diff --git a/apps/btcpay-server/manifest.yml b/apps/btcpay-server/manifest.yml
index 703a9f0c..705feed1 100644
--- a/apps/btcpay-server/manifest.yml
+++ b/apps/btcpay-server/manifest.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 app:
   id: btcpay-server
   name: BTCPay Server
-  version: 2.3.9
+  version: 2.4.2
   description: Self-hosted Bitcoin payment processor. Accept Bitcoin payments without intermediaries.
 
   container:
-    image: docker.io/btcpayserver/btcpayserver:2.3.9
+    image: docker.io/btcpayserver/btcpayserver:2.4.2
     pull_policy: if-not-present
     network: archy-net
     secret_env:
diff --git a/scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py b/scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py
index afe59b96..0d943ece 100644
--- a/scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py
+++ b/scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py
@@ -52,12 +52,49 @@ LEGACY_STACK_CATALOG_IDS = {
 
 
 def load_catalog(path: Path) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]:
+    """Load either catalog shape into {app_id: app-fields}.
+
+    Two formats exist and only one used to be understood here:
+
+      * app-catalog/catalog.json  — `apps` is a LIST of entries carrying `id`.
+      * releases/app-catalog.json — `apps` is a DICT keyed by app id, and each
+        entry wraps the app's full manifest under `manifest.app` (the signed
+        release catalog; EMBED_MANIFESTS has been on since 2026-06-23).
+
+    The signed release catalog is the one nodes actually resolve apps through,
+    so a drift checker that only parsed the list form was checking the file
+    that governs nothing and crashing on the file that governs everything.
+    """
     with path.open("r", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
         data = json.load(fh)
     apps = data.get("apps", [])
-    if not isinstance(apps, list):
-        raise ValueError(f"{path}: expected .apps to be a list")
-    return {str(app.get("id", "")): app for app in apps if isinstance(app, dict) and app.get("id")}
+
+    if isinstance(apps, list):
+        return {
+            str(app.get("id", "")): app
+            for app in apps
+            if isinstance(app, dict) and app.get("id")
+        }
+
+    if isinstance(apps, dict):
+        out: dict[str, dict[str, Any]] = {}
+        for app_id, entry in apps.items():
+            if not isinstance(entry, dict):
+                continue
+            manifest = entry.get("manifest")
+            if isinstance(manifest, dict) and isinstance(manifest.get("app"), dict):
+                # Embedded manifest: compare against the same fields the disk
+                # manifests expose, plus the entry's own version.
+                app = dict(manifest["app"])
+            else:
+                app = {}
+            app.setdefault("id", app_id)
+            if entry.get("version") is not None:
+                app["version"] = entry["version"]
+            out[str(app_id)] = app
+        return out
+
+    raise ValueError(f"{path}: expected .apps to be a list or an object")
 
 
 def load_manifests(apps_dir: Path) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]: