diff --git a/.github/workflows/pacquet-release-to-npm.yml b/.github/workflows/pacquet-release-to-npm.yml
index cd9c6d196e..b21aba5b2b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pacquet-release-to-npm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pacquet-release-to-npm.yml
@@ -166,9 +166,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Archive Binary
         if: runner.os != 'Windows'
+        # The binary is staged in a scratch directory because the repo root
+        # already has a `pnpm/` directory (the Rust sub-project) — renaming the
+        # binary to `pnpm` in place would move it *into* that directory and tar
+        # up the whole source tree instead.
         run: |
-          mv target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/pacquet pnpm
-          tar czf pnpm-${{ matrix.code-target }}.tar.gz pnpm
+          mkdir stage
+          mv target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/pacquet stage/pnpm
+          tar czf pnpm-${{ matrix.code-target }}.tar.gz -C stage pnpm
 
       - name: Attest build provenance
         uses: actions/attest-build-provenance@0f67c3f4856b2e3261c31976d6725780e5e4c373 # v4.1.1