diff --git a/cli/release_package.php b/cli/release_package.php
index 8ff92e8..134c572 100644
--- a/cli/release_package.php
+++ b/cli/release_package.php
@@ -402,6 +402,18 @@ if ($isJoomlaPackage) {
         echo "  Sub-package: {$subName}.zip\n";
     }
 
+    // Ensure package manifest has folder="packages" on <files> element
+    // since sub-packages are stored in a packages/ subdirectory
+    $pkgManifests = glob("{$sourceDir}/pkg_*.xml") ?: [];
+    foreach ($pkgManifests as $pkgXml) {
+        $pkgContent = file_get_contents($pkgXml);
+        if (strpos($pkgContent, '<files>') !== false && strpos($pkgContent, 'folder="packages"') === false) {
+            $pkgContent = str_replace('<files>', '<files folder="packages">', $pkgContent);
+            file_put_contents($pkgXml, $pkgContent);
+            echo "  Fixed: added folder=\"packages\" to " . basename($pkgXml) . "\n";
+        }
+    }
+
     // Copy top-level XML and PHP files into the package root
     $topLevelFiles = array_merge(
         glob("{$sourceDir}/*.xml") ?: [],