diff --git a/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts b/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
index 9fc10c6e3..aeeaad419 100644
--- a/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
@@ -40,15 +40,25 @@ export interface BridgeLauncher {
   ): Promise<Result<BridgeLaunch, HopperStartError | HopperCancelledError>>;
 }
 
-export interface HopperApplicationLauncherOptions {
+interface SharedHopperApplicationLauncherOptions {
   readonly launcherPath: string;
   readonly targetPath: string;
   readonly targetKind: "executable" | "database";
   readonly loaderArgs: readonly string[];
   readonly bridgeScriptPath: string;
-  readonly demoHelperPath?: string;
 }
 
+/** Explicit launcher contract; the Linux adapter verifies its pinned Hopper build before execution. */
+export type HopperApplicationLauncherOptions =
+  | (SharedHopperApplicationLauncherOptions & {
+      readonly launchMode: "native";
+      readonly demoHelperPath?: never;
+    })
+  | (SharedHopperApplicationLauncherOptions & {
+      readonly launchMode: "verified_linux_demo";
+      readonly demoHelperPath: string;
+    });
+
 /**
  * Launches Hopper through its documented CLI and injects only REA's owned bridge.
  *
@@ -186,10 +196,13 @@ const linuxDemoLaunch = (
   };
 };
 
-const usesLinuxDemo = (options: HopperApplicationLauncherOptions): boolean =>
-  process.platform === "linux" &&
-  basename(options.launcherPath) === "Hopper" &&
-  options.demoHelperPath !== undefined;
+/** Select the version-pinned adapter from the caller's explicit launch mode. */
+export const usesLinuxDemo = (
+  options: HopperApplicationLauncherOptions,
+): options is HopperApplicationLauncherOptions & {
+  readonly launchMode: "verified_linux_demo";
+  readonly demoHelperPath: string;
+} => options.launchMode === "verified_linux_demo";
 
 const spawnLauncher = async (
   command: string,
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts b/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
index 681aa039b..e6c13e068 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
@@ -114,9 +114,14 @@ export class HopperProvider implements AnalysisProvider {
         bridgeScriptPath: fileURLToPath(
           new URL("../../bridge/hopper_bridge.py", import.meta.url),
         ),
-        demoHelperPath: fileURLToPath(
-          new URL("../../scripts/hopper-demo-x11.py", import.meta.url),
-        ),
+        ...(process.platform === "linux"
+          ? {
+              launchMode: "verified_linux_demo" as const,
+              demoHelperPath: fileURLToPath(
+                new URL("../../scripts/hopper-demo-x11.py", import.meta.url),
+              ),
+            }
+          : { launchMode: "native" as const }),
       }),
       logger: this.logger.child({ layer: "bridge" }),
     });
diff --git a/tests/bridgeLauncher.test.ts b/tests/bridgeLauncher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7e69bfdf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/bridgeLauncher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { access, chmod, mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { promisify } from "node:util";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  type HopperApplicationLauncherOptions,
+  usesLinuxDemo,
+} from "../src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.js";
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+const demoHelperPath = fileURLToPath(
+  new URL("../scripts/hopper-demo-x11.py", import.meta.url),
+);
+
+const options = (launcherPath: string): HopperApplicationLauncherOptions => ({
+  launcherPath,
+  targetPath: "/target",
+  targetKind: "executable",
+  loaderArgs: [],
+  bridgeScriptPath: "/rea/hopper_bridge.py",
+  launchMode: "verified_linux_demo",
+  demoHelperPath: "/rea/hopper-demo-x11.py",
+});
+
+describe("Hopper bridge launcher selection", () => {
+  it.each([
+    "/opt/hopper/bin/Hopper",
+    "/usr/local/bin/hopper",
+    "/workspace/bin/hopper-wrapper",
+  ])(
+    "routes launcher spelling %s through the explicitly selected pinned adapter",
+    (path) => {
+      expect(usesLinuxDemo(options(path))).toBe(true);
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("does not infer demo behavior from a native launcher's basename", () => {
+    expect(
+      usesLinuxDemo({
+        launcherPath: "/opt/hopper/bin/Hopper",
+        targetPath: "/target",
+        targetKind: "executable",
+        loaderArgs: [],
+        bridgeScriptPath: "/rea/hopper_bridge.py",
+        launchMode: "native",
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects an unpinned wrapper before executing it", async () => {
+    const directory = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "rea-hopper-wrapper-"));
+    const wrapper = join(directory, "hopper-wrapper");
+    const marker = join(directory, "executed");
+    try {
+      await writeFile(wrapper, `#!/bin/sh\ntouch ${JSON.stringify(marker)}\n`);
+      await chmod(wrapper, 0o700);
+      await expect(
+        execFileAsync(
+          "python3",
+          [
+            demoHelperPath,
+            "--hopper",
+            wrapper,
+            "--socket",
+            join(directory, "bridge.sock"),
+            "--",
+            wrapper,
+          ],
+          { timeout: 3_000 },
+        ),
+      ).rejects.toMatchObject({
+        code: 72,
+        stderr: expect.stringContaining("unsupported Hopper binary"),
+      });
+      await expect(access(marker)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "ENOENT" });
+    } finally {
+      await rm(directory, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});