diff --git a/scripts/build_release.py b/scripts/build_release.py
index ad25ea6..0d0c2d6 100755
--- a/scripts/build_release.py
+++ b/scripts/build_release.py
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         run(["npm", "audit", "--audit-level=high"], tree)
         for file in ("app.js", "server.mjs", "service-worker.js", "src/analysis.js", "src/domain.js", "src/hermes-agent-service.js", "src/vision-config.js", "src/vision-service.js"):
             run(["node", "--check", file], tree)
+        run(["bash", "-n", "scripts/bootstrap_selfhost_smolvlm.sh"], tree)
         run(["bash", "-n", "scripts/run_selfhost_smolvlm.sh"], tree)
         run(["python3", "-m", "py_compile", "scripts/ingest_training_photo.py", "scripts/build_release.py"], tree)
         run(["git", "diff", "--check", commit], tree)
diff --git a/tests/release-demo.test.js b/tests/release-demo.test.js
index 5619d26..aa1b87a 100644
--- a/tests/release-demo.test.js
+++ b/tests/release-demo.test.js
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ test('release demo visibly explains the CI-protected browser path without overst
   assert.match(demo, /SLEEK\. SIMPLE\.<br>HERMES-POWERED\./);
 });
 
-test('release builder gates the sleek shell and Hermes chat browser path', async () => {
+test('release builder gates the sleek shell, Hermes chat, and bootstrap syntax', async () => {
   const builder = await readFile(builderPath, 'utf8');
   assert.match(builder, /"test:sleek"/);
   assert.match(builder, /"sleek_hermes_chat_acceptance": "passed"/);
   assert.match(builder, /Sleek three-destination shell/);
+  assert.match(builder, /"bash", "-n", "scripts\/bootstrap_selfhost_smolvlm\.sh"/);
 });