diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9cfa189..5934831 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
 FROM debian:12-slim AS syslibs
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    libatomic1 libuuid1 libfontconfig1 libxml2 libfribidi0 \
+    libatomic1 libuuid1 libfontconfig1 libfribidi0 \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 FROM gcr.io/distroless/cc-debian12
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY --from=syslibs /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libatomic.so* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
 COPY --from=syslibs /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libuuid.so* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
 COPY --from=syslibs /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfontconfig.so* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
-COPY --from=syslibs /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
 COPY --from=syslibs /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfribidi.so* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
 
 # Set production defaults: port 4208
diff --git a/scripts/buildSea.js b/scripts/buildSea.js
index 2008fcf..72068e6 100644
--- a/scripts/buildSea.js
+++ b/scripts/buildSea.js
@@ -18,7 +18,55 @@ if (!fs.existsSync(distDir)) {
     fs.mkdirSync(distDir, { recursive: true });
 }
 
-console.log('Packaging application, siblings, and dependencies into SEA payload...');
+console.log('Packaging application, siblings, and JavaScript dependencies into SEA payload (excluding native binaries)...');
+
+const nativeNodes = {};
+
+function findNearestPackageJson(startDir) {
+    let dir = startDir;
+    while (dir && dir !== path.dirname(dir)) {
+        const pkgFile = path.join(dir, 'package.json');
+        if (fs.existsSync(pkgFile)) {
+            try {
+                return JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgFile, 'utf8'));
+            } catch {}
+        }
+        dir = path.dirname(dir);
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+function getVersionedNodeFilename(fullPath) {
+    const base = path.basename(fullPath, '.node');
+    const pkg = findNearestPackageJson(path.dirname(fullPath));
+    if (!pkg || !pkg.name || !pkg.version) {
+        return `${base}.node`;
+    }
+    const shortName = pkg.name.replace(/^@[^/]+\//, '');
+    if (base.includes(pkg.version)) {
+        return `${base}.node`;
+    }
+    if (base === shortName) {
+        return `${shortName}-${process.platform}-${process.arch}-${pkg.version}.node`;
+    }
+    return `${shortName}-${base}-${pkg.version}.node`;
+}
+
+function isNativeBinary(name) {
+    return (
+        name.endsWith('.node') ||
+        name.endsWith('.so') ||
+        name.includes('.so.') ||
+        name.endsWith('.dylib') ||
+        name.endsWith('.dll') ||
+        name.endsWith('.a') ||
+        name.endsWith('.o') ||
+        name.endsWith('.cc') ||
+        name.endsWith('.cpp') ||
+        name.endsWith('.c') ||
+        name.endsWith('.h')
+    );
+}
 
 function packDirectory(dir, prefix, result) {
     if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) return;
@@ -30,7 +78,11 @@ function packDirectory(dir, prefix, result) {
                 if (entry.name === 'test' || entry.name === 'tests' || entry.name === 'docs' || entry.name === '.github' || entry.name === '.git' || entry.name === 'obj.target') continue;
                 packDirectory(full, rel, result);
             } else if (entry.isFile()) {
-                if (entry.name.endsWith('.a') || entry.name.endsWith('.o') || entry.name.endsWith('.cc') || entry.name.endsWith('.cpp') || entry.name.endsWith('.c') || entry.name.endsWith('.h')) continue;
+                if (entry.name.endsWith('.node')) {
+                    nativeNodes[rel] = getVersionedNodeFilename(full);
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (isNativeBinary(entry.name)) continue;
                 result[rel] = fs.readFileSync(full).toString('base64');
             }
         }
@@ -82,6 +134,8 @@ function packNodeModules(nmPath) {
 packNodeModules(path.join(rootDir, 'node_modules'));
 packNodeModules(path.join(dbschemaDir, 'node_modules'));
 
+payload['.native-nodes.json'] = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(nativeNodes)).toString('base64');
+
 const compressedPayload = zlib.deflateSync(Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(payload)));
 fs.writeFileSync(payloadPath, compressedPayload);
 
diff --git a/src/api/index.js b/src/api/index.js
index 07f8240..adc91d3 100644
--- a/src/api/index.js
+++ b/src/api/index.js
@@ -316,13 +316,9 @@ export async function runSelfTest() {
     apiLog.info(`Config: host=${env.host} port=${env.port} dbProvider=${env.dbProvider}`);
 
     // 2. Test database & store initialization
-    try {
-        await ensureConnection();
-        const schemaVer = await getSchemaVersion();
-        apiLog.info(`Database & store: OK (provider: ${env.dbProvider}, schema v${schemaVer})`);
-    } catch (err) {
-        apiLog.warn(`Database connection warning: ${err.message}`);
-    }
+    await ensureConnection();
+    const schemaVer = await getSchemaVersion();
+    apiLog.info(`Database & store: OK (provider: ${env.dbProvider}, schema v${schemaVer})`);
 
     // 3. Build API app and register all route modules
     const app = await buildApiApp();
diff --git a/src/sea-entry.cjs b/src/sea-entry.cjs
index f9b8596..5365c9b 100644
--- a/src/sea-entry.cjs
+++ b/src/sea-entry.cjs
@@ -15,23 +15,65 @@ const { createRequire } = require('node:module');
 function getProjectRoot() {
     // If embedded application payload is present in SEA
     if (sea.isSea && sea.isSea() && sea.getAssetKeys && sea.getAssetKeys().includes('app-payload.bin')) {
+        const distDir = path.dirname(process.execPath);
         const runtimeDir = process.env.DASHBACK_RUNTIME_DIR || path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'dashback-runtime');
         const markerFile = path.join(runtimeDir, '.unpacked');
 
+        const nativeMapFile = path.join(runtimeDir, '.native-nodes.json');
+
         if (!fs.existsSync(markerFile)) {
             const compressed = Buffer.from(sea.getRawAsset('app-payload.bin'));
             const json = zlib.inflateSync(compressed).toString('utf8');
             const files = JSON.parse(json);
+            const nativeNodes = files['.native-nodes.json']
+                ? JSON.parse(Buffer.from(files['.native-nodes.json'], 'base64').toString('utf8'))
+                : {};
 
             for (const [relPath, b64] of Object.entries(files)) {
+                if (relPath === '.native-nodes.json') continue;
                 const targetFile = path.join(runtimeDir, relPath);
                 fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(targetFile), { recursive: true });
                 fs.writeFileSync(targetFile, Buffer.from(b64, 'base64'));
             }
 
+            for (const [relPath, distFileName] of Object.entries(nativeNodes)) {
+                const targetLink = path.join(runtimeDir, relPath);
+                const distTarget = path.join(distDir, distFileName);
+                fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(targetLink), { recursive: true });
+                try {
+                    if (fs.lstatSync(targetLink)) fs.unlinkSync(targetLink);
+                } catch {}
+                try {
+                    fs.symlinkSync(distTarget, targetLink, 'file');
+                } catch {}
+            }
+
+            fs.writeFileSync(nativeMapFile, JSON.stringify(nativeNodes));
             fs.writeFileSync(markerFile, '1');
         }
 
+        const nativeNodes = fs.existsSync(nativeMapFile)
+            ? JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(nativeMapFile, 'utf8'))
+            : {};
+
+        // Redirect native .node loading to distDir and preload libvips from distDir if present
+        const origDlopen = process.dlopen;
+        process.dlopen = function (mod, filename, flags) {
+            const relFromRuntime = path.relative(runtimeDir, filename);
+            const mappedName = nativeNodes[relFromRuntime] || path.basename(filename);
+            const distCandidate = path.join(distDir, mappedName);
+            const target = fs.existsSync(distCandidate) ? distCandidate : filename;
+            if (mappedName.startsWith('sharp-')) {
+                const vipsPath = path.join(distDir, 'libvips-cpp.so.8.18.7');
+                if (fs.existsSync(vipsPath)) {
+                    try {
+                        origDlopen.call(process, { exports: {} }, vipsPath, os.constants.dlopen.RTLD_NOW | os.constants.dlopen.RTLD_GLOBAL);
+                    } catch {}
+                }
+            }
+            return flags !== undefined ? origDlopen.call(process, mod, target, flags) : origDlopen.call(process, mod, target);
+        };
+
         // Link host .env if present so config/env.js can find it
         const hostEnv = path.resolve(process.cwd(), '.env');
         const runtimeEnv = path.join(runtimeDir, '.env');