diff --git a/src/servers/bootstrap.ts b/src/servers/bootstrap.ts
index a648e94c..ef29704d 100644
--- a/src/servers/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/src/servers/bootstrap.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@ async function findPiPackageDir(): Promise<string | null> {
 }
 
 async function ensurePiInstalled(): Promise<boolean> {
+  // If the `pi` binary is already on hand (e.g. a newer, manually-installed @earendil-works build),
+  // treat Pi as installed. Otherwise the old @mariozechner package gets reinstalled over it every boot
+  // and fails with EEXIST — noisy, and the "model discovery will not work" warning is a false alarm.
+  const localPi = join(homedir(), '.local', 'bin', 'pi');
+  if (Bun.which('pi') || (await Bun.file(localPi).exists())) {
+    console.log('[bootstrap] Pi already available — skipping install');
+    return true;
+  }
+
   const dir = await findPiPackageDir();
   if (!dir) return false;
   try {