diff --git a/apps/cli/tests/source-launch.compat.spec.ts b/apps/cli/tests/source-launch.compat.spec.ts
index e32b217f98..748ef62c37 100644
--- a/apps/cli/tests/source-launch.compat.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/tests/source-launch.compat.spec.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { chmod, mkdtemp, readFile, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { delimiter, join } from 'node:path'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
@@ -18,50 +19,85 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 const repoRoot = fileURLToPath(new URL('../../../', import.meta.url))
 const dshSourceBin = 'apps/cli/src/bin.ts'
 
+function resolvePnpmExecutable(): string {
+  const pathKey = Object.keys(process.env).find(key => key.toUpperCase() === 'PATH') ?? 'PATH'
+  const executableNames = process.platform === 'win32' ? ['pnpm.cmd', 'pnpm.exe', 'pnpm'] : ['pnpm']
+  for (const directory of (process.env[pathKey] ?? '').split(delimiter)) {
+    for (const executableName of executableNames) {
+      const candidate = join(directory, executableName)
+      if (existsSync(candidate)) return candidate
+    }
+  }
+  throw new Error('pnpm executable is absent from PATH')
+}
+
+async function createPnpmStub(emitBuildOutput = false): Promise<{
+  readonly directory: string
+  readonly env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv
+  readonly invocationLog: string
+}> {
+  const directory = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'dsh-source-launch-'))
+  const invocationLog = join(directory, 'pnpm-args.json')
+  const simulatedOutput = emitBuildOutput
+    ? "process.stdout.write('tsdown simulated build\\n')\nprocess.stderr.write('build:lib simulated build\\n')\n"
+    : ''
+  const stubBody = `const { appendFileSync } = require('node:fs')\nappendFileSync(process.env.DSH_TEST_PNPM_LOG, JSON.stringify(process.argv.slice(2)))\n${simulatedOutput}`
+  await writeFile(join(directory, 'pnpm'), `#!/usr/bin/env node\n${stubBody}`)
+  await chmod(join(directory, 'pnpm'), 0o755)
+  await writeFile(join(directory, 'pnpm-stub.cjs'), stubBody)
+  await writeFile(join(directory, 'pnpm.cmd'), '@echo off\r\nnode "%~dp0pnpm-stub.cjs" %*\r\n')
+  const pathKey = Object.keys(process.env).find(key => key.toUpperCase() === 'PATH') ?? 'PATH'
+  return {
+    directory,
+    invocationLog,
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      [pathKey]: `${directory}${delimiter}${process.env[pathKey] ?? ''}`,
+      DSH_TEST_PNPM_LOG: invocationLog,
+    },
+  }
+}
+
 describe('dsh SOURCE launcher (node --import tsx/esm)', () => {
   it('runs the repository build before launching the source CLI', async () => {
-    const stubDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'dsh-source-launch-'))
-    const invocationLog = join(stubDir, 'pnpm-args.json')
-    const stubBody = "const { appendFileSync } = require('node:fs')\nappendFileSync(process.env.DSH_TEST_PNPM_LOG, JSON.stringify(process.argv.slice(2)))\n"
-    await writeFile(join(stubDir, 'pnpm'), `#!/usr/bin/env node\n${stubBody}`)
-    await chmod(join(stubDir, 'pnpm'), 0o755)
-    await writeFile(join(stubDir, 'pnpm-stub.cjs'), stubBody)
-    await writeFile(join(stubDir, 'pnpm.cmd'), '@echo off\r\nnode "%~dp0pnpm-stub.cjs" %*\r\n')
-
-    const pathKey = Object.keys(process.env).find(key => key.toUpperCase() === 'PATH') ?? 'PATH'
+    const stub = await createPnpmStub()
     try {
       const result = await execa(process.execPath, ['--import', 'tsx/esm', 'scripts/run-source-dsh.ts', '--help'], {
         cwd: repoRoot,
-        env: {
-          ...process.env,
-          [pathKey]: `${stubDir}${delimiter}${process.env[pathKey] ?? ''}`,
-          DSH_TEST_PNPM_LOG: invocationLog,
-        },
+        env: stub.env,
         reject: false,
       })
       expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0)
       expect(result.stdout).toMatch(/^Usage: dsh /)
-      await expect(readFile(invocationLog, 'utf8')).resolves.toBe('["run","build"]')
+      await expect(readFile(stub.invocationLog, 'utf8')).resolves.toBe('["run","build"]')
     } finally {
-      await rm(stubDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      await rm(stub.directory, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }
   })
 
   it('builds without mixing build logs into CLI stdout', async () => {
-    const result = await execa('pnpm', ['dsh', '--help'], {
-      cwd: repoRoot,
-      timeout: 120_000,
-      killSignal: 'SIGKILL',
-      reject: false,
-    })
-    if (result.timedOut) {
-      throw new Error(`pnpm dsh --help did not exit within 120s. stdout:\n${result.stdout}\nstderr:\n${result.stderr}`)
+    const pnpmExecutable = resolvePnpmExecutable()
+    const stub = await createPnpmStub(true)
+    try {
+      const result = await execa(pnpmExecutable, ['dsh', '--help'], {
+        cwd: repoRoot,
+        env: stub.env,
+        timeout: 25_000,
+        killSignal: 'SIGKILL',
+        reject: false,
+      })
+      if (result.timedOut) {
+        throw new Error(`pnpm dsh --help did not exit within 25s. stdout:\n${result.stdout}\nstderr:\n${result.stderr}`)
+      }
+      expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0)
+      expect(result.stdout).toMatch(/^Usage: dsh /)
+      expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('tsdown')
+      expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('build:lib')
+      await expect(readFile(stub.invocationLog, 'utf8')).resolves.toBe('["run","build"]')
+    } finally {
+      await rm(stub.directory, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }
-    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0)
-    expect(result.stdout).toMatch(/^Usage: dsh /)
-    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('tsdown')
-    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain('build:lib')
-  }, 125_000)
+  }, 30_000)
 
   it('boots the source entry and requires a profile', async () => {
     const result = await execa(process.execPath, ['--import', 'tsx/esm', dshSourceBin], {