diff --git a/roles/vhosts/qmd/tasks/main.yml b/roles/vhosts/qmd/tasks/main.yml
index 59e95d1..22e9135 100644
--- a/roles/vhosts/qmd/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/vhosts/qmd/tasks/main.yml
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@
   ansible.builtin.command:
     cmd: npm install
     chdir: "{{ qmd_source_dir }}"
+  # Pin Homebrew node@24 ahead of any nvm/other node on Darwin so the native
+  # better-sqlite3 module is compiled against the same Node ABI that the
+  # launchd service and `qmd status` run with. Otherwise a host with nvm node
+  # first builds the module for the wrong NODE_MODULE_VERSION and qmd aborts
+  # with ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED. Linux PATH is left untouched.
+  environment:
+    PATH: "{{ '/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:' if ansible_os_family == 'Darwin' else '' }}{{ ansible_env.PATH }}"
   become: true
   become_user: "{{ qmd_user }}"
   when:
@@ -136,6 +143,8 @@
   ansible.builtin.command:
     cmd: npm run build
     chdir: "{{ qmd_source_dir }}"
+  environment:
+    PATH: "{{ '/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:' if ansible_os_family == 'Darwin' else '' }}{{ ansible_env.PATH }}"
   become: true
   become_user: "{{ qmd_user }}"
   when:
@@ -296,7 +305,11 @@
 - name: Validate QMD status
   ansible.builtin.command:
     cmd: "{{ qmd_binary_path }} status"
+  # qmd's /bin/sh wrapper invokes `node`; on Darwin pin Homebrew node@24 first
+  # so it matches the ABI better-sqlite3 was built with (see npm tasks above),
+  # instead of falling through to an nvm node and failing ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED.
   environment:
+    PATH: "{{ '/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:' if ansible_os_family == 'Darwin' else '' }}{{ ansible_env.PATH }}"
     HOME: "{{ qmd_home }}"
     QMD_EMBED_API_BASE_URL: "{{ qmd_embed_api_base_url }}"
     QMD_EMBED_MODEL: "{{ qmd_embed_model }}"