diff --git a/web/server.mjs b/web/server.mjs
index 5726db4..198776e 100644
--- a/web/server.mjs
+++ b/web/server.mjs
@@ -351,7 +351,10 @@ export function createServer() {
 async function checkRoot() {
   const index = path.join(ROOT, 'index.html');
   if (await statFile(index)) return;
-  log('error', 'web root has no index.html', { root: ROOT, hint: 'run pnpm build, then publish it to WEB_ROOT' });
+  log('error', 'web root has no index.html', {
+    root: ROOT,
+    hint: 'a manual `pnpm build` only writes web/dist; `systemctl start cashumints-web` builds and publishes to WEB_ROOT',
+  });
   process.exit(1);
 }