diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a3f6763..cb44e90 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -35,14 +35,26 @@ jobs:
         sudo apt-get update
         sudo apt-get install -y musl-tools
 
-    - name: Build init binary
-      run: |
-        make
-
     - name: Build sdist and wheel
       run: |
         poetry build
 
+    # The build script makes the wheel interpreter and platform specific
+    # (cp311-cp311-linux_x86_64), which PyPI rejects. The only native code
+    # is the static kerf-init, so the wheel runs on any Python 3 and libc.
+    - name: Retag wheel for PyPI
+      run: |
+        file src/kerf/data/kerf-init | grep -q "statically linked"
+        pip install wheel auditwheel
+        python -m wheel tags --remove --python-tag py3 --abi-tag none \
+          --platform-tag manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.musllinux_1_1_x86_64 \
+          dist/*.whl
+        auditwheel show dist/*.whl
+
+    - name: Check the sdist builds a wheel
+      run: |
+        pip wheel --no-deps -w /tmp/sdist-wheel dist/*.tar.gz
+
     - name: Upload distributions
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
       with:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2ab0960..c0792c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -322,7 +322,9 @@ pip install kerf-multikernel
 # Or isolated with pipx, avoiding conflicts with other packages
 pipx install kerf-multikernel
 
-# From source (recommended for development)
+# From source (recommended for development). Installing builds the
+# static kerf-init with musl-gcc (e.g. apt install musl-tools), so
+# rerunning pip install after a pull also picks up kerf-init changes.
 git clone https://github.com/multikernel/kerf.git
 cd kerf
 # Installs 'kerf' command to ~/.local/bin/kerf
diff --git a/build.py b/build.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc95756
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Multikernel Technologies, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""
+Poetry build script: rebuild kerf-init so a wheel never ships a stale one.
+"""
+
+import subprocess
+
+subprocess.run(["make", "init"], check=True)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d2cd7e6..2ef6a24 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -10,9 +10,17 @@ authors = ["Cong Wang"]
 readme = "README.md"
 packages = [{include = "kerf", from = "src"}]
 include = [
-    { path = "src/kerf/data/kerf-init", format = ["sdist", "wheel"] },
+    { path = "src/kerf/data/kerf-init", format = ["wheel"] },
+    { path = "Makefile", format = ["sdist"] },
+    { path = "src/init/Makefile", format = ["sdist"] },
+    { path = "src/init/*.c", format = ["sdist"] },
+    { path = "src/init/*.h", format = ["sdist"] },
 ]
 
+[tool.poetry.build]
+script = "build.py"
+generate-setup-file = false
+
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = "^3.9"
 pylibfdt = "^1.7.0"