diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fd683626..af51cb96 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v1.7.63-alpha (2026-05-18)
+
+- Release automation now rebuilds the Rust backend after bumping the version and before hashing release artifacts, preventing OTA manifests from pointing at a stale backend binary.
+- This corrected release carries the Nginx Proxy Manager stale-port repair in an updated backend binary, so nodes running `1.7.61-alpha` can actually receive and execute the fix.
+- Validation confirmed the previously published `v1.7.62-alpha` backend artifact still contained `1.7.61-alpha`, explaining why nodes did not advance after applying that update.
+
 ## v1.7.62-alpha (2026-05-18)
 
 - Nginx Proxy Manager start and restart now repair stale Podman containers that still publish the admin UI on host port `81`, which conflicts with host nginx on updated nodes.
diff --git a/scripts/create-release.sh b/scripts/create-release.sh
index 86ab0f7f..0d87dc79 100755
--- a/scripts/create-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-release.sh
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
             echo "Steps performed:"
             echo "  1. Validate version format (SemVer)"
             echo "  2. Bump version in Cargo.toml and package.json"
-            echo "  3. Build frontend"
-            echo "  4. Generate changelog from git log"
-            echo "  5. Create release manifest"
-            echo "  6. Commit version bump"
-            echo "  7. Create git tag v{VERSION}"
+            echo "  3. Build backend"
+            echo "  4. Build frontend"
+            echo "  5. Generate changelog from git log"
+            echo "  6. Create release manifest"
+            echo "  7. Commit version bump"
+            echo "  8. Create git tag v{VERSION}"
             echo ""
             echo "Options:"
             echo "  --dry-run    Show what would be done without making changes"
@@ -95,11 +96,12 @@ if $DRY_RUN; then
     echo "[DRY RUN] Would perform the following:"
     echo "  1. Update core/archipelago/Cargo.toml version to $VERSION"
     echo "  2. Update neode-ui/package.json version to $VERSION"
-    echo "  3. Build frontend (npm run build)"
-    echo "  4. Generate changelog from git log since v${CURRENT_CARGO_VERSION}"
-    echo "  5. Create release manifest"
-    echo "  6. Commit: 'chore: release v${VERSION}'"
-    echo "  7. Tag: v${VERSION}"
+    echo "  3. Build backend (cargo build --release -p archipelago)"
+    echo "  4. Build frontend (npm run build)"
+    echo "  5. Generate changelog from git log since v${CURRENT_CARGO_VERSION}"
+    echo "  6. Create release manifest"
+    echo "  7. Commit: 'chore: release v${VERSION}'"
+    echo "  8. Tag: v${VERSION}"
     echo ""
     echo "After this script, you would:"
     echo "  - Push: git push && git push --tags"
@@ -123,12 +125,17 @@ cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/neode-ui"
 npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version --allow-same-version 2>/dev/null || true
 cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
 
-echo "[3/7] Building frontend..."
+echo "[3/8] Building backend..."
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/core"
+cargo build --release -p archipelago
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+echo "[4/8] Building frontend..."
 cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/neode-ui"
 npm run build 2>&1 | tail -3
 cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
 
-echo "[4/7] Validating curated changelog..."
+echo "[5/8] Validating curated changelog..."
 
 CHANGELOG_FILE="$PROJECT_ROOT/CHANGELOG.md"
 RELEASE_DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
@@ -144,12 +151,12 @@ if [ ! -f "$CHANGELOG_FILE" ] || ! grep -q "^## v${VERSION} (" "$CHANGELOG_FILE"
     exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "[5/7] Creating release manifest..."
+echo "[6/8] Creating release manifest..."
 mkdir -p "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases"
 "$SCRIPT_DIR/create-release-manifest.sh" --version "$VERSION" --date "$RELEASE_DATE" --output "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json" 2>&1 | grep -v "^$"
 cp "$PROJECT_ROOT/releases/manifest.json" "$PROJECT_ROOT/release-manifest.json"
 
-echo "[6/7] Committing version bump..."
+echo "[7/8] Committing version bump..."
 git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" add \
     core/archipelago/Cargo.toml \
     neode-ui/package.json \
@@ -161,7 +168,7 @@ git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" add \
 
 git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" commit -m "chore: release v${VERSION}"
 
-echo "[7/7] Creating git tag..."
+echo "[8/8] Creating git tag..."
 git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" tag -a "v${VERSION}" -m "Release v${VERSION}"
 
 echo ""