diff --git a/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh b/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
index 546009c3..ae94eef8 100755
--- a/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
+++ b/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
@@ -1157,6 +1157,20 @@ if [ "$BACKEND_CAPTURED" = "0" ] && [ "$BUILD_FROM_SOURCE" != "1" ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# Bundle the Reticulum RNode daemon alongside the backend. install-to-disk
+# copies everything in archipelago/bin/ to /usr/local/bin, and the mesh
+# listener spawns /usr/local/bin/archy-reticulum-daemon for RNode radios —
+# a node imaged without it can never connect a Reticulum stick
+# (framework-pt, 2026-07-22: silent connect failures until hand-copied).
+RETICULUM_DAEMON="${ARCHY_RETICULUM_DAEMON:-/usr/local/bin/archy-reticulum-daemon}"
+if [ -f "$RETICULUM_DAEMON" ]; then
+    cp "$RETICULUM_DAEMON" "$ARCH_DIR/bin/archy-reticulum-daemon"
+    chmod +x "$ARCH_DIR/bin/archy-reticulum-daemon"
+    echo "   ✅ Reticulum daemon bundled ($(du -h "$ARCH_DIR/bin/archy-reticulum-daemon" | cut -f1))"
+else
+    echo "   ⚠️  archy-reticulum-daemon not found at $RETICULUM_DAEMON — ISO nodes won't support RNode radios until it's sideloaded"
+fi
+
 if [ "$BACKEND_CAPTURED" = "0" ]; then
     if [ "$BUILD_FROM_SOURCE" != "1" ]; then
         echo "   ⚠️  Could not capture from live server, building from source..."