diff --git a/scripts/release/packaging/linux/tarball.sh b/scripts/release/packaging/linux/tarball.sh
index ace63e41a..efa9c1913 100755
--- a/scripts/release/packaging/linux/tarball.sh
+++ b/scripts/release/packaging/linux/tarball.sh
@@ -76,6 +76,84 @@ if resolved_path="$(readlink -f "$script_path" 2>/dev/null)"; then
 fi
 
 bin_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "$script_path")" && pwd)"
+
+case "$(uname -m)" in
+  x86_64 | amd64)
+    system_lib_dirs=(
+      /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
+      /usr/lib64
+      /usr/lib
+      /usr/local/lib64
+      /usr/local/lib
+      /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
+      /lib64
+      /lib
+    )
+    ;;
+  aarch64 | arm64)
+    system_lib_dirs=(
+      /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu
+      /usr/lib64
+      /usr/lib
+      /usr/local/lib
+      /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu
+      /lib64
+      /lib
+    )
+    ;;
+  *)
+    system_lib_dirs=(
+      /usr/lib64
+      /usr/lib
+      /usr/local/lib64
+      /usr/local/lib
+      /lib64
+      /lib
+    )
+    ;;
+esac
+
+libexec_dir="${bin_dir}/../libexec"
+preloads=()
+
+prefer_host_libraries() {
+  local lib dir host_path
+  local group_preloads=()
+
+  for lib in "$@"; do
+    [[ -f "${libexec_dir}/${lib}" ]] || continue
+    host_path=""
+    for dir in "${system_lib_dirs[@]}"; do
+      if [[ -f "${dir}/${lib}" ]]; then
+        host_path="${dir}/${lib}"
+        break
+      fi
+    done
+
+    # Keep a dependency group bundled when any required host copy is missing.
+    [[ -n "$host_path" ]] || return 0
+    group_preloads+=("$host_path")
+  done
+
+  if [[ ${#group_preloads[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
+    preloads+=("${group_preloads[@]}")
+  fi
+}
+
+# Only replace libraries that integrate with host data or runtime modules.
+# CEF graphics and compiler runtimes such as libstdc++ must stay bundled.
+prefer_host_libraries libxkbcommon.so.0 libxkbcommon-x11.so.0
+prefer_host_libraries libfontconfig.so.1
+prefer_host_libraries \
+  libnspr4.so libplc4.so libplds4.so \
+  libnssutil3.so libnss3.so libsmime3.so libssl3.so \
+  libfreebl3.so libfreeblpriv3.so libsoftokn3.so libnssckbi.so libnssdbm3.so
+
+if [[ ${#preloads[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
+  preload_str="$(IFS=:; echo "${preloads[*]}")"
+  export LD_PRELOAD="${preload_str}${LD_PRELOAD:+:$LD_PRELOAD}"
+fi
+
 exec "${bin_dir}/../libexec/athas" \
   --ozone-platform=x11 \
   --disable-vulkan \
diff --git a/scripts/release/tests/linux-packaging.test.ts b/scripts/release/tests/linux-packaging.test.ts
index 93733095e..22f5ddd73 100644
--- a/scripts/release/tests/linux-packaging.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/release/tests/linux-packaging.test.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ describe("Linux release packaging", () => {
     expect(script).toContain("is_glibc_runtime_library");
     expect(script).toContain("patchelf --add-rpath '$ORIGIN'");
     expect(script).toContain("${app_dir_name}/libexec/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0");
+    expect(script).not.toContain("export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=");
   });
 
   it("preserves the root-owned setuid sandbox contract in Debian packages", () => {
diff --git a/scripts/release/tests/linux-tarball-launcher.test.ts b/scripts/release/tests/linux-tarball-launcher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..edf940177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release/tests/linux-tarball-launcher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const packagingScript = fs.readFileSync(
+  path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "../packaging/linux/tarball.sh"),
+  "utf8",
+);
+const launcher = packagingScript.split("<<'EOF'\n")[1]?.split("\nEOF")[0];
+
+function shellQuote(value: string) {
+  return `'${value.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`;
+}
+
+function runLauncher({
+  bundled = [],
+  host = [],
+  arch = "x86_64",
+  preload = "",
+  args = [],
+}: {
+  bundled?: string[];
+  host?: string[];
+  arch?: string;
+  preload?: string;
+  args?: string[];
+}) {
+  if (!launcher) throw new Error("Tarball launcher heredoc was not found");
+
+  const root = fs.realpathSync(fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "athas-launcher-")));
+  try {
+    for (const file of [...bundled.map((name) => `/libexec/${name}`), ...host]) {
+      const filePath = path.join(root, file);
+      fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
+      fs.writeFileSync(filePath, "");
+    }
+    const binDir = path.join(root, "bin");
+    fs.mkdirSync(binDir);
+    const launcherPath = path.join(binDir, "athas");
+    // Redirect only the host filesystem and final exec; run the real selection logic.
+    const fixtureLauncher = launcher
+      .replace(
+        /^[ \t]+\/(?:usr\/)?lib\S*$/gm,
+        (line) => `      ${shellQuote(path.join(root, line.trim()))}`,
+      )
+      .replace(
+        '\ncase "$(uname -m)" in',
+        `\nexport LD_PRELOAD=${shellQuote(preload)}\ncase "$(uname -m)" in`,
+      );
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      launcherPath,
+      [
+        `uname() { printf '%s\\n' ${shellQuote(arch)}; }`,
+        `exec() { printf '%s\\0' "\${LD_PRELOAD-}" "$@"; }`,
+        fixtureLauncher,
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+    const env = { ...process.env };
+    delete env.LD_PRELOAD;
+    const result = spawnSync("bash", [launcherPath, ...args], { env, encoding: "utf8" });
+    expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(result.stderr).toBe("");
+    expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+    const [selected, executable, ...forwardedArgs] = result.stdout.split("\0").slice(0, -1);
+    expect(path.normalize(executable!)).toBe(path.join(root, "libexec/athas"));
+    return {
+      preloads: selected ? selected.split(":").map((file) => file.replace(root, "")) : [],
+      args: forwardedArgs,
+    };
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
+describe("Linux tarball launcher", () => {
+  it("replaces only host-integration libraries, retaining compiler and CEF runtimes", () => {
+    const integration = ["libxkbcommon.so.0", "libfontconfig.so.1", "libnssutil3.so"];
+    const retained = [
+      "libstdc++.so.6",
+      "libgcc_s.so.1",
+      "libcef.so",
+      "libEGL.so",
+      "libGLESv2.so",
+      "libvk_swiftshader.so",
+      "libvulkan.so.1",
+      "libglib-2.0.so.0",
+      "libunrelated.so.1",
+    ];
+    const libraries = [...integration, ...retained];
+    const result = runLauncher({
+      bundled: libraries,
+      host: libraries.map((lib) => `/usr/lib/${lib}`),
+    });
+    expect(result.preloads).toEqual(integration.map((lib) => `/usr/lib/${lib}`));
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["x86_64", "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu"],
+    ["x86_64", "/usr/lib64"],
+    ["x86_64", "/usr/lib"],
+    ["x86_64", "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu"],
+    ["aarch64", "/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu"],
+    ["aarch64", "/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu"],
+    ["aarch64", "/lib64"],
+    ["aarch64", "/lib"],
+  ])("finds host libraries on %s in %s", (arch, dir) => {
+    const file = `${dir}/libfontconfig.so.1`;
+    expect(runLauncher({ arch, bundled: ["libfontconfig.so.1"], host: [file] }).preloads).toEqual([
+      file,
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("prefers the architecture-specific directory and does not preload both copies", () => {
+    const file = "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfontconfig.so.1";
+    expect(
+      runLauncher({
+        bundled: ["libfontconfig.so.1"],
+        host: [file, "/usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1"],
+      }).preloads,
+    ).toEqual([file]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps bundled libraries when host copies are unavailable", () => {
+    expect(
+      runLauncher({ bundled: ["libxkbcommon.so.0", "libfontconfig.so.1", "libnssutil3.so"] })
+        .preloads,
+    ).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not preload host libraries that are not bundled", () => {
+    expect(runLauncher({ host: ["/usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1"] }).preloads).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    { name: "XKB", libraries: ["libxkbcommon.so.0", "libxkbcommon-x11.so.0"] },
+    {
+      name: "NSS/NSPR",
+      libraries: ["libnspr4.so", "libplc4.so", "libplds4.so", "libnssutil3.so", "libnss3.so"],
+    },
+  ])("switches the bundled $name group together", ({ libraries }) => {
+    const host = libraries.map((lib) => `/usr/lib/${lib}`);
+    expect(runLauncher({ bundled: libraries, host }).preloads).toEqual(host);
+    for (const missing of host) {
+      expect(
+        runLauncher({
+          bundled: [...libraries, "libfontconfig.so.1"],
+          host: [...host.filter((file) => file !== missing), "/usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1"],
+        }).preloads,
+      ).toEqual(["/usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1"]);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it.each([true, false])(
+    "preserves caller preloads and arguments with host selection %s",
+    (found) => {
+      const file = "/usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1";
+      const result = runLauncher({
+        bundled: ["libfontconfig.so.1"],
+        host: found ? [file] : [],
+        preload: "/custom/first.so:/custom/second.so",
+        args: ["/workspace/with spaces", "--new-window", ""],
+      });
+      expect(result.preloads).toEqual([
+        ...(found ? [file] : []),
+        "/custom/first.so",
+        "/custom/second.so",
+      ]);
+      expect(result.args).toEqual([
+        "--ozone-platform=x11",
+        "--disable-vulkan",
+        "--disable-features=Vulkan",
+        "/workspace/with spaces",
+        "--new-window",
+        "",
+      ]);
+    },
+  );
+});