diff --git a/viewer/CMakeLists.txt b/viewer/CMakeLists.txt
index 40358381..c4efdd09 100644
--- a/viewer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/viewer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -180,17 +180,32 @@ IF(Qt6_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "6.5")
     INSTALL(SCRIPT ${jfjoch_viewer_deploy_script} COMPONENT viewer)
 ENDIF()
 
-# Bundle the cuFFT runtime DLL next to the viewer so the installed app runs on Windows hosts that
-# have an NVIDIA driver but no CUDA toolkit. cuFFT is the ONLY CUDA component we link dynamically
-# (cudart and the fast-feedback indexer are static), so it is the one runtime file the toolkit would
-# otherwise have to provide; the DLL is self-contained (depends only on KERNEL32). CUDA 13 keeps
-# redistributable DLLs in bin/x64, earlier toolkits in bin -- glob both. Windows + GPU build only.
-IF(WIN32 AND JFJOCH_CUDA_AVAILABLE)
-    FILE(GLOB _cufft_dll
-            "${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}/x64/cufft64_*.dll"
-            "${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}/cufft64_*.dll")
-    IF(NOT _cufft_dll)
-        MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "cuFFT runtime DLL not found under ${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}")
+# Bundle the cuFFT runtime next to the viewer so the installed app runs on hosts that have an NVIDIA
+# driver but no CUDA toolkit. cuFFT is the ONLY CUDA component we link dynamically (cudart and the
+# fast-feedback indexer are static), so it is the one runtime file the toolkit would otherwise have to
+# provide; it is self-contained (Windows: depends only on KERNEL32; Linux: only libc/libstdc++ and the
+# always-present driver libcuda). GPU build only. macOS has no CUDA, so it is excluded.
+IF(JFJOCH_CUDA_AVAILABLE)
+    IF(WIN32)
+        # CUDA 13 keeps redistributable DLLs in bin/x64, earlier toolkits in bin -- glob both.
+        FILE(GLOB _cufft_dll
+                "${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}/x64/cufft64_*.dll"
+                "${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}/cufft64_*.dll")
+        IF(NOT _cufft_dll)
+            MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "cuFFT runtime DLL not found under ${CUDAToolkit_BIN_DIR}")
+        ENDIF()
+        INSTALL(FILES ${_cufft_dll} DESTINATION bin COMPONENT viewer)
+    ELSEIF(UNIX AND NOT APPLE AND JFJOCH_VIEWER_ONLY)
+        # Only the self-contained Linux .tar.gz (JFJOCH_VIEWER_ONLY) bundles cuFFT: it has no package
+        # manager, so it must carry its runtime deps, and we want that set really minimal. The .deb/.rpm
+        # builds deliberately do NOT bundle it - CUDA there is centrally managed by the distro's packages.
+        # Ship libcufft.so beside the binary and add an $ORIGIN rpath so the loader finds the bundled copy
+        # (the same self-contained-app idea as the Windows DLL). CUDA::cufft is an UNKNOWN imported target,
+        # so install its file directly, resolving the symlink chain (libcufft.so -> .so.<major> -> real
+        # file) so the libcufft.so.<major> the binary is linked against lands in bin.
+        INSTALL(CODE
+                "file(INSTALL DESTINATION \"\${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin\" TYPE SHARED_LIBRARY FOLLOW_SYMLINK_CHAIN FILES \"${CUDA_cufft_LIBRARY}\")"
+                COMPONENT viewer)
+        SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(jfjoch_viewer PROPERTIES INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN")
     ENDIF()
-    INSTALL(FILES ${_cufft_dll} DESTINATION bin COMPONENT viewer)
 ENDIF()