diff --git a/java_codebase_rag/pipeline.py b/java_codebase_rag/pipeline.py
index 16cd6b5b..f1d34270 100644
--- a/java_codebase_rag/pipeline.py
+++ b/java_codebase_rag/pipeline.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
+import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import threading
@@ -19,7 +20,13 @@ def bundle_dir() -> Path:
 
 
 def cocoindex_bin() -> Path:
-    return Path(sys.executable).parent / "cocoindex"
+    candidate = Path(sys.executable).parent / "cocoindex"
+    if candidate.is_file():
+        return candidate
+    found = shutil.which("cocoindex")
+    if found:
+        return Path(found)
+    return candidate
 
 
 class _LineFilter:
@@ -110,7 +117,7 @@ def run_cocoindex_update(
             args=[str(exe)],
             returncode=127,
             stdout="",
-            stderr=f"cocoindex not found next to Python: {exe}",
+            stderr=f"cocoindex not found: {exe}",
         )
     bd = bundle_dir()
     flow = bd / "java_index_flow_lancedb.py"
@@ -172,7 +179,7 @@ def run_cocoindex_drop(env: dict[str, str], *, quiet: bool) -> subprocess.Comple
             args=[str(exe)],
             returncode=127,
             stdout="",
-            stderr=f"cocoindex not found next to Python: {exe}",
+            stderr=f"cocoindex not found: {exe}",
         )
     bd = bundle_dir()
     cmd = [str(exe), "drop", COCOINDEX_TARGET, "-f"]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 60f96b72..2cf7ce8e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "java-codebase-rag"
-version = "0.3.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 description = "MCP server for semantic + structural search over Java codebases"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
diff --git a/tests/test_java_codebase_rag_cli.py b/tests/test_java_codebase_rag_cli.py
index 892fa77e..1d67cb77 100644
--- a/tests/test_java_codebase_rag_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_java_codebase_rag_cli.py
@@ -784,7 +784,7 @@ def fake_coco(*_a: object, **_k: object) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
             args=["/nonexistent/cocoindex"],
             returncode=127,
             stdout="",
-            stderr="cocoindex not found next to Python",
+            stderr="cocoindex not found",
         )
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(cli_mod, "run_cocoindex_update", fake_coco)