diff --git a/scripts/verify_agent_work.ps1 b/scripts/verify_agent_work.ps1
index ed36b09..699593e 100644
--- a/scripts/verify_agent_work.ps1
+++ b/scripts/verify_agent_work.ps1
@@ -9,23 +9,33 @@ $RootDir = "$PSScriptRoot\.."
 $StartTime = Get-Date
 $FailCount = 0
 
-# Locate Perl — required by openssl-sys build script (bundled-sqlcipher-vendored-openssl)
-if (-not (Get-Command perl -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-    $PerlCandidates = @(
-        "C:\Strawberry\perl\bin",
-        "C:\Perl\bin",
-        "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin",
-        "C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\usr\bin"
-    )
-    foreach ($perlDir in $PerlCandidates) {
-        if (Test-Path "$perlDir\perl.exe") {
-            $env:PATH = "$perlDir;$env:PATH"
-            Write-Host "  INFO: Found perl at $perlDir\perl.exe" -ForegroundColor Yellow
-            break
-        }
+# Locate Strawberry Perl — required by openssl-sys build script.
+# Always prefer Strawberry Perl over Git's MSYS2 perl (which lacks required modules).
+$StrawberryPerlCandidates = @(
+    "C:\Strawberry\perl\bin",
+    "D:\Strawberry\perl\bin",
+    "C:\Perl64\bin",
+    "C:\Perl\bin",
+    "D:\Perl64\bin",
+    "D:\Perl\bin"
+)
+$StrawberryFound = $false
+foreach ($perlDir in $StrawberryPerlCandidates) {
+    if (Test-Path "$perlDir\perl.exe") {
+        # Prepend to PATH so it takes priority over Git's perl
+        $env:PATH = "$perlDir;$env:PATH"
+        Write-Host "  INFO: Using Strawberry Perl at $perlDir\perl.exe" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+        $StrawberryFound = $true
+        break
     }
-    if (-not (Get-Command perl -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-        Write-Host "  WARN: perl not found - openssl-sys (chronogrid_core/ffi) builds may fail." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+}
+if (-not $StrawberryFound) {
+    # Fall back to any perl on PATH
+    if (Get-Command perl -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
+        Write-Host "  WARN: Strawberry Perl not found; using $(Get-Command perl | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Source)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+        Write-Host "        openssl-sys may fail if this is Git/MSYS2 perl." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+    } else {
+        Write-Host "  WARN: perl not found - openssl-sys (chronogrid_core/ffi) builds will fail." -ForegroundColor Yellow
     }
 }