diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index be7aac3744..a0ab6894b9 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -826,14 +826,26 @@ def _tui_need_npm_install(root: Path) -> bool:
     return lock.stat().st_mtime > marker.stat().st_mtime
 
 
+def _tui_ink_bundle_exists(root: Path) -> bool:
+    return (root / "node_modules" / "@hermes" / "ink" / "dist" / "ink-bundle.js").is_file()
+
+
+def _tui_runtime_ready(root: Path) -> bool:
+    return (
+        (root / "dist" / "entry.js").exists()
+        and not _tui_need_npm_install(root)
+        and _tui_ink_bundle_exists(root)
+    )
+
+
 def _find_bundled_tui(tui_dir: Path) -> Optional[Path]:
     """Directory whose dist/entry.js we should run: HERMES_TUI_DIR first, else repo ui-tui."""
     env = os.environ.get("HERMES_TUI_DIR")
     if env:
         p = Path(env)
-        if (p / "dist" / "entry.js").exists() and not _tui_need_npm_install(p):
+        if _tui_runtime_ready(p):
             return p
-    if (tui_dir / "dist" / "entry.js").exists() and not _tui_need_npm_install(tui_dir):
+    if _tui_runtime_ready(tui_dir):
         return tui_dir
     return None
 
@@ -842,6 +854,8 @@ def _tui_build_needed(tui_dir: Path) -> bool:
     entry = tui_dir / "dist" / "entry.js"
     if not entry.exists():
         return True
+    if _hermes_ink_bundle_stale(tui_dir):
+        return True
     dist_m = entry.stat().st_mtime
     skip = frozenset({"node_modules", "dist"})
     for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(tui_dir, topdown=True):
@@ -958,7 +972,7 @@ def _make_tui_argv(tui_dir: Path, tui_dev: bool) -> tuple[list[str], Path]:
         ext_dir = os.environ.get("HERMES_TUI_DIR")
         if ext_dir:
             p = Path(ext_dir)
-            if (p / "dist" / "entry.js").exists() and not _tui_need_npm_install(p):
+            if _tui_runtime_ready(p):
                 node = _node_bin("node")
                 return [node, str(p / "dist" / "entry.js")], p
 
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
index 3f3191ccf3..af75891cea 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_tui_npm_install.py
@@ -19,6 +19,18 @@ def _touch_ink(root: Path) -> None:
     ink.write_text("{}")
 
 
+def _touch_entry(root: Path) -> None:
+    entry = root / "dist" / "entry.js"
+    entry.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    entry.write_text("")
+
+
+def _touch_bundle(root: Path) -> None:
+    bundle = root / "node_modules" / "@hermes" / "ink" / "dist" / "ink-bundle.js"
+    bundle.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    bundle.write_text("")
+
+
 def test_need_install_when_ink_missing(tmp_path: Path, main_mod) -> None:
     (tmp_path / "package-lock.json").write_text("{}")
     assert main_mod._tui_need_npm_install(tmp_path) is True
@@ -51,3 +63,17 @@ def test_need_install_when_marker_missing(tmp_path: Path, main_mod) -> None:
 def test_no_install_without_lockfile_when_ink_present(tmp_path: Path, main_mod) -> None:
     _touch_ink(tmp_path)
     assert main_mod._tui_need_npm_install(tmp_path) is False
+
+
+def test_build_needed_when_ink_bundle_missing(tmp_path: Path, main_mod) -> None:
+    _touch_entry(tmp_path)
+    assert main_mod._tui_build_needed(tmp_path) is True
+
+
+def test_find_bundled_tui_requires_ink_bundle(tmp_path: Path, main_mod) -> None:
+    _touch_entry(tmp_path)
+    _touch_ink(tmp_path)
+    assert main_mod._find_bundled_tui(tmp_path) is None
+
+    _touch_bundle(tmp_path)
+    assert main_mod._find_bundled_tui(tmp_path) == tmp_path