diff --git a/forge.config.ts b/forge.config.ts
index 6491c9d..a067eb0 100644
--- a/forge.config.ts
+++ b/forge.config.ts
@@ -103,32 +103,36 @@ const config: ForgeConfig = {
             { cwd: modDir, stdio: 'inherit' },
           );
 
-          // Verify the downloaded binary is NOT an ELF (Linux) file.
-          // node-gyp-build loads from prebuilds/ first, then build/Release/.
-          const prebuildsTarget = path.join(modDir, 'prebuilds', targetKey);
-          if (fs.existsSync(prebuildsTarget)) {
-            for (const f of fs.readdirSync(prebuildsTarget)) {
-              if (f.endsWith('.node')) {
-                const buf = Buffer.alloc(4);
-                const fd = fs.openSync(path.join(prebuildsTarget, f), 'r');
-                fs.readSync(fd, buf, 0, 4, 0);
-                fs.closeSync(fd);
-                // ELF magic: 0x7f 'E' 'L' 'F'
-                if (buf[0] === 0x7f && buf[1] === 0x45 && buf[2] === 0x4c && buf[3] === 0x46) {
-                  throw new Error(
-                    `[forge] FATAL: ${mod} prebuilt for ${targetKey} is an ELF binary! ` +
-                    `Cross-compilation failed — refusing to package a Linux .node for Windows.`,
-                  );
-                }
-                console.log(`[forge] Verified ${f} is not ELF ✓`);
-              }
-            }
-          } else {
+          // prebuild-install writes the binary to build/Release/<name>.node.
+          // Verify at least one .node file exists there and is NOT an ELF
+          // (Linux) binary — a Linux .node in a Windows package always crashes.
+          const releaseDir = path.join(modDir, 'build', 'Release');
+          if (!fs.existsSync(releaseDir)) {
             throw new Error(
-              `[forge] FATAL: No prebuilds/${targetKey}/ directory found for ${mod} after prebuild-install. ` +
-              `The native module would fall back to a Linux binary at runtime.`,
+              `[forge] FATAL: build/Release/ not found for ${mod} after prebuild-install. ` +
+              `The native binary was not downloaded.`,
             );
           }
+          const nodeFiles = fs.readdirSync(releaseDir).filter((f) => f.endsWith('.node'));
+          if (nodeFiles.length === 0) {
+            throw new Error(
+              `[forge] FATAL: No .node files in build/Release/ for ${mod} after prebuild-install.`,
+            );
+          }
+          for (const f of nodeFiles) {
+            const buf = Buffer.alloc(4);
+            const fd = fs.openSync(path.join(releaseDir, f), 'r');
+            fs.readSync(fd, buf, 0, 4, 0);
+            fs.closeSync(fd);
+            // ELF magic: 0x7f 'E' 'L' 'F'
+            if (buf[0] === 0x7f && buf[1] === 0x45 && buf[2] === 0x4c && buf[3] === 0x46) {
+              throw new Error(
+                `[forge] FATAL: ${mod} build/Release/${f} is an ELF binary! ` +
+                `Cross-compilation failed — refusing to package a Linux .node for Windows.`,
+              );
+            }
+            console.log(`[forge] Verified ${f} is not ELF ✓`);
+          }
         }
       }