diff --git a/scripts/setup/machine-setup/lib/dev.sh b/scripts/setup/machine-setup/lib/dev.sh
index 23ba640b..b69278e5 100644
--- a/scripts/setup/machine-setup/lib/dev.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup/machine-setup/lib/dev.sh
@@ -219,7 +219,38 @@ install_node() {
   npm config set prefix /usr/local >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 }
 
-bun_installed() { command -v bun &>/dev/null; }
+# Present anywhere: on PATH for this root shell, or in the account's own
+# ~/.bun/bin, which is where the installer puts it and where root cannot see it.
+bun_installed() { command -v bun &>/dev/null || [[ -x "${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun" ]]; }
+
+# Asked of whichever copy exists. Before the symlink is made, root's PATH has no
+# bun at all, so `bun --version` reports nothing on a machine that plainly has it.
+bun_version() {
+  if command -v bun &>/dev/null; then
+    bun --version
+  elif [[ -x "${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun" ]]; then
+    "${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun" --version
+  fi
+}
+
+# The system-wide link, ensured on every run rather than only after an install.
+#
+# pm2 started at boot by systemd has no login shell, so ~/.bun/bin is not on its
+# PATH — and every one of the twenty ecosystem apps that says `script: 'bun'`
+# then fails to start on reboot while working perfectly when started by hand. A
+# machine that already had bun before this script ran would never get the link if
+# it were only made as part of installing.
+#
+# Safe across upgrades: a symlink resolves by path, and `bun upgrade` replaces
+# the file at $BUN_INSTALL/bin/bun rather than moving it. The link only breaks if
+# the home directory goes, which breaks bun anyway.
+ensure_bun_symlink() {
+  local bin="${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun"
+  [[ -x "$bin" ]] || return 1
+  [[ "$(readlink -f /usr/local/bin/bun 2>/dev/null)" == "$(readlink -f "$bin")" ]] && return 1
+  ln -sf "$bin" /usr/local/bin/bun
+  return 0
+}
 
 # Installed as the account, then symlinked system-wide. pm2 started at boot by
 # systemd has no login shell and therefore no ~/.bun/bin on PATH — without the
@@ -227,9 +258,7 @@ bun_installed() { command -v bun &>/dev/null; }
 # started by hand, which is a miserable thing to debug.
 install_bun() {
   (cd / && sudo -H -u "$USERNAME" bash -c 'curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash') >/dev/null 2>&1
-  local bin="${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun"
-  [[ -x "$bin" ]] || return 1
-  ln -sf "$bin" /usr/local/bin/bun
+  [[ -x "${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun" ]]
 }
 
 pm2_installed() { command -v pm2 &>/dev/null; }
diff --git a/scripts/setup/machine-setup/machine-setup.sh b/scripts/setup/machine-setup/machine-setup.sh
index d9a0708d..61db28ca 100755
--- a/scripts/setup/machine-setup/machine-setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup/machine-setup/machine-setup.sh
@@ -1967,7 +1967,7 @@ if ! skip; then
   echo "     node   ${NODE_NOW:+v$NODE_NOW }${NODE_NOW:+-> }LTS $(node_lts_label)"
   echo "            pm2 is a Node application, and officer-pty compiles node-pty"
   echo "            against whatever Node is installed — there is no Linux prebuild."
-  echo "     bun    $(bun_installed && bun --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'not installed')"
+  echo "     bun    $(bun_installed && bun_version || echo 'not installed')"
   echo "            the platform itself, and nineteen of the twenty pm2 apps."
   echo "     pm2    $(pm2_installed && echo installed || echo 'not installed')"
   echo "            supervises all of them, and the ecosystem files are written for it."
@@ -1996,18 +1996,31 @@ if ! skip; then
 
   # ── bun ──
   if bun_installed; then
-    ok "bun $(bun --version 2>/dev/null) already installed"
+    ok "bun $(bun_version) already installed"
   else
     info "     installing bun..."
     if install_bun && bun_installed; then
-      ok "bun $(bun --version), symlinked to /usr/local/bin/bun"
-      SUMMARY+=("Bun: $(bun --version)")
+      ok "bun $(bun_version)"
+      SUMMARY+=("Bun: $(bun_version)")
     else
       warn "the bun install did not complete"
       ERRORS+=("Bun: install failed")
     fi
   fi
 
+  # Ensured every run, not only after an install. A machine that already had bun
+  # would otherwise never get the link, and the failure only shows up at the next
+  # reboot.
+  if ensure_bun_symlink; then
+    ok "bun symlinked to /usr/local/bin/bun — pm2 at boot has no ~/.bun on PATH"
+    SUMMARY+=("Bun: symlinked system-wide")
+  elif [[ -x /usr/local/bin/bun ]]; then
+    echo "     /usr/local/bin/bun already points at it"
+  else
+    warn "bun is not at ${USER_HOME}/.bun/bin/bun — cannot link it system-wide"
+    ERRORS+=("Bun: no system-wide symlink; pm2 apps will fail at boot")
+  fi
+
   # ── pm2 ──
   if pm2_installed; then
     ok "pm2 $(pm2 -v 2>/dev/null | tail -1) already installed"