diff --git a/kit-connect/bin/connect-daemon.sh b/kit-connect/bin/connect-daemon.sh
index 6aa4c65..549fbf9 100755
--- a/kit-connect/bin/connect-daemon.sh
+++ b/kit-connect/bin/connect-daemon.sh
@@ -61,10 +61,14 @@ start_tailscale() {
     [ "$TAILSCALE_ENABLE" != "1" ] && { log "tailscale: disabled in config"; return 0; }
     [ -z "$TAILSCALE_AUTH_KEY" ] && { log "tailscale: no auth key — skipping"; return 0; }
 
-    if ! command -v "$TAILSCALED_BIN" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        log "tailscale: binary not found at $TAILSCALED_BIN"
-        return 1
-    fi
+	if [ ! -x "$TAILSCALED_BIN" ]; then
+	    log "tailscale: tailscaled not found at $TAILSCALED_BIN (SRM PATH lacks /usr/local/bin)"
+	    return 1
+	fi
+	if [ ! -x "$TAILSCALE_BIN" ]; then
+	    log "tailscale: binary not found at $TAILSCALE_BIN"
+	    return 1
+	fi
 
     mkdir -p "$(dirname "$TAILSCALE_STATEDIR")" "$(dirname "$TAILSCALE_SOCKET")"