diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/app/scriptengine/PerlLanguageProvider.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/app/scriptengine/PerlLanguageProvider.java
index 82fde36f4..d198f8bec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/app/scriptengine/PerlLanguageProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/app/scriptengine/PerlLanguageProvider.java
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ public static RuntimeList executePerlCode(CompilerOptions compilerOptions,
         );
 
         if (!globalInitialized) {
-            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
             globalInitialized = true;
+            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
         }
 
         if (CompilerOptions.DEBUG_ENABLED) ctx.logDebug("parse code: " + compilerOptions.code);
@@ -306,8 +306,8 @@ public static RuntimeList executePerlAST(Node ast,
         );
 
         if (!globalInitialized) {
-            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
             globalInitialized = true;
+            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
         }
 
         if (CompilerOptions.DEBUG_ENABLED) ctx.logDebug("Using provided AST");
@@ -600,8 +600,8 @@ public static Object compilePerlCode(CompilerOptions compilerOptions) throws Exc
         );
 
         if (!globalInitialized) {
-            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
             globalInitialized = true;
+            GlobalContext.initializeGlobals(compilerOptions);
         }
 
         // Tokenize
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
index e910d1012..408428e8e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public final class Configuration {
      * Automatically populated by Gradle/Maven during build.
      * DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY - this value is replaced at build time.
      */
-    public static final String gitCommitId = "c92620f4d";
+    public static final String gitCommitId = "4b2bcf8dd";
 
     /**
      * Git commit date of the build (ISO format: YYYY-MM-DD).
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public final class Configuration {
      * Parsed by App::perlbrew and other tools via: perl -V | grep "Compiled at"
      * DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY - this value is replaced at build time.
      */
-    public static final String buildTimestamp = "Apr 20 2026 15:59:13";
+    public static final String buildTimestamp = "Apr 20 2026 16:15:32";
 
     // Prevent instantiation
     private Configuration() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/GlobalContext.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/GlobalContext.java
index f25e674a2..5217bb584 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/GlobalContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/GlobalContext.java
@@ -219,6 +219,14 @@ public static void initializeGlobals(CompilerOptions compilerOptions) {
         }
         inc.add(new RuntimeScalar(JAR_PERLLIB));    // internal src/main/perl/lib (lowest priority)
 
+        // Honor PERL_USE_UNSAFE_INC=1 (required by CPAN.pm / Module::Install-based
+        // Makefile.PL scripts that expect `.` in @INC). Perl 5.26 removed `.` from
+        // @INC by default, but CPAN tooling sets PERL_USE_UNSAFE_INC=1 to restore it.
+        String unsafeInc = env.getOrDefault("PERL_USE_UNSAFE_INC", new RuntimeScalar("")).toString();
+        if (!unsafeInc.isEmpty() && !unsafeInc.equals("0")) {
+            inc.add(new RuntimeScalar("."));
+        }
+
         // Initialize %INC
         GlobalVariable.getGlobalHash("main::INC");