a16d53f60..b8031535134 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ async function makeFixture(): Promise<{ homePath: string; resourcesPath: string
 }
 
 afterEach(async () => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs()
   filePublicationFailures.link = 0
   filePublicationFailures.replaceBeforeRename = ''
   registrationLock.completed = null
@@ -81,6 +82,17 @@ afterEach(async () => {
 })
 
 describe('installLinuxBareOrcaDispatcher', () => {
+  it('uses the mounted bundled launcher when only APPDIR is inherited', async () => {
+    const { homePath, resourcesPath } = await makeFixture()
+    vi.stubEnv('APPIMAGE', '')
+    vi.stubEnv('APPDIR', resourcesPath)
+
+    const result = await installLinuxBareOrcaDispatcher({ resourcesPath, homePath })
+
+    expect(result.state).toBe('installed')
+    expect(result.target).toBe(join(resourcesPath, 'bin', 'orca-ide'))
+  })
+
   it('writes an executable bare-orca dispatcher that execs the bundled orca-ide launcher', async () => {
     const { homePath, resourcesPath } = await makeFixture()
 
diff --git a/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.ts b/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.ts
index 780dca8b1f6..3bf9fae35ad 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/linux-bare-orca-dispatcher.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { copyFile, link, lstat, mkdir, readFile, rename, unlink, writeFile } fro
 import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { dirname, join } from 'node:path'
 import {
-  hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment,
+  hasAppImagePathEnvironment,
   resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity
 } from '../appimage-runtime-identity'
 import {
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ async function resolveStableLauncherPath(
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   const hasExplicitAppImagePath = Object.hasOwn(options, 'appImagePath')
   const runtimeIdentity = resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity({ resourcesPath: options.resourcesPath })
-  if (!hasExplicitAppImagePath && hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment() && !runtimeIdentity) {
+  if (!hasExplicitAppImagePath && hasAppImagePathEnvironment() && !runtimeIdentity) {
     return null
   }
   const appImagePath = hasExplicitAppImagePath
diff --git a/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.test.ts b/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.test.ts
index 164271bd7f2..905d4807368 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.test.ts
@@ -26,10 +26,24 @@ async function makeFixture(): Promise<{ userDataPath: string; resourcesPath: str
 }
 
 afterEach(async () => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs()
   await Promise.all(created.splice(0).map((dir) => rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })))
 })
 
 describe('ensureLinuxTerminalOrcaCliShimDir', () => {
+  it('uses the mounted bundled launcher when only APPDIR is inherited', async () => {
+    const { userDataPath, resourcesPath } = await makeFixture()
+    vi.stubEnv('APPIMAGE', '')
+    vi.stubEnv('APPDIR', resourcesPath)
+
+    const shimDir = ensureLinuxTerminalOrcaCliShimDir({ userDataPath, resourcesPath })
+
+    expect(shimDir).toBe(join(userDataPath, 'linux-orca-cli-shim'))
+    expect(readFileSync(join(shimDir!, 'orca'), 'utf8')).toContain(
+      `exec '${join(resourcesPath, 'bin', 'orca-ide')}' "$@"`
+    )
+  })
+
   it('writes an executable bare-orca shim that execs the bundled orca-ide launcher', async () => {
     const { userDataPath, resourcesPath } = await makeFixture()
 
diff --git a/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.ts b/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.ts
index 1a0ebb40ba4..7697bac01ac 100644
--- a/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.ts
+++ b/src/main/cli/linux-terminal-orca-cli-shim.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
 } from 'node:fs'
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path'
 import {
-  hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment,
+  hasAppImagePathEnvironment,
   resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity
 } from '../appimage-runtime-identity'
 import {
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function ensureLinuxTerminalOrcaCliShimDir(
     options.resourcesPath === undefined ? process.resourcesPath : options.resourcesPath
   const hasExplicitAppImagePath = Object.hasOwn(options, 'appImagePath')
   const runtimeIdentity = resolveAppImageRuntimeIdentity({ resourcesPath })
-  if (!hasExplicitAppImagePath && hasAppImageRuntimeEnvironment() && !runtimeIdentity) {
+  if (!hasExplicitAppImagePath && hasAppImagePathEnvironment() && !runtimeIdentity) {
     return null
   }
   const appImagePath = hasExplicitAppImagePath