diff --git a/docs/NPM_DISTRIBUTION.md b/docs/NPM_DISTRIBUTION.md
index 53c54a8..3d76548 100644
--- a/docs/NPM_DISTRIBUTION.md
+++ b/docs/NPM_DISTRIBUTION.md
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ The binary goes in the package's `bin/`, or, when that is not writable (a
 root-owned `sudo npm install -g` whose postinstall npm 12 skipped), in a
 per-user cache: `$XDG_CACHE_HOME` (if absolute), else `~/.cache`
 (`~/Library/Caches` on macOS), under `<package>/<version>/<platform>-<arch>/`.
-The launcher looks in both. A
+The launcher looks in both. With no absolute cache root (an empty or relative
+`HOME`) there is no fallback, so nothing under the current directory is run. A
 termination signal during that first-run download stops the installer too,
 and it removes its partial file.
 
diff --git a/scripts/install.js b/scripts/install.js
index 126e985..433359a 100755
--- a/scripts/install.js
+++ b/scripts/install.js
@@ -23,22 +23,37 @@ const binaryName = process.platform === "win32" ? `${nativeBinary}.exe` : native
 // (a root-owned global install whose postinstall npm 12 skipped), in a
 // per-user cache. scripts/idx.js looks in both, in this order.
 const packageBinaryPath = path.join(packageRoot, "bin", binaryName);
-// A relative XDG_CACHE_HOME is invalid per the XDG spec, and would make the
-// launcher run a binary from the current directory: ignore it.
-const xdgCacheHome = process.env.XDG_CACHE_HOME;
-const cacheBinaryPath = path.join(
-  xdgCacheHome && path.isAbsolute(xdgCacheHome)
-    ? xdgCacheHome
-    : process.platform === "darwin"
-      ? path.join(os.homedir(), "Library", "Caches")
-      : path.join(os.homedir(), ".cache"),
-  packageName,
-  packageManifest.version,
-  // A home directory shared across machines must not mix architectures.
-  `${process.platform}-${process.arch}`,
-  binaryName,
-);
-const binaryLocations = [packageBinaryPath, cacheBinaryPath];
+// The cache root must be absolute: a relative one (an XDG_CACHE_HOME that the
+// XDG spec calls invalid, or an empty or relative HOME) would make the
+// launcher run a binary from the current directory. Without one there is no
+// cache fallback.
+function cacheRoot() {
+  const xdgCacheHome = process.env.XDG_CACHE_HOME;
+  if (xdgCacheHome && path.isAbsolute(xdgCacheHome)) {
+    return xdgCacheHome;
+  }
+  const home = os.homedir();
+  if (!home || !path.isAbsolute(home)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  return process.platform === "darwin"
+    ? path.join(home, "Library", "Caches")
+    : path.join(home, ".cache");
+}
+const cacheDirectory = cacheRoot();
+const binaryLocations = [packageBinaryPath];
+if (cacheDirectory) {
+  binaryLocations.push(
+    path.join(
+      cacheDirectory,
+      packageName,
+      packageManifest.version,
+      // A home directory shared across machines must not mix architectures.
+      `${process.platform}-${process.arch}`,
+      binaryName,
+    ),
+  );
+}
 let binaryPath = packageBinaryPath;
 const githubRepository = "0xrsydn/idx-cli";
 const maxRedirects = 5;
diff --git a/scripts/npm-smoke.sh b/scripts/npm-smoke.sh
index 69c5161..73d172f 100755
--- a/scripts/npm-smoke.sh
+++ b/scripts/npm-smoke.sh
@@ -106,6 +106,17 @@ npm_config_cache="$npm_cache" npm install --prefix "$read_only_dir" "${smoke_dir
 chmod -R a-w "${read_only_dir}/node_modules/idx-mcp"
 XDG_CACHE_HOME="${smoke_dir}/user-cache" IDX_BINARY_URL="${repo_root}/target/release/idx-mcp" \
   "${read_only_dir}/node_modules/.bin/idx-mcp" --help > "${smoke_dir}/read-only-help.txt"
+# Without an absolute cache root (empty HOME) there is no cache fallback, so a
+# binary planted under the current directory is never run.
+planted_dir="${smoke_dir}/planted"
+planted="${planted_dir}/.cache/idx-mcp/$(node -p 'require("./npm/idx-mcp/package.json").version')/$(node -p 'process.platform + "-" + process.arch')/idx-mcp"
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$planted")"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\necho PLANTED\n' > "$planted"
+chmod +x "$planted"
+if (cd "$planted_dir" && HOME='' XDG_CACHE_HOME='' "${read_only_dir}/node_modules/.bin/idx-mcp" --help 2>&1) | grep -q PLANTED; then
+  echo "npm smoke: the launcher ran a binary from the current directory" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
 chmod -R u+w "${read_only_dir}/node_modules/idx-mcp"
 cached=("${smoke_dir}"/user-cache/idx-mcp/*/*/idx-mcp)
 if ! head -n 1 "${smoke_dir}/read-only-help.txt" | grep -q "MCP server" || [[ ! -x "${cached[0]}" ]]; then