diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 6bdbe08..ac781e2 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -911,9 +911,14 @@ HDR
         info "Lite mode: skipping daemon and Sapling/asmap assets in Windows zip"
     fi
 
-    # Bundle xmrig for mining support
-    local XMRIG_WIN="$SCRIPT_DIR/prebuilt-binaries/drg-xmrig/xmrig.exe"
-    [[ -f "$XMRIG_WIN" ]] && { cp "$XMRIG_WIN" "$dist_dir/"; info "Bundled xmrig.exe"; } || warn "xmrig.exe not found — mining unavailable in zip"
+    # The exe embeds xmrig (HAS_EMBEDDED_XMRIG) and getXmrigPath() always prefers / re-extracts the copy in
+    # %APPDATA%\<app>\dragonx, so a loose exe-dir xmrig.exe is never used. Ship it loose only when not embedded.
+    if grep -q '^#define HAS_EMBEDDED_XMRIG 1' "$GEN/embedded_data.h" 2>/dev/null; then
+        info "xmrig.exe is embedded in the exe — not copied loose into the zip"
+    else
+        local XMRIG_WIN="$SCRIPT_DIR/prebuilt-binaries/drg-xmrig/xmrig.exe"
+        [[ -f "$XMRIG_WIN" ]] && { cp "$XMRIG_WIN" "$dist_dir/"; info "Bundled xmrig.exe"; } || warn "xmrig.exe not found — mining unavailable in zip"
+    fi
 
     cp -r bin/res "$dist_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true