diff --git a/scripts/npm-runner.mjs b/scripts/npm-runner.mjs
index be4be3339993..597e41cf6efc 100644
--- a/scripts/npm-runner.mjs
+++ b/scripts/npm-runner.mjs
@@ -11,10 +11,7 @@ function resolveToolchainNpmRunner(params) {
   const npmCliPath = npmCliCandidates.find((candidate) => params.existsSync(candidate));
   if (npmCliPath) {
     return {
-      command:
-        params.platform === "win32"
-          ? params.pathImpl.join(params.nodeDir, "node.exe")
-          : params.pathImpl.join(params.nodeDir, "node"),
+      command: params.execPath,
       args: [npmCliPath, ...params.npmArgs],
       shell: false,
     };
@@ -57,6 +54,7 @@ export function resolveNpmRunner(params = {}) {
   const npmToolchain = resolveToolchainNpmRunner({
     comSpec,
     existsSync,
+    execPath,
     nodeDir,
     npmArgs,
     pathImpl,
diff --git a/test/scripts/npm-runner.test.ts b/test/scripts/npm-runner.test.ts
index 7378ad767a79..258ac6bd9ff5 100644
--- a/test/scripts/npm-runner.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/npm-runner.test.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,28 @@ describe("resolveNpmRunner", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("uses the active node executable when its basename is not node", () => {
+    const execPath = "/Users/test/.toolchains/node-24/bin/node24";
+    const expectedNpmCliPath = path.posix.resolve(
+      path.posix.dirname(execPath),
+      "../lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js",
+    );
+
+    const runner = resolveNpmRunner({
+      execPath,
+      env: {},
+      existsSync: (candidate) => candidate === expectedNpmCliPath,
+      npmArgs: ["pack", "openclaw@beta"],
+      platform: "darwin",
+    });
+
+    expect(runner).toEqual({
+      command: execPath,
+      args: [expectedNpmCliPath, "pack", "openclaw@beta"],
+      shell: false,
+    });
+  });
+
   it("anchors Windows npm staging to the adjacent npm-cli.js without a shell", () => {
     const execPath = "C:\\nodejs\\node.exe";
     const expectedNpmCliPath = path.win32.resolve(