diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
index 5509fdd0e..b066e50b7 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { inheritLoginShellEnv } from "./login-shell-env.js";
 
 import path from "node:path";
 import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
-import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { existsSync, statSync } from "node:fs";
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
 import {
   app,
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import {
   buildStandardContextMenuItems,
 } from "./window/window-manager.js";
 import { setupDarwinCompositorWatchdog } from "./window/compositor-watchdog/index.js";
+import { configureLinuxSandbox } from "./system/linux-sandbox.js";
 import { registerDialogHandlers } from "./features/dialogs.js";
 import {
   registerNotificationHandlers,
@@ -309,12 +310,13 @@ if (forcedUserDataDir) {
   }
 }
 
-// AppImage runtimes mount the app from /tmp under the user's UID, so the SUID
-// chrome-sandbox helper we ship in .deb/.rpm cannot work there. Disable the
-// sandbox only in that case; .deb/.rpm keep the sandbox on, matching VS Code.
-if (process.platform === "linux" && process.env.APPIMAGE) {
-  app.commandLine.appendSwitch("no-sandbox");
-}
+configureLinuxSandbox({
+  platform: process.platform,
+  resourcesPath: process.resourcesPath,
+  statSandbox: (sandboxPath) => statSync(sandboxPath),
+  disableSandbox: () => app.commandLine.appendSwitch("no-sandbox"),
+  reportInspectionError: (error) => log.error("[linux-sandbox] failed to inspect helper", error),
+});
 
 // Allow users to pass Chromium flags via PASEO_ELECTRON_FLAGS for debugging
 // rendering issues (e.g. "--disable-gpu --ozone-platform=x11").
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.test.ts b/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..988ac5745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { configureLinuxSandbox } from "./linux-sandbox";
+
+interface SandboxMetadata {
+  mode: number;
+  uid: number;
+}
+
+function configureWithSandbox(
+  sandbox: SandboxMetadata | Error,
+  platform: NodeJS.Platform = "linux",
+) {
+  const disabledSwitches: string[] = [];
+  const inspectionErrors: unknown[] = [];
+
+  configureLinuxSandbox({
+    platform,
+    resourcesPath: "/opt/Paseo/resources",
+    statSandbox: () => {
+      if (sandbox instanceof Error) {
+        throw sandbox;
+      }
+      return sandbox;
+    },
+    disableSandbox: () => disabledSwitches.push("no-sandbox"),
+    reportInspectionError: (error) => inspectionErrors.push(error),
+  });
+
+  return { disabledSwitches, inspectionErrors };
+}
+
+function createFileSystemError(code: string): NodeJS.ErrnoException {
+  const error: NodeJS.ErrnoException = new Error(code);
+  error.code = code;
+  return error;
+}
+
+describe("configureLinuxSandbox", () => {
+  it("disables the sandbox when an AppImage mount strips SUID", () => {
+    expect(configureWithSandbox({ uid: 1000, mode: 0o755 })).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: ["no-sandbox"],
+      inspectionErrors: [],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the sandbox for a root-owned 4755 helper", () => {
+    expect(configureWithSandbox({ uid: 0, mode: 0o4755 })).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: [],
+      inspectionErrors: [],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("disables the sandbox when a SUID helper is not root-owned", () => {
+    expect(configureWithSandbox({ uid: 1000, mode: 0o4755 })).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: ["no-sandbox"],
+      inspectionErrors: [],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("disables the sandbox when the helper is missing", () => {
+    expect(configureWithSandbox(createFileSystemError("ENOENT"))).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: ["no-sandbox"],
+      inspectionErrors: [],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the sandbox and reports unexpected inspection failures", () => {
+    const permissionError = createFileSystemError("EACCES");
+
+    expect(configureWithSandbox(permissionError)).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: [],
+      inspectionErrors: [permissionError],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("does not inspect or configure the sandbox outside Linux", () => {
+    expect(configureWithSandbox(createFileSystemError("EACCES"), "darwin")).toEqual({
+      disabledSwitches: [],
+      inspectionErrors: [],
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.ts b/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..724195d4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/system/linux-sandbox.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+
+const REQUIRED_SANDBOX_MODE = 0o4755;
+const PERMISSION_BITS = 0o7777;
+
+interface SandboxMetadata {
+  mode: number;
+  uid: number;
+}
+
+interface LinuxSandboxConfiguration {
+  platform: NodeJS.Platform;
+  resourcesPath: string;
+  statSandbox: (sandboxPath: string) => SandboxMetadata;
+  disableSandbox: () => void;
+  reportInspectionError: (error: unknown) => void;
+}
+
+function isMissingSandbox(error: unknown): boolean {
+  return error instanceof Error && "code" in error && error.code === "ENOENT";
+}
+
+export function configureLinuxSandbox(input: LinuxSandboxConfiguration): void {
+  if (input.platform !== "linux") {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const sandboxPath = path.join(input.resourcesPath, "..", "chrome-sandbox");
+    const sandbox = input.statSandbox(sandboxPath);
+    const hasUsableSandbox =
+      sandbox.uid === 0 && (sandbox.mode & PERMISSION_BITS) === REQUIRED_SANDBOX_MODE;
+
+    if (!hasUsableSandbox) {
+      input.disableSandbox();
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (isMissingSandbox(error)) {
+      input.disableSandbox();
+      return;
+    }
+
+    input.reportInspectionError(error);
+  }
+}