diff --git a/scripts/install-cli.sh b/scripts/install-cli.sh
index 1584ab8363b0..18733eae4e00 100755
--- a/scripts/install-cli.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-cli.sh
@@ -447,6 +447,7 @@ link_node_runtime_paths() {
 }
 
 linked_node_is_usable() {
+  local candidate_bin
   local current_version
   local required_version
 
@@ -462,6 +463,10 @@ linked_node_is_usable() {
   if ! semver_at_least "$current_version" "$required_version"; then
     return 1
   fi
+  candidate_bin="$(node_dir)/bin"
+  if ! PATH="${candidate_bin}:${PATH}" "$(npm_bin)" --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    return 1
+  fi
 
   "$(node_bin)" -e '
     const { DatabaseSync } = require("node:sqlite");
diff --git a/test/scripts/install-cli.test.ts b/test/scripts/install-cli.test.ts
index 19d28e27110f..915bea42a08e 100644
--- a/test/scripts/install-cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/install-cli.test.ts
@@ -641,6 +641,81 @@ describe("install-cli.sh", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("skips PATH Node runtimes whose npm command cannot start", () => {
+    const tmp = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-install-cli-broken-npm-"));
+    const badBin = join(tmp, "bad-bin");
+    const goodBin = join(tmp, "good-bin");
+    const prefix = join(tmp, "prefix");
+    const badNpmLog = join(tmp, "bad-npm.log");
+    const goodNpmLog = join(tmp, "good-npm.log");
+    const goodNodeLog = join(tmp, "good-node.log");
+    const badNode = join(badBin, "node");
+    const badNpm = join(badBin, "npm");
+    const goodNode = join(goodBin, "node");
+    const goodNpm = join(goodBin, "npm");
+
+    mkdirSync(badBin, { recursive: true });
+    mkdirSync(goodBin, { recursive: true });
+    symlinkSync(process.execPath, badNode);
+    writeFileSync(
+      goodNode,
+      [
+        "#!/bin/bash",
+        'printf "%s\\n" "$*" >> "$GOOD_NODE_LOG"',
+        `exec ${JSON.stringify(process.execPath)} "$@"`,
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+    writeFileSync(
+      badNpm,
+      ["#!/bin/bash", 'printf "%s\\n" "$*" >> "$BAD_NPM_LOG"', "exit 42", ""].join("\n"),
+    );
+    writeFileSync(
+      goodNpm,
+      [
+        "#!/usr/bin/env node",
+        'require("node:fs").appendFileSync(',
+        "  process.env.GOOD_NPM_LOG,",
+        '  `${process.argv.slice(2).join(" ")}\\n`,',
+        ");",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+    chmodSync(badNpm, 0o755);
+    chmodSync(goodNode, 0o755);
+    chmodSync(goodNpm, 0o755);
+
+    try {
+      const result = runInstallCliShell(
+        [
+          "set -euo pipefail",
+          `cd ${JSON.stringify(process.cwd())}`,
+          `source ${JSON.stringify(SCRIPT_PATH)}`,
+          `export PATH=${JSON.stringify(`${badBin}:${goodBin}:${process.env.PATH ?? ""}`)}`,
+          `PREFIX=${JSON.stringify(prefix)}`,
+          "try_link_usable_node_runtime_from_path",
+        ].join("\n"),
+        {
+          BAD_NPM_LOG: badNpmLog,
+          GOOD_NPM_LOG: goodNpmLog,
+          GOOD_NODE_LOG: goodNodeLog,
+        },
+      );
+
+      expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+      const nodeLink = join(prefix, "tools", "node-v24.15.0", "bin", "node");
+      const npmLink = join(prefix, "tools", "node-v24.15.0", "bin", "npm");
+      expect(readFileSync(badNpmLog, "utf8")).toBe("--version\n");
+      expect(readFileSync(goodNpmLog, "utf8")).toBe("--version\n");
+      expect(readFileSync(goodNodeLog, "utf8")).toContain("npm --version");
+      expect(lstatSync(nodeLink).isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+      expect(readlinkSync(nodeLink)).toBe(goodNode);
+      expect(readlinkSync(npmLink)).toBe(goodNpm);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tmp, { force: true, recursive: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("rejects Alpine/musl Node packages below the requested runtime floor", () => {
     const tmp = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-install-cli-alpine-old-node-"));
     const bin = join(tmp, "bin");