diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6ca87dde74..2d40abafde 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2066,6 +2066,12 @@ set_tests_properties(check_artifacts PROPERTIES
 	LABELS "validation;artifacts"
 	REQUIRED_FILES "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/release/idtech3_server")
 
+add_test(NAME test_run_vulkan_launcher
+	COMMAND ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests/scripts/test_run_vulkan.sh ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/run_vulkan.sh
+	WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
+set_tests_properties(test_run_vulkan_launcher PROPERTIES
+	LABELS "unit;regression;scripts")
+
 # --- Unit tests ---
 option(BUILD_UNIT_TESTS "Build unit tests" ON)
 if(BUILD_UNIT_TESTS)
diff --git a/tests/scripts/test_run_vulkan.sh b/tests/scripts/test_run_vulkan.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ce9ee7d2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/test_run_vulkan.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Regression tests for scripts/run_vulkan.sh launcher behavior.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST="${1:-}"
+if [ -z "$SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST" ] || [ ! -f "$SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST" ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 /absolute/or/relative/path/to/scripts/run_vulkan.sh" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST="$(cd "$(dirname "$SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST")" && pwd)/$(basename "$SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST")"
+
+TMP_ROOT="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP_ROOT"' EXIT
+
+fail() {
+  echo "FAIL: $*" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+assert_contains() {
+  local haystack="$1"
+  local needle="$2"
+  local msg="$3"
+  if [[ "$haystack" != *"$needle"* ]]; then
+    fail "$msg (missing: $needle)"
+  fi
+}
+
+assert_not_contains() {
+  local haystack="$1"
+  local needle="$2"
+  local msg="$3"
+  if [[ "$haystack" == *"$needle"* ]]; then
+    fail "$msg (unexpected: $needle)"
+  fi
+}
+
+make_engine_stub() {
+  local path="$1"
+  local marker="$2"
+  cat >"$path" <<EOF_STUB
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "MARKER:${marker}"
+echo "ARGS:\$*"
+EOF_STUB
+  chmod +x "$path"
+}
+
+make_uname_stub() {
+  local path="$1"
+  local arch="$2"
+  cat >"$path" <<EOF_UNAME
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+if [ "\${1:-}" = "-m" ]; then
+  echo "${arch}"
+else
+  /usr/bin/uname "\$@"
+fi
+EOF_UNAME
+  chmod +x "$path"
+}
+
+new_repo_layout() {
+  local name="$1"
+  local root="$TMP_ROOT/$name"
+  mkdir -p "$root/repo/scripts" "$root/repo/release" "$root/fakebin"
+  cp "$SCRIPT_UNDER_TEST" "$root/repo/scripts/run_vulkan.sh"
+  chmod +x "$root/repo/scripts/run_vulkan.sh"
+  echo "$root"
+}
+
+# 1) When run from scripts/, prefer sibling release/idtech3.
+layout1="$(new_repo_layout case1)"
+make_engine_stub "$layout1/repo/release/idtech3" "release-default"
+make_engine_stub "$layout1/repo/scripts/idtech3" "scripts-local"
+out1="$("$layout1/repo/scripts/run_vulkan.sh" +set fs_game unwaking +set cl_renderer vulkan)"
+assert_contains "$out1" "MARKER:release-default" "scripts launcher should prefer sibling release binary"
+assert_not_contains "$out1" "MARKER:scripts-local" "scripts-local binary should not be used when release binary exists"
+assert_contains "$out1" "ARGS:+set fs_game unwaking +set cl_renderer vulkan" "arguments should be forwarded unchanged"
+
+# 2) On arm64/aarch64, choose idtech3.aarch64 when available.
+layout2="$(new_repo_layout case2)"
+make_engine_stub "$layout2/repo/release/idtech3" "release-default"
+make_engine_stub "$layout2/repo/release/idtech3.aarch64" "release-arm64"
+make_uname_stub "$layout2/fakebin/uname" "arm64"
+out2="$(PATH="$layout2/fakebin:$PATH" "$layout2/repo/scripts/run_vulkan.sh" +set cl_renderer vulkan)"
+assert_contains "$out2" "MARKER:release-arm64" "arm64 should select idtech3.aarch64 when present"
+
+# 3) On arm64/aarch64, fall back to idtech3 when arch-specific binary is missing.
+layout3="$(new_repo_layout case3)"
+make_engine_stub "$layout3/repo/release/idtech3" "release-default"
+make_uname_stub "$layout3/fakebin/uname" "aarch64"
+out3="$(PATH="$layout3/fakebin:$PATH" "$layout3/repo/scripts/run_vulkan.sh" +set r_fullscreen 0)"
+assert_contains "$out3" "MARKER:release-default" "missing idtech3.aarch64 should fall back to idtech3"
+
+echo "PASS: test_run_vulkan.sh"