diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/npxCommand.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/npxCommand.test.ts
index af41b3a01b..95253f9bc1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/npxCommand.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/npxCommand.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { delimiter, join } from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { buildNpmCommand, buildNpxCommand } from "./npxCommand.js";
 
@@ -14,18 +17,28 @@ describe("buildNpxCommand", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  // Real npx cold-start on Windows CI routinely exceeds vitest's 5s default,
-  // making this smoke test flaky. Give it generous headroom (it still asserts
-  // a real version string, so it isn't reduced to a tautology by mocking).
-  it("executes the host npx version check through the resolved command", () => {
-    const npx = buildNpxCommand(["--version"]);
-    const version = execFileSync(npx.command, npx.args, {
-      encoding: "utf8",
-      timeout: 30_000,
-    }).trim();
-
-    expect(version).toMatch(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/);
-  }, 60_000);
+  // Runs the built command for real against a stub `npx` placed first on PATH, so the
+  // cmd.exe -> npx.cmd resolution is exercised without the host's npx or the network.
+  it("resolves and runs the npx shim through the built command", () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-npx-stub-"));
+    try {
+      if (process.platform === "win32") {
+        writeFileSync(join(dir, "npx.cmd"), "@echo 9.9.9\r\n");
+      } else {
+        writeFileSync(join(dir, "npx"), "#!/bin/sh\necho 9.9.9\n", { mode: 0o755 });
+      }
+      const pathKey = Object.keys(process.env).find((k) => k.toLowerCase() === "path") ?? "PATH";
+      const npx = buildNpxCommand(["--version"]);
+      const out = execFileSync(npx.command, npx.args, {
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        timeout: 15_000,
+        env: { ...process.env, [pathKey]: `${dir}${delimiter}${process.env[pathKey] ?? ""}` },
+      });
+      expect(out.trim()).toBe("9.9.9");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 3, retryDelay: 100 });
+    }
+  });
 });
 
 describe("buildNpmCommand", () => {