diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 44af14e4..cdf190dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -404,7 +404,9 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p build/ext-tester
           EXE=querya-ext-tester
           if [ "${{ runner.os }}" = "Windows" ]; then EXE=querya-ext-tester.exe; fi
-          dart compile exe bin/querya_ext_tester.dart -o "build/ext-tester/$EXE"
+          # Pure Dart in a throwaway package: `dart compile exe` rejects the
+          # app's graph (build hooks in sqlite3 and objective_c).
+          scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh "build/ext-tester/$EXE"
           MCP=querya-mcp
           if [ "${{ runner.os }}" = "Windows" ]; then MCP=querya-mcp.exe; fi
           mkdir -p build/mcp
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 642b4d9e..34e61a67 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ dependency_overrides:
 
 flutter:
   uses-material-design: true
+  config:
+    # The vendored refresh_rate plugin's Package.swift points its target at
+    # ../Classes, outside the package root, so Swift Package Manager (on by
+    # default since Flutter 3.47) cannot resolve it; macOS builds use CocoaPods.
+    enable-swift-package-manager: false
   assets:
     - assets/images/
     - assets/themes/
diff --git a/scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh b/scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..9fac212e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Compiles querya-ext-tester to one static executable.
+#
+#   scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh build/ext-tester/querya-ext-tester
+#
+# `dart compile exe` refuses a package graph that has build hooks (sqlite3,
+# objective_c), and the app's graph has them. The tester itself is pure Dart
+# (lib/core/extensions + `package:path`), so it is built from a throwaway
+# package that is named like the app, holds only lib/core/extensions and
+# depends on `path`. Run it from the repository root; the output path is
+# relative to it.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+OUT="${1:?usage: build_ext_tester.sh <output-file, relative to the repo root>}"
+WORK="build/ext-tester-src"
+
+rm -rf "$WORK"
+mkdir -p "$WORK/lib/core" "$WORK/bin" "$(dirname "$OUT")"
+cp -R lib/core/extensions "$WORK/lib/core/extensions"
+cp bin/querya_ext_tester.dart "$WORK/bin/querya_ext_tester.dart"
+
+cat > "$WORK/pubspec.yaml" <<'YAML'
+name: querya_desktop
+description: Throwaway package that builds querya-ext-tester (see scripts/ci/build_ext_tester.sh).
+publish_to: none
+environment:
+  sdk: '>=3.5.0 <4.0.0'
+dependencies:
+  path: ^1.9.0
+YAML
+
+# The work directory is two levels below the repository root.
+(cd "$WORK" && dart pub get && dart compile exe bin/querya_ext_tester.dart -o "../../$OUT")
+rm -rf "$WORK"