diff --git a/bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts b/bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts
index 98a3abfccc..ef8894dc04 100644
--- a/bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts
+++ b/bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { existsSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync, chmodSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 
 const RUNTIME_DIR = join(homedir(), ".omniroute", "runtime");
 // systray2 is a maintained fork with prebuilt binaries — installed lazily at runtime,
@@ -16,6 +17,16 @@ export const SYSTRAY_PACKAGE = "systray2";
 export const SYSTRAY_VERSION = "2.1.4";
 const SYSTRAY_SPEC = `${SYSTRAY_PACKAGE}@${SYSTRAY_VERSION}`;
 
+// Dynamic `import()` resolves its specifier as a URL, not a filesystem path.
+// On Windows the lazily-installed systray2 lives at an absolute path whose
+// leading drive letter the ESM loader parses as an unsupported URL scheme
+// (e.g. `c:`) and rejects. Build a file:// URL so the tray import works on
+// Windows too. Same defect fixed for the CLI db-fallback imports in #11238,
+// missed at this call site.
+export function systrayModuleSpecifier(runtimeDir: string): string {
+  return pathToFileURL(join(runtimeDir, "node_modules", SYSTRAY_PACKAGE)).href;
+}
+
 export function resolveSystrayBinName(platform: NodeJS.Platform): string | null {
   if (platform === "win32") return "tray_windows_release.exe";
   if (platform === "darwin") return "tray_darwin_release";
@@ -60,8 +71,7 @@ export async function loadSystray(): Promise<(new (...args: unknown[]) => unknow
   // drop the +x bit on extraction (observed on macOS).
   chmodSystrayBinAt(RUNTIME_DIR, process.platform);
   try {
-    const modPath = join(RUNTIME_DIR, "node_modules", SYSTRAY_PACKAGE);
-    const mod = await import(modPath);
+    const mod = await import(systrayModuleSpecifier(RUNTIME_DIR));
     return (mod.default ?? mod.SysTray ?? mod) as (new (...args: unknown[]) => unknown) | null;
   } catch (err) {
     console.warn(`[omniroute] tray runtime import failed: ${(err as Error).message}`);
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli/tray-runtime-windows-esm-import.test.ts b/tests/unit/cli/tray-runtime-windows-esm-import.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7e1d0fb33b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/cli/tray-runtime-windows-esm-import.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import path from "node:path";
+import os from "node:os";
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import {
+  systrayModuleSpecifier,
+  SYSTRAY_PACKAGE,
+} from "../../../bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts";
+
+// Regression guard for the Windows-only ESM loader failure at the lazy tray
+// import in bin/cli/runtime/trayRuntime.ts (loadSystray):
+//
+//   Error: Only URLs with a scheme in: file, data, and node are supported by
+//   the default ESM loader. On Windows, absolute paths must be valid file://
+//   URLs. Received protocol 'c:'
+//
+// `import()` resolves its specifier as a URL. A POSIX absolute path like
+// /home/x/.omniroute/runtime/node_modules/systray2 doubles as a valid relative
+// URL, so passing it works by accident on Linux/macOS (and CI stays green). A
+// Windows absolute path is C:\Users\x\.omniroute\runtime\node_modules\systray2,
+// whose leading drive letter the loader parses as the URL scheme `c:` and
+// rejects — so `omniroute server --tray` never loads the tray on Windows.
+// This is the same defect as #11238 (CLI db-fallback imports), which missed
+// this call site. The specifier must be a file:// URL.
+
+test("systrayModuleSpecifier returns a file:// URL, not a raw absolute path", () => {
+  const runtimeDir = path.join(os.homedir(), ".omniroute", "runtime");
+  const spec = systrayModuleSpecifier(runtimeDir);
+
+  assert.match(
+    spec,
+    /^file:\/\//,
+    "dynamic import() of a raw absolute path fails on Windows (drive letter " +
+      "parsed as a URL scheme); wrap the path in pathToFileURL(...).href",
+  );
+  assert.ok(spec.includes(SYSTRAY_PACKAGE), "specifier must target the systray2 package");
+  // A file:// URL is a loader-acceptable specifier on every platform.
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() => new URL(spec));
+});
+
+test("systrayModuleSpecifier matches pathToFileURL of the module directory", () => {
+  const runtimeDir = path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-tray-spec-test");
+  const expected = pathToFileURL(
+    path.join(runtimeDir, "node_modules", SYSTRAY_PACKAGE),
+  ).href;
+  assert.equal(systrayModuleSpecifier(runtimeDir), expected);
+});