diff --git a/scripts/release.ps1 b/scripts/release.ps1
index c6b4b2a..5c7dbb2 100644
--- a/scripts/release.ps1
+++ b/scripts/release.ps1
@@ -106,9 +106,15 @@ if ($DryRun) {
 }
 
 # --- Bump package.json --------------------------------------------------
+# IMPORTANT: read+write as UTF-8 WITHOUT BOM. PS5.1 defaults will (a) read the
+# file as CP1251 and mangle non-ASCII chars like em-dash, and (b) write back
+# with a BOM that breaks PostCSS / electron-builder reads of package.json.
 Write-Host "Bumping package.json to $next..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
-$pkgJson = (Get-Content package.json -Raw) -replace "`"version`":\s*`"$current`"", "`"version`": `"$next`""
-Set-Content -Path package.json -Value $pkgJson -NoNewline -Encoding utf8
+$pkgPath = Join-Path $root 'package.json'
+$utf8NoBom = New-Object System.Text.UTF8Encoding $false
+$pkgJson = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllText($pkgPath, $utf8NoBom)
+$pkgJson = $pkgJson -replace "`"version`":\s*`"$current`"", "`"version`": `"$next`""
+[System.IO.File]::WriteAllText($pkgPath, $pkgJson, $utf8NoBom)
 
 git add package.json
 git commit -m "chore(release): $tag"