diff --git a/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.test.ts
index bc96888d1c..933389e816 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.test.ts
@@ -315,6 +315,17 @@ describe("resolveOwnVersionFrom", () => {
     expect(resolveOwnVersionFrom(join(root, "node_modules/hyperframes/dist"))).toBe("0.8.71");
   });
 
+  it("reads the installed engine when an app bundles it into its own dist", () => {
+    write(".", { name: "some-server-app", version: "0.0.0" });
+    write("node_modules/@hyperframes/engine", {
+      name: "@hyperframes/engine",
+      version: "0.8.212",
+      exports: { "./package.json": "./package.json" },
+    });
+    mkdirSync(join(root, "dist"), { recursive: true });
+    expect(resolveOwnVersionFrom(join(root, "dist"))).toBe("0.8.212");
+  });
+
   it("returns the sentinel, not a foreign version, when our root declares none", () => {
     write(".", { name: "some-consumer-app", version: "9.9.9" });
     write("node_modules/hyperframes", { name: "hyperframes" });
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.ts b/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.ts
index 9f1cc74522..2f652ae2ab 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/utils/renderProvenance.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { readTagCI } from "./ffprobe.js";
@@ -96,10 +97,29 @@ export function resolveOwnVersionFrom(startDir: string): string {
     dir = parent;
   }
 
+  // An app that bundles the engine into its own dist has no package of ours above the bundle; the
+  // @hyperframes/engine installed beside it is the one it was built from.
+  const installed = installedEngineVersion(startDir);
+  if (installed) return installed;
+
   reportUnresolved(`no package.json matching ${OWN_PACKAGE_NAME} within ${MAX_WALK_DEPTH} levels`);
   return UNRESOLVED_VERSION;
 }
 
+function installedEngineVersion(fromDir: string): string | undefined {
+  try {
+    const path = createRequire(join(fromDir, "index.js")).resolve(
+      "@hyperframes/engine/package.json",
+    );
+    const pkg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, "utf8")) as { name?: unknown; version?: unknown };
+    if (pkg.name === "@hyperframes/engine" && typeof pkg.version === "string" && pkg.version)
+      return pkg.version;
+  } catch {
+    // Not installed beside us: the caller reports it.
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
 /**
  * Make the failure audible. The point of this change is that a resolution
  * failure stops being indistinguishable from data - a silent fallback is what