diff --git a/packages/tfcode/package.json b/packages/tfcode/package.json
index 10094cf6a..b7849e233 100644
--- a/packages/tfcode/package.json
+++ b/packages/tfcode/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/package.json",
-  "version": "1.0.38",
+  "version": "1.0.39",
   "name": "@toothfairyai/tfcode",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/packages/tfcode/src/cli/cmd/tools.ts b/packages/tfcode/src/cli/cmd/tools.ts
index e44c3572a..54d83a3f4 100644
--- a/packages/tfcode/src/cli/cmd/tools.ts
+++ b/packages/tfcode/src/cli/cmd/tools.ts
@@ -64,20 +64,19 @@ const TFCODE_CONFIG_DIR = ".tfcode"
 const TFCODE_TOOLS_FILE = "tools.json"
 
 function getPythonSyncPath(): string {
-  // Check embedded python path first (for npm distribution)
-  const embedded = [
-    path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "..", "..", "python"), // packages/tfcode/python
-    path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "..", "python"), // dist/python
-  ]
-  for (const p of embedded) {
-    if (existsSync(p)) return p
-  }
-  // Fallback to development paths
-  const dev = [
+  const binDir = path.dirname(process.execPath)
+  const candidates = [
+    // npm install: binary is at <pkg>/bin/tfcode, python at <pkg>/python
+    path.join(binDir, "..", "python"),
+    path.join(binDir, "python"),
+    // Embedded paths relative to compiled source
+    path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "..", "..", "python"),
+    path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "..", "python"),
+    // Development paths
     path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "..", "..", "tf-sync", "src", "tf_sync"),
     path.join(process.cwd(), "packages", "tf-sync", "src", "tf_sync"),
   ]
-  for (const p of dev) {
+  for (const p of candidates) {
     if (existsSync(p)) return p
   }
   return "tf_sync"