diff --git a/crates/colibri-daemon/tests/zot_rpc_smoke.rs b/crates/colibri-daemon/tests/zot_rpc_smoke.rs
index 894bba0..9bbfc21 100644
--- a/crates/colibri-daemon/tests/zot_rpc_smoke.rs
+++ b/crates/colibri-daemon/tests/zot_rpc_smoke.rs
@@ -24,10 +24,18 @@ use tokio::io::{AsyncBufReadExt, BufReader};
 use tokio::time::timeout;
 
 #[tokio::test]
-#[ignore = "needs a built zot binary; set ZOT_BIN"]
 async fn zot_rpc_driver_delivers_prompt_and_streams_events() {
-    let Ok(zot_bin) = std::env::var("ZOT_BIN") else {
-        eprintln!("ZOT_BIN not set; skipping zot rpc driver test");
+    let zot_bin = std::env::var("ZOT_BIN").ok().or_else(|| {
+        // Fallback: search PATH for a zot binary.
+        std::env::var("PATH").ok().and_then(|path| {
+            path.split(':')
+                .map(|d| std::path::Path::new(d).join("zot"))
+                .find(|p| p.exists())
+                .map(|p| p.to_string_lossy().to_string())
+        })
+    });
+    let Some(zot_bin) = zot_bin else {
+        eprintln!("ZOT_BIN not set and zot not found in PATH; skipping");
         return;
     };
     assert!(