diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
index d87d3beac0..0b189f7fa2 100755
--- a/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -1042,12 +1042,18 @@ install_node_line() {
 
     # Resolve the latest v${node_line}.x.x tarball name from the index page
     local index_url="https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v${node_line}.x/"
-    local tarball_name
-    tarball_name=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
-        | grep -oE "node-v${node_line}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.xz" \
-        | head -1)
+    local tarball_name=""
+    # `tar xf` shells out to xz for .tar.xz; minimal Debian/DietPi/WSL images ship tar without it
+    # and the extract dies mid-way ("xz: Cannot exec"). Only pick .tar.xz when xz is present (#11197).
+    if command -v xz >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        tarball_name=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
+            | grep -oE "node-v${node_line}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.xz" \
+            | head -1)
+    else
+        log_info "xz not found — using the .tar.gz Node.js archive"
+    fi
 
-    # Fallback to .tar.gz if .tar.xz not available
+    # Fallback to .tar.gz if .tar.xz not available (or xz is missing)
     if [ -z "$tarball_name" ]; then
         tarball_name=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
             | grep -oE "node-v${node_line}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.gz" \
diff --git a/scripts/lib/node-bootstrap.sh b/scripts/lib/node-bootstrap.sh
index 05aaf3f466..c4ff94a02b 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/node-bootstrap.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/node-bootstrap.sh
@@ -271,10 +271,13 @@ _nb_install_bundled_node() {
     esac
 
     local index_url="https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v${HERMES_NODE_TARGET_MAJOR}.x/"
-    local tarball
-    tarball=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
-        | grep -oE "node-v${HERMES_NODE_TARGET_MAJOR}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.xz" \
-        | head -1)
+    local tarball=""
+    # `tar xf` needs the xz binary for .tar.xz; minimal images ship tar without it (#11197).
+    if command -v xz >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        tarball=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
+            | grep -oE "node-v${HERMES_NODE_TARGET_MAJOR}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.xz" \
+            | head -1)
+    fi
     if [ -z "$tarball" ]; then
         tarball=$(curl -fsSL "$index_url" \
             | grep -oE "node-v${HERMES_NODE_TARGET_MAJOR}\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-${node_os}-${node_arch}\.tar\.gz" \
diff --git a/tests/test_install_sh_node_tarball_without_xz.py b/tests/test_install_sh_node_tarball_without_xz.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..468306acc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_install_sh_node_tarball_without_xz.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+"""Node.js download picks a .tar.gz when the host has no ``xz`` (#11197).
+
+`tar xf node-*.tar.xz` shells out to the xz binary; minimal Debian/DietPi/WSL images ship tar
+without it, so the extract died mid-way and the installer then failed on a missing directory.
+Both tarball selectors (installer and runtime bootstrap) are driven for real against a stubbed
+index page; only the ``xz`` binary's presence differs between the two arms.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import stat
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+INDEX = "node-v26.7.0-linux-x64.tar.xz\nnode-v26.7.0-linux-x64.tar.gz\n"
+
+
+def _function(path: Path, name: str) -> str:
+    match = re.search(rf"^{re.escape(name)}\(\) \{{\n.*?^\}}\n", path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"), re.M | re.S)
+    assert match, f"{name}() not found in {path}"
+    return match.group(0)
+
+
+def _selected_tarball(tmp_path: Path, *, with_xz: bool, script: Path, fn: str, call: str) -> str:
+    """Run the real tarball-selection function with curl stubbed to serve INDEX; the download step
+    records the chosen name and aborts, so nothing is extracted."""
+    bin_dir = tmp_path / ("bin-xz" if with_xz else "bin-noxz")
+    bin_dir.mkdir()
+    curl = bin_dir / "curl"
+    curl.write_text("#!/bin/sh\nfor a in \"$@\"; do [ \"$a\" = -o ] && { echo \"$4\" >> \"$PICKED\"; exit 1; }; done\n"
+                    f"printf '%s' '{INDEX}'\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    curl.chmod(curl.stat().st_mode | stat.S_IXUSR)
+    # PATH holds only this dir: the host's real xz must not leak into the "no xz" arm.
+    for tool in ("grep", "head", "mktemp", "rm", "uname", "sh", "printf"):
+        real = shutil.which(tool)
+        if real:
+            os.symlink(real, bin_dir / tool)
+    if with_xz:
+        (bin_dir / "xz").write_text("#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        (bin_dir / "xz").chmod(0o755)
+    picked = tmp_path / f"picked-{with_xz}-{fn}"
+    harness = ("log_info() { :; }; log_warn() { :; }; _nb_log() { :; }; _nb_warn() { :; }\n"
+               "HERMES_NODE_TARGET_MAJOR=26\n" + _function(script, fn) + call)
+    env = {"PATH": str(bin_dir), "PICKED": str(picked), "HOME": str(tmp_path)}
+    subprocess.run([shutil.which("bash") or "/bin/bash", "-c", harness], env=env, check=False, capture_output=True)
+    return picked.read_text(encoding="utf-8").strip() if picked.exists() else ""
+
+
+@pytest.mark.linux_only
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("script, fn, call", [
+    (REPO_ROOT / "scripts" / "install.sh", "install_node_line", "\ninstall_node_line 26 linux x64\n"),
+    (REPO_ROOT / "scripts" / "lib" / "node-bootstrap.sh", "_nb_install_bundled_node", "\n_nb_install_bundled_node\n"),
+])
+def test_tarball_format_follows_xz_availability(tmp_path: Path, script: Path, fn: str, call: str) -> None:
+    assert _selected_tarball(tmp_path, with_xz=True, script=script, fn=fn, call=call).endswith(".tar.xz")
+    assert _selected_tarball(tmp_path, with_xz=False, script=script, fn=fn, call=call).endswith(".tar.gz")