diff --git a/src/commands/self_update.rs b/src/commands/self_update.rs
index dca6279..80eb1e7 100644
--- a/src/commands/self_update.rs
+++ b/src/commands/self_update.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use super::*;
 use crate::download;
 use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Result};
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 pub fn run(app: &App, check: bool, to: Option<&Path>) -> Result<i32> {
     let Some(repo) = app.config.settings.self_update_repo.clone() else {
@@ -51,19 +51,26 @@ pub fn run(app: &App, check: bool, to: Option<&Path>) -> Result<i32> {
         let current_exe = std::env::current_exe()?;
         let dest = to.map(|p| p.to_path_buf()).unwrap_or_else(|| current_exe.clone());
         let tmpdir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
-        let tmp = tmpdir.path().join("am.new");
+        let tmp = tmpdir.path().join("am.dl");
         download::download(&picked.url, &tmp, None, true)?;
+        // Release assets are archives (zip on Windows, tar.gz elsewhere):
+        // unpack them and locate the binary inside.
+        let staged = if download::extract_archive(&tmp, tmpdir.path())? {
+            find_binary(tmpdir.path())?
+        } else {
+            tmp
+        };
         if dest == current_exe && cfg!(windows) {
             // The running executable is locked on Windows.
             let new_path = current_exe.with_extension("exe.new");
-            std::fs::copy(&tmp, &new_path)
+            std::fs::copy(&staged, &new_path)
                 .with_context(|| format!("cannot write {}", new_path.display()))?;
             app.log.success(&format!(
                 "downloaded {tag} to {} — replace the running binary manually",
                 new_path.display()
             ));
         } else {
-            std::fs::copy(&tmp, &dest)
+            std::fs::copy(&staged, &dest)
                 .with_context(|| format!("cannot write {}", dest.display()))?;
             #[cfg(unix)]
             {
@@ -79,3 +86,66 @@ pub fn run(app: &App, check: bool, to: Option<&Path>) -> Result<i32> {
         Ok(0)
     }
 }
+
+/// Locate the binary inside an unpacked release archive.
+fn find_binary(dir: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let mut entries: Vec<PathBuf> = Vec::new();
+    collect_files(dir, &mut entries);
+    if entries.is_empty() {
+        bail!("no binary found in the release archive");
+    }
+    // Prefer a file named exactly `am` / `am.exe`, otherwise the largest
+    // file (the archive only contains the binary).
+    entries.sort_by_key(|p| {
+        let name = p
+            .file_name()
+            .map(|n| n.to_string_lossy().to_lowercase())
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+        let prefer = name == "am" || name == "am.exe" || name.ends_with(".exe");
+        (
+            !prefer,
+            std::cmp::Reverse(std::fs::metadata(p).map(|m| m.len()).unwrap_or(0)),
+        )
+    });
+    Ok(entries.remove(0))
+}
+
+fn collect_files(dir: &Path, out: &mut Vec<PathBuf>) {
+    if let Ok(rd) = std::fs::read_dir(dir) {
+        for e in rd.flatten() {
+            let p = e.path();
+            if p.is_dir() {
+                collect_files(&p, out);
+            } else {
+                out.push(p);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn find_binary_prefers_am_exe_in_zip_layout() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("README.md"), "docs").unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("am-windows-x86_64.exe"), b"exe").unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("am-linux-x86_64"), b"elf").unwrap();
+        let found = find_binary(dir.path()).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            found.file_name().unwrap().to_str().unwrap(),
+            "am-windows-x86_64.exe"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn find_binary_falls_back_to_largest_file() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("am"), b"small").unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("data.bin"), vec![0u8; 4096]).unwrap();
+        let found = find_binary(dir.path()).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(found.file_name().unwrap().to_str().unwrap(), "am");
+    }
+}