diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
index cdf3f3f..9f30d79 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Frontend deps
         run: npm --prefix ui ci
 
+      # Build the UI explicitly here (into ui/dist) rather than via tauri.conf's
+      # beforeBuildCommand: tauri-action runs before-commands from a different cwd than a local
+      # `tauri build`, and no single relative --prefix works for both. So beforeBuildCommand is
+      # empty and the frontend is built here, cwd-unambiguously, from the repo root.
+      - name: Build UI
+        run: npm --prefix ui run build
+
       - name: Build + attach installers
         uses: tauri-apps/tauri-action@v0
         env:
diff --git a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index 25e8a79..4de6254 100644
--- a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     "frontendDist": "../ui/dist",
     "devUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
     "beforeDevCommand": "npm --prefix ui run dev",
-    "beforeBuildCommand": "npm --prefix ui run build"
+    "beforeBuildCommand": ""
   },
   "app": {
     "windows": [