diff --git a/Journal.App/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/Journal.App/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index a0a673a..adb5069 100644
--- a/Journal.App/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/Journal.App/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -150,6 +150,16 @@ fn effective_root(root_override: &Option<PathBuf>) -> Result<PathBuf, String> {
 }
 
 fn resolve_sidecar_path(root: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf, String> {
+    let root_exe_path = root.join("Journal.Sidecar.exe");
+    if root_exe_path.exists() {
+        return Ok(root_exe_path);
+    }
+
+    let root_publish_exe_path = root.join("publish").join("Journal.Sidecar.exe");
+    if root_publish_exe_path.exists() {
+        return Ok(root_publish_exe_path);
+    }
+
     let debug_path = root.join("Journal.Sidecar/bin/Debug/net10.0/Journal.Sidecar.exe");
     if debug_path.exists() {
         return Ok(debug_path);