diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a2cb16ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// The library entry retains its existing import-time execution and rejection behaviour.
+// This CLI-only boundary reports a concise diagnostic and a nonzero exit status.
+try {
+  await import('./index.js');
+} catch (error) {
+  console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
+  process.exitCode = 1;
+}
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 6f31423a..71fef02f 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ const config: ReturnType<typeof defineConfig> = defineConfig({
       // integration-bundled-binary.test.ts copies only this file into an
       // isolated tempdir with no node_modules, so every runtime `dependency`
       // has to be bundled in, not left external.
-      entry: "src/index.ts",
+      entry: "src/cli.ts",
+      outputOptions: { entryFileNames: "index.js", codeSplitting: false },
       platform: "node",
       outDir: "dist/bin",
       // tsdown auto-enables declaration output repo-wide because
@@ -70,7 +71,6 @@ const config: ReturnType<typeof defineConfig> = defineConfig({
       // binary with no node_modules to resolve sibling chunks from. Keep this
       // off even when no current dependency lazy-loads: it is what stops the
       // single-file invariant from depending on which packages happen to.
-      outputOptions: { codeSplitting: false },
       // Preserves the shebang + __filename/__dirname/require ESM-interop
       // shim scripts/esbuild.mjs's banner used to inject.
       banner: `#!/usr/bin/env node