diff --git a/studio/setup.ps1 b/studio/setup.ps1
index 2420448deb..9f152aa477 100644
--- a/studio/setup.ps1
+++ b/studio/setup.ps1
@@ -748,8 +748,11 @@ Write-Host ""
 # ==========================================================================
 #  PHASE 2: Frontend build (skip if pip-installed -- already bundled)
 # ==========================================================================
+$DistDir = Join-Path $FrontendDir "dist"
 if ($IsPipInstall) {
     Write-Host "[OK] Running from pip install - frontend already bundled, skipping build" -ForegroundColor Green
+} elseif (Test-Path $DistDir) {
+    Write-Host "[OK] Frontend already built (frontend/dist exists). To rebuild, delete frontend/dist and re-run setup." -ForegroundColor Green
 } else {
     Write-Host ""
     Write-Host "Building frontend..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
@@ -758,9 +761,6 @@ if ($IsPipInstall) {
     $prevEAP_npm = $ErrorActionPreference
     $ErrorActionPreference = "Continue"
     Push-Location $FrontendDir
-    # Remove stale node_modules and package-lock.json to avoid version conflicts
-    if (Test-Path "node_modules") { Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "node_modules" }
-    if (Test-Path "package-lock.json") { Remove-Item -Force "package-lock.json" }
     npm install 2>&1 | Out-Null
     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
         Pop-Location
diff --git a/studio/setup.sh b/studio/setup.sh
index 4c8a6c7dde..7070b8a089 100755
--- a/studio/setup.sh
+++ b/studio/setup.sh
@@ -41,13 +41,10 @@ if [[ "$keynames" == *$'\nCOLAB_'* ]]; then
 fi
 
 # ── Detect whether frontend needs building ──
-# Only skip when BOTH conditions are true:
-#   1. We're inside site-packages (PyPI / pip install, not editable)
-#   2. dist/ already exists (pre-built in the wheel)
-# Otherwise always (re)build — handles upgrades, editable installs, and
-# pip-from-source where dist/ was never built.
-if [[ "$SCRIPT_DIR" == */site-packages/* ]] && [ -d "$SCRIPT_DIR/frontend/dist" ]; then
-    echo "✅ Frontend pre-built (PyPI) — skipping Node/npm check."
+# Skip frontend build if dist/ already exists (PyPI wheel, previous build, etc.)
+# To force a rebuild, delete frontend/dist and re-run setup.
+if [ -d "$SCRIPT_DIR/frontend/dist" ]; then
+    echo "✅ Frontend already built (frontend/dist exists) -- skipping Node/npm check."
 else
 NEED_NODE=true
 if command -v node &>/dev/null && command -v npm &>/dev/null; then