diff --git a/openclaw.mjs b/openclaw.mjs
index 1ceda9c2246..aae262e5b57 100755
--- a/openclaw.mjs
+++ b/openclaw.mjs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const isSourceCheckoutLauncher = () =>
 
 const isNodeCompileCacheDisabled = () => process.env.NODE_DISABLE_COMPILE_CACHE !== undefined;
 const isNodeCompileCacheRequested = () =>
-  process.env.NODE_COMPILE_CACHE !== undefined && !isNodeCompileCacheDisabled();
+  Boolean(process.env.NODE_COMPILE_CACHE) && !isNodeCompileCacheDisabled();
 const sanitizeCompileCachePathSegment = (value) => {
   const normalized = value.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9._-]+/g, "_").replace(/^_+|_+$/g, "");
   return normalized.length > 0 ? normalized : "unknown";
diff --git a/test/openclaw-launcher.e2e.test.ts b/test/openclaw-launcher.e2e.test.ts
index 8778c58731b..59ab00993f9 100644
--- a/test/openclaw-launcher.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/test/openclaw-launcher.e2e.test.ts
@@ -201,6 +201,32 @@ describe("openclaw launcher", () => {
     expect(result.stdout).toContain(path.join(".node-compile-cache", "openclaw", "2026.4.29"));
   });
 
+  it("falls back to the default packaged launcher compile cache when NODE_COMPILE_CACHE is empty", async () => {
+    const fixtureRoot = await makeLauncherFixture(fixtureRoots);
+    const runCwd = makeTempDir(fixtureRoots, "openclaw-launcher-cwd-");
+    await fs.writeFile(path.join(fixtureRoot, "package.json"), '{"version":"2026.4.29"}\n');
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(fixtureRoot, "dist", "entry.js"),
+      [
+        'import module from "node:module";',
+        'process.stdout.write(module.getCompileCacheDir?.() ?? "cache:disabled");',
+      ].join("\n"),
+      "utf8",
+    );
+
+    const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [path.join(fixtureRoot, "openclaw.mjs")], {
+      cwd: runCwd,
+      env: launcherEnv({
+        NODE_COMPILE_CACHE: "",
+      }),
+      encoding: "utf8",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain(path.join("node-compile-cache", "openclaw", "2026.4.29"));
+    expect(result.stdout).not.toContain(path.join(runCwd, "openclaw"));
+  });
+
   it("enables compile cache for packaged launchers", async () => {
     const fixtureRoot = await makeLauncherFixture(fixtureRoots);
     await addCompileCacheProbe(fixtureRoot);