diff --git a/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts b/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
index 909d9642b416..c40ab4a8a365 100644
--- a/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
+++ b/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
@@ -3011,25 +3011,29 @@ export function appendLatestNpmDebugLogTail(
   env = process.env,
   platform = process.platform,
 ) {
-  const candidates = resolveNpmDebugLogDirs(homeDir, env, platform)
-    .flatMap(findNpmDebugLogs)
-    .toSorted((left, right) => left.mtimeMs - right.mtimeMs);
-  const latest = candidates.at(-1);
-  if (!latest) {
+  try {
+    const candidates = resolveNpmDebugLogDirs(homeDir, env, platform)
+      .flatMap(findNpmDebugLogs)
+      .toSorted((left, right) => left.mtimeMs - right.mtimeMs);
+    const latest = candidates.at(-1);
+    if (!latest) {
+      return "";
+    }
+
+    const tail = readLogTextWindow(latest.path, { maxBytes: CROSS_OS_NPM_DEBUG_LOG_TAIL_BYTES });
+    if (!tail.trim()) {
+      return "";
+    }
+
+    appendFileSync(
+      logPath,
+      `\n${new Date().toISOString()} npm-debug-log path=${latest.path}\n${tail}\n`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    return tail;
+  } catch {
     return "";
   }
-
-  const tail = readLogTextWindow(latest.path, { maxBytes: CROSS_OS_NPM_DEBUG_LOG_TAIL_BYTES });
-  if (!tail.trim()) {
-    return "";
-  }
-
-  appendFileSync(
-    logPath,
-    `\n${new Date().toISOString()} npm-debug-log path=${latest.path}\n${tail}\n`,
-    "utf8",
-  );
-  return tail;
 }
 
 export function resolveNpmDebugLogDirs(homeDir, env = process.env, platform = process.platform) {
diff --git a/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts b/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
index 35876fb64433..747b6b7f2fa5 100644
--- a/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
@@ -1417,6 +1417,24 @@ describe("scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("keeps npm debug log collection best-effort", () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-cross-os-npm-debug-best-effort-"));
+    try {
+      const homeDir = join(dir, "home");
+      const logPath = join(dir, "install.log");
+      const logsDir = join(dir, "not-a-directory");
+      writeFileSync(logPath, "install failed\n");
+      writeFileSync(logsDir, "not a directory\n");
+
+      expect(appendLatestNpmDebugLogTail(homeDir, logPath, { npm_config_logs_dir: logsDir })).toBe(
+        "",
+      );
+      expect(readFileSync(logPath, "utf8")).toBe("install failed\n");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("resolves relative npm log config from the install working directory", () => {
     const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-cross-os-npm-relative-logs-"));
     try {