diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 4db8a5a..792da59 100644
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -72,11 +72,16 @@ echo "Size: $(du -h "$installer" | cut -f1)"
 
 # Build + locate the .mcpb bundle. The McpPanel's "Download .mcpb" button
 # opens this release page, so the asset has to be here for the click to work.
+#
+# Called via `node` directly (not `pnpm run build:mcpb`) because pnpm
+# triggers an `install` step first that walks node_modules — hangs for
+# minutes when this script runs from WSL against the /mnt/d/ Windows
+# filesystem. The build:mcpb script is pure Node + fs; no deps to install.
 echo "Building .mcpb bundle…"
-pnpm run build:mcpb >/dev/null
+node scripts/build-mcpb.mjs >/dev/null
 mcpb="dist-mcpb/tiletopia.mcpb"
 if [[ ! -f "$mcpb" ]]; then
-  echo "build:mcpb finished but $mcpb is missing" >&2
+  echo "build-mcpb.mjs finished but $mcpb is missing" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 echo "Bundle: $mcpb"