diff --git a/src/BUILD b/src/BUILD
index b0365a1a18..342fd23738 100644
--- a/src/BUILD
+++ b/src/BUILD
@@ -2082,7 +2082,14 @@ cc_binary(
     ] + select({
         "//conditions:default": [],
         "//src:windows" : ["main_windows.hpp", "main_windows.cpp",],}),
-    linkopts = LINKOPTS_ADJUSTED,
+    linkopts = LINKOPTS_ADJUSTED + select({
+        "//conditions:default": [],
+        "//src:windows" : [
+            "runtimeobject.lib",
+            "oleaut32.lib",
+            "ole32.lib",
+        ],
+    }),
     copts = COMMON_STATIC_LIBS_COPTS,
     deps = [
         "//src:ovms_lib",
diff --git a/src/main_windows.cpp b/src/main_windows.cpp
index bee821292d..fe1925693f 100644
--- a/src/main_windows.cpp
+++ b/src/main_windows.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
 #include <chrono>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
@@ -31,6 +32,14 @@
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <tchar.h>
 #include <errors.h>
+#pragma warning(push)
+#pragma warning(disable : 28252 28253 6101)
+#include <winrt/base.h>
+#include <winrt/Windows.ApplicationModel.h>
+#include <winrt/Windows.Foundation.Collections.h>
+#include <winrt/Windows.Management.Deployment.h>
+#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
+#pragma warning(pop)
 
 #include "main_windows.hpp"
 #include "module_names.hpp"
@@ -107,8 +116,49 @@ inline std::wstring stringToWstring(const std::string& str, UINT codePage = CP_T
     return str2;
 }
 
+// Short-term patch: look up the Tokenizers package directly by its known package name via
+// PackageManager, regardless of whether/how it is declared as a dependency in any manifest.
+// This avoids relying on Package::Current().Dependencies() at all.
+static bool findInstalledPackageByName(const std::wstring& packageName, std::wstring& outInstalledPath) {
+    winrt::Windows::Management::Deployment::PackageManager packageManager;
+    for (const winrt::Windows::ApplicationModel::Package& pkg : packageManager.FindPackagesForUser(L"")) {
+        if (std::wstring(pkg.Id().Name().c_str()) == packageName) {
+            outInstalledPath = std::wstring(pkg.InstalledLocation().Path().c_str());
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+static void setOpenvinoTokenizersPathFromMsixDependencies() {
+    constexpr wchar_t PACKAGE_NAME[] = L"Intel.OpenVINO.Tokenizers.2026.3.0.0";
+    constexpr wchar_t TOKENIZERS_RELATIVE_PATH[] = L"\\runtime\\bin\\intel64\\Release\\openvino_tokenizers.dll";
+
+    try {
+        std::wstring installedPath;
+        if (findInstalledPackageByName(PACKAGE_NAME, installedPath)) {
+            const std::wstring dllPath = installedPath + TOKENIZERS_RELATIVE_PATH;
+            SetEnvironmentVariableW(L"OPENVINO_TOKENIZERS_PATH_GENAI", dllPath.c_str());
+            _wputenv_s(L"OPENVINO_TOKENIZERS_PATH_GENAI", dllPath.c_str());
+            DEBUG_LOG("OPENVINO_TOKENIZERS_PATH_GENAI initialized from installed package lookup: " << wstringToString(dllPath));
+            return;
+        }
+        DEBUG_LOG("Tokenizers MSIX package '" << wstringToString(std::wstring(PACKAGE_NAME)) << "' not found for current user. Keeping default behavior.");
+    } catch (const winrt::hresult_error& ex) {
+        // Not all deployments are packaged; keep default behavior when package metadata is unavailable.
+        std::ostringstream errMsg;
+        errMsg << "Failed to resolve Tokenizers MSIX dependency. HRESULT: 0x" << std::hex << std::uppercase
+               << static_cast<unsigned int>(ex.code().value) << ", message: " << winrt::to_string(ex.message());
+        DEBUG_LOG(errMsg.str());
+    }
+}
+
 int main_windows(int argc, char** argv) {
     DEBUG_LOG("Windows Main - Entry");
+    // Multi-threaded apartment: OVMS is a server process with no STA/message-loop dependency.
+    winrt::init_apartment(winrt::apartment_type::multi_threaded);
+    setOpenvinoTokenizersPathFromMsixDependencies();
+
     OvmsWindowsServiceManager::instance().ovmsParams.argc = argc;
     OvmsWindowsServiceManager::instance().ovmsParams.argv = argv;
     OvmsWindowsServiceManager::logParameters(argc, argv, "OVMS Main Argument");