diff --git a/RELEASE_README.md b/RELEASE_README.md
index c823aca..d4940f6 100644
--- a/RELEASE_README.md
+++ b/RELEASE_README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # PristonTale EU for Linux
 
-Version 0.8.1 installs, updates, repairs, and launches PristonTale EU through a
+Version 0.8.3 installs, updates, repairs, and launches PristonTale EU through a
 native Linux dashboard. Game files come directly from the publisher and are not
 included in this archive.
 
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ Then run:
 ```text
 openssl pkey -pubin -in launcher-update-public.pem -outform DER | sha256sum
 openssl dgst -sha256 -verify launcher-update-public.pem \
-  -signature pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-1.tar.gz.sig \
-  pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-1.tar.gz
-sha256sum -c pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-1.tar.gz.sha256
-tar -xzf pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-1.tar.gz
-cd pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-1
+  -signature pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-3.tar.gz.sig \
+  pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-3.tar.gz
+sha256sum -c pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-3.tar.gz.sha256
+tar -xzf pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-3.tar.gz
+cd pristontale-eu-linux-installer-v0-8-3
 ./install.sh
 ```
 
diff --git a/packaging/pristontale-eu b/packaging/pristontale-eu
index c19fd81..ad625ee 100755
--- a/packaging/pristontale-eu
+++ b/packaging/pristontale-eu
@@ -12,17 +12,20 @@ export PTLINUX_APP_HOME="${app_home}"
 release_root=""
 for candidate in "${app_home}/current" "${app_home}/previous" "${app_home}"
 do
-	if [ ! -d "${candidate}/ptlinux" ]
+	# Installed releases already pass an isolated import self-check before their
+	# activation link is changed. Keep only a cheap corruption/fallback check on
+	# every boot instead of starting Python twice and importing the full CLI twice.
+	if [ ! -r "${candidate}/ptlinux/__init__.py" ] || \
+		[ ! -r "${candidate}/ptlinux/__main__.py" ] || \
+		[ ! -r "${candidate}/ptlinux/cli.py" ] || \
+		[ ! -r "${candidate}/ptdiag/__init__.py" ] || \
+		[ ! -r "${candidate}/ptdiag/assbin.py" ] || \
+		[ ! -r "${candidate}/ptdiag/logs.py" ]
 	then
 		continue
 	fi
-	if "$python_bin" -I -B -c \
-		'import sys; sys.path.insert(0, sys.argv[1]); import ptlinux, ptlinux.cli' \
-		"${candidate}" >/dev/null 2>&1
-	then
-		release_root="${candidate}"
-		break
-	fi
+	release_root="${candidate}"
+	break
 done
 
 if [ -z "${release_root}" ]
diff --git a/ptlinux/__init__.py b/ptlinux/__init__.py
index 72314ff..90fca5d 100644
--- a/ptlinux/__init__.py
+++ b/ptlinux/__init__.py
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ from .paths import AppPaths
 
 __all__ = ["AppPaths", "__version__"]
 
-__version__ = "0.8.1"
+__version__ = "0.8.3"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9b906da..3963d69 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "PTEU-Linux-Launcher"
-version = "0.8.1"
+version = "0.8.3"
 description = "PristonTale EU Linux installer, clean launcher, and diagnostic harness"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
 dependencies = []
diff --git a/updates/stable.json b/updates/stable.json
index 5395ff5..84d871f 100644
--- a/updates/stable.json
+++ b/updates/stable.json
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 {
-  "archive_sha256": "bdf72fdb9db79b2372b16feef5935fff7fd654f81e89b376c59f71dac81cc64f",
-  "archive_size": 255328,
-  "archive_url": "https://git.m4ko.net/m4ko/pristontale-eu-linux/releases/download/v0.8.1/pristontale-eu-linux-update-v0.8.1.tar.gz",
+  "archive_sha256": "dfaddcbda762eaf34fd80f9592d6173176cfbd41189a96fae023f5459fd6492d",
+  "archive_size": 260645,
+  "archive_url": "https://git.m4ko.net/m4ko/pristontale-eu-linux/releases/download/v0.8.3/pristontale-eu-linux-update-v0.8.3.tar.gz",
   "channel": "stable",
   "minimum_updater_version": "0.5.0",
-  "notes_url": "https://git.m4ko.net/m4ko/pristontale-eu-linux/releases/tag/v0.8.1",
-  "published_at": "2026-09-01T18:09:16Z",
+  "notes_url": "https://git.m4ko.net/m4ko/pristontale-eu-linux/releases/tag/v0.8.3",
+  "published_at": "2026-09-01T20:24:03Z",
   "schema": 1,
-  "version": "0.8.1"
+  "version": "0.8.3"
 }
diff --git a/updates/stable.json.sig b/updates/stable.json.sig
index 195baa4..69ab1d0 100644
Binary files a/updates/stable.json.sig and b/updates/stable.json.sig differ