diff --git a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/TeamsISO.App.WinUI.csproj b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/TeamsISO.App.WinUI.csproj
index f7e4aed..3426f74 100644
--- a/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/TeamsISO.App.WinUI.csproj
+++ b/src/TeamsISO.App.WinUI/TeamsISO.App.WinUI.csproj
@@ -107,4 +107,36 @@
     <Content Include="Assets\Fonts\JetBrainsMono.ttf" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <!--
+    Post-build runtimeconfig patch. .NET 8 SDK adds Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App
+    as an implicit framework reference for any -windows target framework moniker.
+    WinUI 3 doesn't use that framework; including it in runtimeconfig.json
+    forces the .NET host to resolve and load WindowsDesktop.App at startup,
+    which contributes to the WindowsAppSDK activation chain on unpackaged
+    apps. This target rewrites the generated runtimeconfig.json to drop the
+    WindowsDesktop.App entry so the host loads only NETCore.App.
+
+    The target runs after the framework-dependent build copies the
+    runtimeconfig.json to the output dir, before the bin/Debug/.../win-x64/
+    directory is final. It's a string-level rewrite — sufficient because the
+    JSON shape is stable across SDK versions and the WindowsDesktop.App
+    entry has a deterministic indent + sibling structure.
+  -->
+  <Target Name="StripWindowsDesktopAppFromRuntimeConfig" AfterTargets="GenerateBuildRuntimeConfigurationFiles">
+    <PropertyGroup>
+      <_RuntimeConfigPath>$(OutDir)$(AssemblyName).runtimeconfig.json</_RuntimeConfigPath>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+    <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(_RuntimeConfigPath)')">
+      <_RuntimeConfigContent>$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('$(_RuntimeConfigPath)'))</_RuntimeConfigContent>
+      <_PatchedContent>$([System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex]::Replace($(_RuntimeConfigContent), ',\s*\{\s*&quot;name&quot;:\s*&quot;Microsoft\.WindowsDesktop\.App&quot;[^\}]*\}', ''))</_PatchedContent>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+    <WriteLinesToFile Condition="Exists('$(_RuntimeConfigPath)') and '$(_RuntimeConfigContent)' != '$(_PatchedContent)'"
+                      File="$(_RuntimeConfigPath)"
+                      Lines="$(_PatchedContent)"
+                      Overwrite="true"/>
+    <Message Condition="Exists('$(_RuntimeConfigPath)') and '$(_RuntimeConfigContent)' != '$(_PatchedContent)'"
+             Text="Stripped Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App from $(_RuntimeConfigPath)"
+             Importance="high"/>
+  </Target>
+
 </Project>