diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bf73ffc..2c9a8bf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 - Blog: restore the missing Discord link in the VirusTotal partnership post footer (#96, thanks @gandli).
 - Dependencies: bump `@lucide/astro` to `0.577.0` and sync `bun.lock` (#99, thanks @dependabot).
 - CI: update Bun setup pin and move the install-smoke Node setup to the pinned `actions/setup-node` v6 SHA (#98, thanks @dependabot).
+- Installer: recover from older PATH-bound Node runtimes after install, but keep the fallback `openclaw` shim in `~/.local/bin` instead of mutating version-manager bins (#68, thanks @rolandkakonyi).
 ## 2026-02-22
 
 - Installer: make gum behavior fully automatic (interactive TTYs get gum, headless shells get plain status), and remove manual gum toggles.
diff --git a/public/install.sh b/public/install.sh
index 47429db..c10911a 100755
--- a/public/install.sh
+++ b/public/install.sh
@@ -959,6 +959,7 @@ NPM_LOGLEVEL="${OPENCLAW_NPM_LOGLEVEL:-error}"
 NPM_SILENT_FLAG="--silent"
 VERBOSE="${OPENCLAW_VERBOSE:-0}"
 OPENCLAW_BIN=""
+SELECTED_NODE_BIN=""
 PNPM_CMD=()
 HELP=0
 
@@ -1301,6 +1302,163 @@ check_node() {
     fi
 }
 
+node_major_from_binary() {
+    local node_bin="$1"
+    if [[ -z "$node_bin" || ! -x "$node_bin" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    "$node_bin" -p 'process.versions.node.split(".")[0]' 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+node_is_supported_binary() {
+    local node_bin="$1"
+    local major=""
+    major="$(node_major_from_binary "$node_bin")"
+    if [[ ! "$major" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    [[ "$major" -ge 22 ]]
+}
+
+has_supported_node() {
+    local node_bin=""
+    node_bin="$(command -v node 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [[ -z "$node_bin" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    node_is_supported_binary "$node_bin"
+}
+
+prepend_path_dir() {
+    local dir="${1%/}"
+    if [[ -z "$dir" || ! -d "$dir" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local current=":${PATH:-}:"
+    current="${current//:${dir}:/:}"
+    current="${current#:}"
+    current="${current%:}"
+    if [[ -n "$current" ]]; then
+        export PATH="${dir}:${current}"
+    else
+        export PATH="${dir}"
+    fi
+    hash -r 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+ensure_supported_node_on_path() {
+    if has_supported_node; then
+        SELECTED_NODE_BIN="$(command -v node 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    local -a candidates=()
+    local candidate=""
+    while IFS= read -r candidate; do
+        [[ -n "$candidate" ]] && candidates+=("$candidate")
+    done < <(type -aP node 2>/dev/null || true)
+    candidates+=(
+        "/usr/bin/node"
+        "/usr/local/bin/node"
+        "/opt/homebrew/bin/node"
+        "/opt/homebrew/opt/node@22/bin/node"
+        "/usr/local/opt/node@22/bin/node"
+    )
+
+    local seen=":"
+    for candidate in "${candidates[@]}"; do
+        if [[ -z "$candidate" || ! -x "$candidate" ]]; then
+            continue
+        fi
+        case "$seen" in
+            *":$candidate:"*) continue ;;
+        esac
+        seen="${seen}${candidate}:"
+
+        if node_is_supported_binary "$candidate"; then
+            prepend_path_dir "$(dirname "$candidate")" || continue
+            SELECTED_NODE_BIN="$candidate"
+            ui_info "Using Node.js runtime at ${candidate}"
+            return 0
+        fi
+    done
+
+    return 1
+}
+
+original_path_node_bin() {
+    if [[ -z "${ORIGINAL_PATH:-}" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    PATH="$ORIGINAL_PATH" command -v node 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+original_path_has_supported_node() {
+    local node_bin=""
+    node_bin="$(original_path_node_bin)"
+    if [[ -z "$node_bin" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    node_is_supported_binary "$node_bin"
+}
+
+find_openclaw_entry_path() {
+    local npm_root=""
+    npm_root="$(npm root -g 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [[ -z "$npm_root" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local entry_js="${npm_root}/openclaw/dist/entry.js"
+    if [[ -f "$entry_js" ]]; then
+        echo "$entry_js"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    local entry_mjs="${npm_root}/openclaw/dist/entry.mjs"
+    if [[ -f "$entry_mjs" ]]; then
+        echo "$entry_mjs"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+}
+
+install_openclaw_compat_shim() {
+    if [[ "$INSTALL_METHOD" != "npm" ]]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if original_path_has_supported_node; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    local node_bin="${SELECTED_NODE_BIN:-}"
+    if [[ -z "$node_bin" ]]; then
+        node_bin="$(command -v node 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$node_bin" || ! -x "$node_bin" ]] || ! node_is_supported_binary "$node_bin"; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    local entry_path=""
+    entry_path="$(find_openclaw_entry_path || true)"
+    if [[ -z "$entry_path" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    local target_dir="$HOME/.local/bin"
+    ensure_user_local_bin_on_path
+
+    mkdir -p "$target_dir"
+    local shim_path="${target_dir}/openclaw"
+    cat > "$shim_path" <<EOF
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+exec "$node_bin" "$entry_path" "\$@"
+EOF
+    chmod +x "$shim_path"
+    refresh_shell_command_cache
+    ui_warn "Configured openclaw shim at ${shim_path} for Node $("$node_bin" -v 2>/dev/null || echo '22+')"
+    return 0
+}
+
 # Install Node.js
 install_node() {
     if [[ "$OS" == "macos" ]]; then
@@ -2147,6 +2305,14 @@ main() {
     if ! check_node; then
         install_node
     fi
+    ensure_supported_node_on_path || true
+    if ! has_supported_node; then
+        ui_error "Node.js v22+ is required but could not be activated on PATH"
+        echo "Detected node: $(command -v node 2>/dev/null || echo '(not found)')"
+        echo "Current version: $(node -v 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown')"
+        echo "Install Node.js 22+ manually: https://nodejs.org"
+        exit 1
+    fi
 
     ui_stage "Installing OpenClaw"
 
@@ -2183,6 +2349,7 @@ main() {
 
         # Step 5: OpenClaw
         install_openclaw
+        install_openclaw_compat_shim || true
     fi
 
     ui_stage "Finalizing setup"
diff --git a/scripts/test-install-sh-unit.sh b/scripts/test-install-sh-unit.sh
index 878bbbc..84354e1 100644
--- a/scripts/test-install-sh-unit.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-install-sh-unit.sh
@@ -510,4 +510,67 @@ echo "==> case: install_openclaw_from_git (deps step uses run_pnpm function)"
   assert_eq "$deps_cmd" "run_pnpm" "install_openclaw_from_git dependencies command"
 )
 
+echo "==> case: install_openclaw_compat_shim (always uses user-local bin)"
+(
+  root="${TMP_DIR}/case-openclaw-compat-shim"
+  home_dir="${root}/home"
+  selected_bin_dir="${root}/node22/bin"
+  original_bin_dir="${root}/nvm/bin"
+  pkg_dir="${root}/npm-root/openclaw/dist"
+
+  mkdir -p "${home_dir}" "${selected_bin_dir}" "${original_bin_dir}" "${pkg_dir}"
+  : > "${pkg_dir}/entry.js"
+
+  cat >"${selected_bin_dir}/node" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "-p" ]]; then
+  echo "22"
+  exit 0
+fi
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "-v" ]]; then
+  echo "v22.12.0"
+  exit 0
+fi
+exit 0
+EOF
+  chmod +x "${selected_bin_dir}/node"
+
+  cat >"${original_bin_dir}/node" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "-p" ]]; then
+  echo "20"
+  exit 0
+fi
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "-v" ]]; then
+  echo "v20.18.0"
+  exit 0
+fi
+exit 0
+EOF
+  chmod +x "${original_bin_dir}/node"
+
+  export HOME="${home_dir}"
+  export PATH="/usr/bin:/bin"
+  export INSTALL_METHOD="npm"
+  export SELECTED_NODE_BIN="${selected_bin_dir}/node"
+  export ORIGINAL_PATH="${original_bin_dir}:/usr/bin:/bin"
+
+  ui_warn() { :; }
+  ensure_user_local_bin_on_path() {
+    mkdir -p "${HOME}/.local/bin"
+    export PATH="${HOME}/.local/bin:${PATH}"
+  }
+  refresh_shell_command_cache() { hash -r 2>/dev/null || true; }
+  find_openclaw_entry_path() {
+    echo "${pkg_dir}/entry.js"
+  }
+
+  install_openclaw_compat_shim
+
+  got="$(command -v openclaw || true)"
+  assert_eq "$got" "${home_dir}/.local/bin/openclaw" "install_openclaw_compat_shim wrapper path"
+)
+
 echo "OK"