diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/docker/self-updater.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/docker/self-updater.js
index b328ec1..0da2101 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/docker/self-updater.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/docker/self-updater.js
@@ -105,16 +105,27 @@ class SelfUpdater extends EventEmitter {
   // ── Version / Identity Info ──
 
   getLocalVersion() {
-    try {
-      const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'package.json'), 'utf8'));
-      let commit = null;
+    // Resolve package.json/VERSION relative to the api root, not __dirname.
+    // This module is loaded via `./src/docker/self-updater` so __dirname is
+    // `/app/src/docker` inside the container, which has no package.json.
+    // Fall back to __dirname (matches the legacy root-copy contract) so
+    // existing callers and future restructurings keep working.
+    const candidates = [
+      path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'package.json'),
+      path.join(__dirname, 'package.json'),
+    ];
+    for (const pkgPath of candidates) {
       try {
-        commit = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'VERSION'), 'utf8').trim();
-      } catch { /* ignore */ }
-      return { version: pkg.version, commit };
-    } catch (e) {
-      return { version: '0.0.0', commit: null };
+        const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath, 'utf8'));
+        let commit = null;
+        try {
+          commit = fs.readFileSync(pkgPath.replace(/package\.json$/, 'VERSION'), 'utf8').trim();
+        } catch { /* ignore */ }
+        return { version: pkg.version, commit };
+      } catch { /* try next candidate */ }
     }
+    console.error('[SelfUpdater] getLocalVersion failed: no candidate package.json found');
+    return { version: '0.0.0', commit: null };
   }
 
   getInstanceInfo() {