diff --git a/bindings/nodejs/.gitignore b/bindings/nodejs/.gitignore
index aacfe4ff..74e32af8 100644
--- a/bindings/nodejs/.gitignore
+++ b/bindings/nodejs/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ index.d.ts
 *.wasm
 npm/
 zen-engine.wasip1*
+zen-engine.wasm32-wasip1.*
diff --git a/bindings/nodejs/Makefile b/bindings/nodejs/Makefile
index 481d9f9b..2b526956 100644
--- a/bindings/nodejs/Makefile
+++ b/bindings/nodejs/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ darwinArm:
 	cp zen-engine.darwin-arm64.node npm/darwin-arm64/
 
 prepareLocalPublish:
-	yarn napi prepublish --skip-optional-publish
+	rm -f zen-engine.wasm32-wasip1.*.mjs zen-engine.wasm32-wasip1.*.mts
+	node prepublish.mjs --skip-optional-publish
 	yarn createNpmDirs
 
 publish:
diff --git a/bindings/nodejs/package.json b/bindings/nodejs/package.json
index b7edabac..ff975c7d 100644
--- a/bindings/nodejs/package.json
+++ b/bindings/nodejs/package.json
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@
         "fs": false,
         "asyncInit": true
       },
-      "asyncRuntime": true
+      "asyncRuntime": true,
+      "optionalDependency": true
     }
   },
   "keywords": [
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@
     "test:wasm": "cross-env NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI=error NAPI_RS_WASI_FLAVOR=wasm32-wasip1 __ZEN_MOCK_UTC_TIME=2025-08-19T16:55:02.078Z jest -c jest.wasm.config.js",
     "artifacts": "napi artifacts -d ../../artifacts",
     "createNpmDirs": "napi create-npm-dirs && node enrich-npm-dirs.mjs",
-    "prepublishOnly": "napi prepublish --no-gh-release",
+    "prepublishOnly": "node prepublish.mjs --no-gh-release",
     "version": "napi version"
   },
   "resolutions": {
diff --git a/bindings/nodejs/prepublish.mjs b/bindings/nodejs/prepublish.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..719127ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindings/nodejs/prepublish.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+
+const packageJsonPath = join(import.meta.dirname, 'package.json');
+const readPackageJson = () => JSON.parse(readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf8'));
+
+const before = readPackageJson();
+
+const napi = spawnSync('napi', ['prepublish', ...process.argv.slice(2)], {
+  cwd: import.meta.dirname,
+  stdio: 'inherit',
+  shell: process.platform === 'win32',
+});
+if (napi.status !== 0) process.exit(napi.status ?? 1);
+
+const after = readPackageJson();
+const keptFiles = new Set(before.files ?? []);
+const generatedFiles = (after.files ?? []).filter((file) => !keptFiles.has(file));
+
+const restoreField = (target, source, key) => {
+  if (source && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) target[key] = source[key];
+  else if (target) delete target[key];
+};
+
+restoreField(after, before, 'files');
+restoreField(after, before, 'exports');
+if (after.publishConfig) restoreField(after.publishConfig, before.publishConfig, 'exports');
+
+writeFileSync(packageJsonPath, `${JSON.stringify(after, null, 2)}\n`);
+
+for (const file of generatedFiles) rmSync(join(import.meta.dirname, file), { force: true });