diff --git a/scripts/package-mac-app.sh b/scripts/package-mac-app.sh
index f90d530c7..884e1c842 100755
--- a/scripts/package-mac-app.sh
+++ b/scripts/package-mac-app.sh
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ if [[ "${SKIP_GATEWAY_PACKAGE:-0}" != "1" ]]; then
   fi
   rm -rf "$RELAY_BUILD_DIR"
 
+  echo "🧪 Smoke testing bundled relay QR modules"
+  CLAWDBOT_SMOKE_QR=1 "$RELAY_OUT" >/dev/null
+
   echo "🎨 Copying gateway A2UI host assets"
   rm -rf "$RELAY_DIR/a2ui"
   cp -R "$ROOT_DIR/src/canvas-host/a2ui" "$RELAY_DIR/a2ui"
diff --git a/src/macos/relay.ts b/src/macos/relay.ts
index 8448d92b0..d431f576e 100644
--- a/src/macos/relay.ts
+++ b/src/macos/relay.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ async function main() {
     process.exit(0);
   }
 
+  if (process.env.CLAWDBOT_SMOKE_QR === "1") {
+    const { renderQrPngBase64 } = await import("../web/qr-image.js");
+    await renderQrPngBase64("clawdbot-smoke");
+    console.log("smoke: qr ok");
+    return;
+  }
+
   await patchBunLongForProtobuf();
 
   const { loadDotEnv } = await import("../infra/dotenv.js");
diff --git a/src/web/qr-image.test.ts b/src/web/qr-image.test.ts
index 8b0d585a4..866e09734 100644
--- a/src/web/qr-image.test.ts
+++ b/src/web/qr-image.test.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
 import { renderQrPngBase64 } from "./qr-image.js";
@@ -8,4 +11,11 @@ describe("renderQrPngBase64", () => {
     const buf = Buffer.from(b64, "base64");
     expect(buf.subarray(0, 8).toString("hex")).toBe("89504e470d0a1a0a");
   });
+
+  it("avoids dynamic require of qrcode-terminal vendor modules", async () => {
+    const sourcePath = resolve(process.cwd(), "src/web/qr-image.ts");
+    const source = await readFile(sourcePath, "utf-8");
+    expect(source).not.toContain("createRequire(");
+    expect(source).not.toContain('require("qrcode-terminal/vendor/QRCode")');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/web/qr-image.ts b/src/web/qr-image.ts
index c4e2a501f..14aa25244 100644
--- a/src/web/qr-image.ts
+++ b/src/web/qr-image.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { deflateSync } from "node:zlib";
+import QRCodeModule from "qrcode-terminal/vendor/QRCode";
+import QRErrorCorrectLevelModule from "qrcode-terminal/vendor/QRCode/QRErrorCorrectLevel";
 
 type QRCodeConstructor = new (
   typeNumber: number,
@@ -11,13 +12,8 @@ type QRCodeConstructor = new (
   isDark: (row: number, col: number) => boolean;
 };
 
-const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
-const QRCode = require("qrcode-terminal/vendor/QRCode") as QRCodeConstructor;
-const QRErrorCorrectLevel =
-  require("qrcode-terminal/vendor/QRCode/QRErrorCorrectLevel") as Record<
-    string,
-    unknown
-  >;
+const QRCode = QRCodeModule as unknown as QRCodeConstructor;
+const QRErrorCorrectLevel = QRErrorCorrectLevelModule as Record<string, unknown>;
 
 function createQrMatrix(input: string) {
   const qr = new QRCode(-1, QRErrorCorrectLevel.L);