diff --git a/desktop/packaging/publish-release.sh b/desktop/packaging/publish-release.sh
index f3b18f2..ae27987 100755
--- a/desktop/packaging/publish-release.sh
+++ b/desktop/packaging/publish-release.sh
@@ -74,6 +74,18 @@ ASSETS=(
   "$REPO_ROOT"/android/dist/thoughtsync.apk
   "$REPO_ROOT"/android/dist/thoughtsync-android.json
 )
+# nullglob drops PATTERNS that match nothing — it does nothing for a path with no
+# wildcard in it, which stays in the array as a literal and reaches curl as a file
+# that isn't there (exit 26). The Android entries above are exactly that shape, and
+# adding them broke the desktop publish that had been working. Filter on existence
+# instead, which is what the array actually means and covers every entry rather
+# than only the ones that happen to contain a `*`.
+present=()
+for a in "${ASSETS[@]}"; do
+  [ -f "$a" ] && present+=("$a")
+done
+ASSETS=("${present[@]}")
+
 if [ ${#ASSETS[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "ERROR: nothing to publish — no desktop bundles under $BUNDLE_ROOT and no APK under $REPO_ROOT/android/dist." >&2
   exit 1