diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3ab5c3d..687acf5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -86,13 +86,20 @@ jobs:
       # and Windows shows a SmartScreen "unknown publisher" prompt. Worth
       # doing before a real public release — see the note in RELEASING.md.
       #
-      # If the Linux leg ever fails here with "failed to run linuxdeploy" /
-      # a strip-related error: that's the same binutils/linuxdeploy
-      # incompatibility documented in this repo's AGENT.md (confirmed on a
-      # local Fedora-toolbox dev environment, not yet confirmed either way
-      # on ubuntu-24.04's own binutils) — the fix is `NO_STRIP=1` as an env
-      # var on this step. Not added preemptively since it produces a larger,
-      # unstripped binary and there's no evidence yet this runner needs it.
+      # `npm run build:linux` sets NO_STRIP=1 itself now (in package.json) —
+      # confirmed the hard way that this runner's own strip needed it too,
+      # just not the way expected: this repo's AGENT.md already documented
+      # a local Fedora-toolbox binutils version that *fails the build
+      # outright* without NO_STRIP=1 (can't parse bundled libraries'
+      # `.relr.dyn` section). ubuntu-24.04's binutils builds fine either
+      # way — no error — but a real user's machine (Intel Iris Xe, Mesa
+      # 26.1.4) reproducibly failed to launch a stripped release AppImage
+      # with `Could not create default EGL display: EGL_BAD_PARAMETER`,
+      # while the exact same source built locally (where NO_STRIP=1 was
+      # already the default via scripts/build-appimage.sh) launched fine on
+      # that same machine. Two real, differently-shaped bugs from the same
+      # root cause (stripping a bundled AppImage's libraries) — one loud
+      # (build fails), one silent (build succeeds, runtime GPU init breaks).
       - name: Build the native installer
         run: npm run ${{ matrix.command }}
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2ec1c68..16fd154 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "omnideck-desktop",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.5.0-alpha4",
+  "version": "0.5.0-alpha.5",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "vite",
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     "lint:rust": "cargo clippy --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml --locked --all-targets -- -D warnings",
     "format:rust": "cargo fmt --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml -- --check",
     "verify": "npm run fetch:sidecars && npm run verify:sidecars && npm run test:policy && npm run typecheck && npm run format:rust && npm run test:rust && npm run lint:rust",
-    "build:linux": "node scripts/fetch-sidecars.mjs x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu && tauri build --bundles appimage,deb,rpm --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu",
+    "build:linux": "node scripts/fetch-sidecars.mjs x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu && NO_STRIP=1 tauri build --bundles appimage,deb,rpm --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu",
     "build:windows": "node scripts/fetch-sidecars.mjs x86_64-pc-windows-msvc && tauri build --bundles nsis --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc",
     "build:macos": "node scripts/fetch-sidecars.mjs aarch64-apple-darwin && tauri build --bundles dmg --target aarch64-apple-darwin"
   },
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index b11b3c6..994fcb9 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -2269,7 +2269,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "omnideck-desktop"
-version = "0.5.0-alpha4"
+version = "0.5.0-alpha.5"
 dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index fb73834..34da964 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "omnideck-desktop"
-version = "0.5.0-alpha4"
+version = "0.5.0-alpha.5"
 description = "Omnideck desktop app — a thin GUI shell over the omnideck CLI"
 authors = ["Omnideck"]
 edition = "2021"
diff --git a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index 2ca4db8..bac60ec 100644
--- a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
   "productName": "Omnideck",
-  "version": "0.5.0-alpha4",
+  "version": "0.5.0-alpha.5",
   "identifier": "dev.omnideck.desktop",
   "build": {
     "beforeDevCommand": "npm run dev",