diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
index 9cd3a13a17921..6e162a006b800 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ import {
   revalidatePooledRemoteBackends,
   revalidateRemoteConnection
 } from './remote-liveness'
+import { missingRendererAssets } from './renderer-bundle'
 import { attachRendererConsoleCapture, formatRendererBoundaryReport } from './renderer-log'
 import {
   buildSessionWindowUrl,
@@ -3566,10 +3567,39 @@ function resolveWebDist() {
 
 function resolveRendererIndex() {
   const candidates = [path.join(APP_ROOT, 'dist', 'index.html'), path.join(resolveWebDist(), 'index.html')]
-  const found = candidates.find(fileExists)
+  const present = candidates.filter(fileExists)
 
-  if (found) {
-    return found
+  // index.html and the hashed chunks it names are one generation. An update
+  // that replaces only one of the two shipped copies (app.asar vs
+  // app.asar.unpacked) leaves a TORN copy: the window loads, then dies on the
+  // first lazy import with "Failed to fetch dynamically imported module" and
+  // every restart reloads the same torn copy. Prefer a copy whose modules are
+  // all present, so the intact generation heals the boot by itself.
+  for (const candidate of present) {
+    const missing = missingRendererAssets(candidate)
+
+    if (missing.length === 0) {
+      return candidate
+    }
+
+    rememberLog(
+      `[renderer] skipping torn renderer bundle at ${candidate}: ` +
+        `${missing.length} module file(s) named by index.html are missing ` +
+        `(${missing.slice(0, 3).join(', ')}${missing.length > 3 ? ', …' : ''})`
+    )
+  }
+
+  if (present.length > 0) {
+    // Every copy is torn. Load the first one anyway — the boundary's error is
+    // still better than a blank window — but say what is wrong and how to fix
+    // it, because no amount of restarting repairs a torn bundle.
+    rememberLog(
+      `[renderer] every renderer bundle is incomplete (${present.join(', ')}). ` +
+        `The last update replaced the app while its files were locked. ` +
+        `Repair with: hermes desktop --force-build`
+    )
+
+    return present[0]
   }
 
   // Nothing on disk. A packaged build with no renderer bundle blank-pages with
diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/renderer-bundle.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/renderer-bundle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f977729e8db39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/renderer-bundle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/**
+ * Renderer bundle generation check.
+ *
+ * `index.html` and the hashed chunks under `dist/assets/` are ONE generation:
+ * every `lazy()` route resolves to a filename baked into that generation's
+ * module graph. A self-update that replaces the package while its files are
+ * locked (antivirus, a still-running instance, an interrupted Windows replace)
+ * can leave the two copies electron-builder ships — inside `app.asar` and,
+ * because `asarUnpack` lists `dist/**`, beside it in `app.asar.unpacked` —
+ * from DIFFERENT generations. The window then loads an `index.html` whose
+ * chunks are gone and dies on the first lazy import:
+ *
+ *   Failed to fetch dynamically imported module:
+ *   …/app.asar/dist/assets/shiki-block-COiz1pEN.js
+ *
+ * The app looks permanently broken (every relaunch reloads the same torn copy),
+ * yet the OTHER copy is usually intact. This makes that checkable, so the
+ * loader can prefer a complete generation and only report a repair when both
+ * are torn.
+ *
+ * Pure + injectable so it is testable without booting Electron. `fs` here is
+ * Electron's asar-aware fs: paths inside `app.asar` read like real files.
+ */
+
+import fs from 'node:fs'
+import path from 'node:path'
+
+// The modules the browser fetches before any app code runs: Vite emits them as
+// `<script type="module" src>` plus `<link rel="modulepreload" href>`.
+const TAG_WITH_URL = /<(?:script|link)\b[^>]*\b(?:src|href)=["']([^"']+)["'][^>]*>/gi
+const MODULE_TAG = /\btype=["']module["']|\brel=["']modulepreload["']/i
+
+export function parseModuleAssetRefs(html: string): string[] {
+  const refs: string[] = []
+
+  for (const [tag, href] of String(html ?? '').matchAll(TAG_WITH_URL)) {
+    // Absolute/CDN URLs aren't part of this bundle's generation.
+    if (MODULE_TAG.test(tag) && !/^[a-z]+:|^\/\//i.test(href)) {
+      refs.push(href.replace(/^\.\//, '').split(/[?#]/)[0])
+    }
+  }
+
+  return refs
+}
+
+export interface RendererBundleDeps {
+  readFileSync?: (file: string, encoding: 'utf8') => string
+  existsSync?: (file: string) => boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * The module files `indexPath` declares but that do not exist beside it.
+ *
+ * Empty ⇒ a complete generation (or an index naming nothing checkable — the
+ * caller's own existence gate owns unreadable/missing files). Non-empty ⇒ torn:
+ * loading it produces the "Failed to fetch dynamically imported module" crash.
+ */
+export function missingRendererAssets(indexPath: string, deps: RendererBundleDeps = {}): string[] {
+  const { readFileSync = fs.readFileSync, existsSync = fs.existsSync } = deps
+  const dir = path.dirname(indexPath)
+
+  let html: string
+
+  try {
+    html = readFileSync(indexPath, 'utf8')
+  } catch {
+    return []
+  }
+
+  return parseModuleAssetRefs(html).filter(ref => !existsSync(path.join(dir, ref)))
+}
diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 12f342dc4d2c3..ffb7ac93f80dd 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -5966,8 +5966,72 @@ def _desktop_stamp_path() -> Path:
     return get_hermes_home() / "desktop-build-stamp.json"
 
 
+def _renderer_bundle_dir(desktop_dir: Path, *, source_mode: bool) -> Optional[Path]:
+    """The renderer ``dist`` directory a launch loads, when it is inspectable.
+
+    Source mode builds to ``apps/desktop/dist``. A packaged app ships the same
+    bundle twice — inside ``app.asar`` and, because ``asarUnpack`` lists
+    ``dist/**``, beside it in ``app.asar.unpacked``. Only the unpacked copy is
+    a real directory; that is also the one an interrupted replace tears, so
+    checking it catches the failure we care about.
+    """
+    if source_mode:
+        return desktop_dir / "dist"
+
+    executable = _desktop_packaged_executable(desktop_dir)
+    if executable is None:
+        return None
+
+    # macOS: …/Hermes.app/Contents/MacOS/Hermes → …/Contents/Resources
+    resources = (
+        executable.parent.parent / "Resources"
+        if sys.platform == "darwin"
+        else executable.parent / "resources"
+    )
+    return resources / "app.asar.unpacked" / "dist"
+
+
+# The module files the renderer fetches before any app code runs: Vite emits
+# them as `<script type="module" src>` plus `<link rel="modulepreload" href>`.
+_HTML_TAG_WITH_URL = re.compile(r"""<(?:script|link)\b[^>]*\b(?:src|href)=["']([^"']+)["'][^>]*>""", re.IGNORECASE)
+_MODULE_TAG = re.compile(r"""\btype=["']module["']|\brel=["']modulepreload["']""", re.IGNORECASE)
+
+
+def _renderer_bundle_torn(dist_dir: Path) -> bool:
+    """True when ``index.html`` names hashed module files that aren't there.
+
+    ``index.html`` and the hashed chunks under ``assets/`` are ONE generation.
+    An update that replaces the app while its files are locked (antivirus, a
+    still-running instance, an interrupted Windows replace) can leave the two
+    behind from different generations. The app then launches and dies on the
+    first lazy import with ``Failed to fetch dynamically imported module:
+    …/assets/<chunk>-<hash>.js`` — and because the content stamp still matches
+    the intact SOURCE tree, ``hermes desktop`` skips the rebuild that would fix
+    it, so every relaunch reproduces the crash and reinstalling looks like the
+    only way out. Detecting the tear turns it into a normal rebuild.
+
+    Conservative: an unreadable index, or one naming nothing checkable, is NOT
+    reported as torn — the missing-bundle guards own those cases.
+    """
+    try:
+        html = (dist_dir / "index.html").read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+    except OSError:
+        return False
+
+    for match in _HTML_TAG_WITH_URL.finditer(html):
+        href = match.group(1)
+        # Absolute/CDN URLs aren't part of this bundle's generation.
+        if not _MODULE_TAG.search(match.group(0)) or re.match(r"^[a-z]+:|^//", href, re.IGNORECASE):
+            continue
+        rel = href.split("?", 1)[0].split("#", 1)[0].lstrip("./")
+        if rel and not (dist_dir / rel).exists():
+            return True
+
+    return False
+
+
 def _desktop_build_needed(desktop_dir: Path, project_root: Path, *, source_mode: bool) -> bool:
-    """Return True when the desktop build output is stale or missing.
+    """Return True when the desktop build output is stale, missing, or torn.
 
     Compares the current content hash against the saved stamp. Also returns
     True if the expected build artifact doesn't exist (e.g. first run after
@@ -5981,6 +6045,14 @@ def _desktop_build_needed(desktop_dir: Path, project_root: Path, *, source_mode:
         if _desktop_packaged_executable(desktop_dir) is None:
             return True
 
+    # A torn renderer bundle is stale no matter what the stamp says: the hash
+    # describes the SOURCE tree, which is intact, while the built output is the
+    # half-replaced one that crashes on its first lazy import.
+    dist_dir = _renderer_bundle_dir(desktop_dir, source_mode=source_mode)
+    if dist_dir is not None and _renderer_bundle_torn(dist_dir):
+        print(f"  ⚠ A previous update left the desktop bundle incomplete ({dist_dir}); rebuilding it")
+        return True
+
     stamp_file = _desktop_stamp_path()
     if not stamp_file.is_file():
         return True