diff --git a/scripts/lib/bundled-runtime-sidecar-paths.json b/scripts/lib/bundled-runtime-sidecar-paths.json
index 0140b1caf52..989d44602e4 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/bundled-runtime-sidecar-paths.json
+++ b/scripts/lib/bundled-runtime-sidecar-paths.json
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
   "dist/extensions/nostr/runtime-api.js",
   "dist/extensions/ollama/runtime-api.js",
   "dist/extensions/open-prose/runtime-api.js",
-  "dist/extensions/qa-channel/runtime-api.js",
-  "dist/extensions/qa-lab/runtime-api.js",
   "dist/extensions/qqbot/runtime-api.js",
   "dist/extensions/signal/runtime-api.js",
   "dist/extensions/slack/runtime-api.js",
diff --git a/src/plugins/bundled-plugin-metadata.test.ts b/src/plugins/bundled-plugin-metadata.test.ts
index 0557974b12d..20aa988f0f4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/bundled-plugin-metadata.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/bundled-plugin-metadata.test.ts
@@ -131,6 +131,13 @@ describe("bundled plugin metadata", () => {
     },
   );
 
+  it("excludes private QA sidecars from the packaged runtime sidecar baseline", () => {
+    expect(BUNDLED_RUNTIME_SIDECAR_PATHS).not.toContain(
+      "dist/extensions/qa-channel/runtime-api.js",
+    );
+    expect(BUNDLED_RUNTIME_SIDECAR_PATHS).not.toContain("dist/extensions/qa-lab/runtime-api.js");
+  });
+
   it("captures setup-entry metadata for bundled channel plugins", () => {
     const discord = listRepoBundledPluginMetadata().find((entry) => entry.dirName === "discord");
     expect(discord?.source).toEqual({ source: "./index.ts", built: "index.js" });
diff --git a/src/plugins/runtime-sidecar-paths-baseline.ts b/src/plugins/runtime-sidecar-paths-baseline.ts
index 4dbe5247973..57872afe90c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/runtime-sidecar-paths-baseline.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/runtime-sidecar-paths-baseline.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { listBundledPluginMetadata } from "./bundled-plugin-metadata.js";
 
+const NON_PACKAGED_RUNTIME_SIDECAR_PLUGIN_DIRS = new Set(["qa-channel", "qa-lab"]);
+
 function buildBundledDistArtifactPath(dirName: string, artifact: string): string {
   return ["dist", "extensions", dirName, artifact].join("/");
 }
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ export function collectBundledRuntimeSidecarPaths(params?: {
     rootDir: params?.rootDir,
     includeChannelConfigs: false,
   })
+    .filter((entry) => !NON_PACKAGED_RUNTIME_SIDECAR_PLUGIN_DIRS.has(entry.dirName))
     .flatMap((entry) =>
       (entry.runtimeSidecarArtifacts ?? []).map((artifact) =>
         buildBundledDistArtifactPath(entry.dirName, artifact),