diff --git a/bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs b/bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs
index f554f4554c..d078d0076b 100644
--- a/bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs
+++ b/bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ const LINUX_DESKTOP_NAME = "omniroute.desktop";
 function resolveCliPath() {
   const candidates = [];
   if (process.argv[1]) candidates.push(process.argv[1]);
-  try {
-    const which = execSync("command -v omniroute 2>/dev/null", { encoding: "utf8" }).trim();
-    if (which) candidates.push(which);
-  } catch {
-    // command -v unavailable
+  if (process.platform !== "win32") {
+    try {
+      const which = execSync("command -v omniroute 2>/dev/null", { encoding: "utf8" }).trim();
+      if (which) candidates.push(which);
+    } catch {
+      // command -v unavailable
+    }
   }
   candidates.push(join(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..", "..", "omniroute.mjs"));
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/12993-windows-autostart-posix-lookup.md b/changelog.d/fixes/12993-windows-autostart-posix-lookup.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5c3887160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/12993-windows-autostart-posix-lookup.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **fix(cli):** skip the POSIX CLI path lookup during Windows autostart setup, preventing a bogus path error before successful enablement ([#12993](https://github.com/diegosouzapw/OmniRoute/pull/12993))
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli/autostart-windows.test.ts b/tests/unit/cli/autostart-windows.test.ts
index 439d00ebcb..2cb3ef1962 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cli/autostart-windows.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/cli/autostart-windows.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,23 @@ test("Windows enable/disable writes and removes VBS in Startup folder", async ()
 // autostart-macos-launchctl.test.ts.
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+test("Windows path resolution skips the POSIX command lookup", () => {
+  const source = readFileSync(join(process.cwd(), "bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs"), "utf8");
+  const resolveCliPath = source.match(/function resolveCliPath\(\) \{([\s\S]*?)\n\}/);
+
+  assert.ok(resolveCliPath, "resolveCliPath should exist");
+  const nonWindowsGuard = resolveCliPath[1].match(
+    /if \(process\.platform !== "win32"\) \{([\s\S]*?)\n  \}/
+  );
+  assert.ok(nonWindowsGuard, "resolveCliPath should have a non-Windows guard");
+  assert.match(nonWindowsGuard[1], /command -v omniroute/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(
+    resolveCliPath[1].replace(nonWindowsGuard[0], ""),
+    /command -v omniroute/,
+    "the POSIX PATH probe must only appear inside the non-Windows guard"
+  );
+});
+
 test("Windows enableWin writes VBS to Startup folder, not reg add", () => {
   const source = readFileSync(join(process.cwd(), "bin/cli/tray/autostart.mjs"), "utf8");