diff --git a/packages/desktop/electron-builder.yml b/packages/desktop/electron-builder.yml
index 94d0878f21..7237884726 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/electron-builder.yml
+++ b/packages/desktop/electron-builder.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ directories:
   output: dist-electron
   buildResources: src/icons
 
+# The desktop app bundles no native addon that needs an Electron-ABI rebuild: it
+# uses Node's built-in `node:sqlite`, and the only native modules in the dependency
+# tree (keytar, @homebridge/node-pty-prebuilt-multiarch via @fusion/dashboard) are
+# loaded optionally and are NOT in the `files` list, so they're never packaged.
+# electron-builder's default rebuild walks the whole tree and tries to source-build
+# node-pty (it ships Node-ABI prebuilds only, none for Electron) via node-gyp, which
+# fails on the Windows runner ("Could not find any Visual Studio installation").
+# Disabling the rebuild skips that pointless, platform-fragile compile entirely.
+npmRebuild: false
+
 files:
   # pnpm installs workspace/runtime deps as symlinked package entries backed by the
   # virtual store. These flat node_modules/X/**/* patterns only work when electron-builder