diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8c6eb6ce..9afec1e8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@
 
 - Added `os.Root` bindings to the JSVM ([`$os.openRoot`](https://pocketbase.io/jsvm/functions/_os.openRoot.html), [`$os.openInRoot`](https://pocketbase.io/jsvm/functions/_os.openInRoot.html)).
 
-- Various minor UI improvements (updated collections indexes merge UI, enabled seconds in the datepicker, updated helper texts, etc.).
+- Added `osutils.IsProbablyGoRun()` helper to loosely check if the executable was started using `go run`.
 
-- ⚠️ Updated the min package Go version to 1.24.0 and bumped Go dependencies.
+- Various minor UI improvements (updated collections indexes UI, enabled seconds in the datepicker, updated helper texts, etc.).
+
+- ⚠️ Updated the minimum package Go version to 1.24.0 and bumped Go dependencies.
 
 
 ## v0.29.3
diff --git a/apis/installer.go b/apis/installer.go
index b94c599b..72405808 100644
--- a/apis/installer.go
+++ b/apis/installer.go
@@ -88,8 +88,7 @@ func findOrCreateInstallerSuperuser(app core.App) (*core.Record, error) {
 }
 
 func executablePath() string {
-	// most likely ran with go run
-	if strings.HasPrefix(os.Args[0], os.TempDir()) {
+	if osutils.IsProbablyGoRun() {
 		return "go run ."
 	}
 
diff --git a/examples/base/main.go b/examples/base/main.go
index ff03b85b..1ea529b4 100644
--- a/examples/base/main.go
+++ b/examples/base/main.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/apis"
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/plugins/jsvm"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/plugins/migratecmd"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/hook"
+	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/osutils"
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -123,8 +123,7 @@ func main() {
 
 // the default pb_public dir location is relative to the executable
 func defaultPublicDir() string {
-	if strings.HasPrefix(os.Args[0], os.TempDir()) {
-		// most likely ran with go run
+	if osutils.IsProbablyGoRun() {
 		return "./pb_public"
 	}
 
diff --git a/pocketbase.go b/pocketbase.go
index cc083a12..6ca4355a 100644
--- a/pocketbase.go
+++ b/pocketbase.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/hook"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/list"
+	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/osutils"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/routine"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -293,7 +294,7 @@ func (pb *PocketBase) skipBootstrap() bool {
 // note: we are using os.Args[0] and not os.Executable() since it could
 // break existing aliased binaries (eg. the community maintained homebrew package)
 func inspectRuntime() (baseDir string, withGoRun bool) {
-	if strings.HasPrefix(os.Args[0], os.TempDir()) {
+	if osutils.IsProbablyGoRun() {
 		// probably ran with go run
 		withGoRun = true
 		baseDir, _ = os.Getwd()
diff --git a/tools/osutils/cmd.go b/tools/osutils/cmd.go
index d21f8865..5e7ecc33 100644
--- a/tools/osutils/cmd.go
+++ b/tools/osutils/cmd.go
@@ -63,3 +63,17 @@ func YesNoPrompt(message string, fallback bool) bool {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// IsProbablyGoRun loosely checks if the current executable is running
+// as a result of "go run".
+func IsProbablyGoRun() bool {
+	runDirs := []string{os.TempDir(), os.Getenv("GOCACHE")}
+
+	for _, dir := range runDirs {
+		if dir != "" && strings.HasPrefix(os.Args[0], dir) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/tools/osutils/cmd_test.go b/tools/osutils/cmd_test.go
index 38beeab1..8d15012c 100644
--- a/tools/osutils/cmd_test.go
+++ b/tools/osutils/cmd_test.go
@@ -64,3 +64,40 @@ func TestYesNoPrompt(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIsProbablyGoRun(t *testing.T) {
+	scenarios := []struct {
+		arg      string
+		envs     map[string]string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{"", nil, false},
+		{"a/b/c", nil, false},
+		{"/a/b/c", nil, false},
+		{"/a/b/c", map[string]string{"GOCACHE": "/b/"}, false},
+		{"/a/b/c", map[string]string{"GOCACHE": "/a/"}, true},
+		{os.TempDir() + "/a/b/c", nil, true},
+	}
+
+	originalArgs := os.Args
+	defer func() {
+		os.Args = originalArgs
+	}()
+
+	for _, s := range scenarios {
+		t.Run(s.arg, func(t *testing.T) {
+			os.Args = []string{s.arg}
+
+			for k, v := range s.envs {
+				defer os.Setenv(k, os.Getenv(k))
+				os.Setenv(k, v)
+			}
+
+			result := osutils.IsProbablyGoRun()
+
+			if result != s.expected {
+				t.Fatalf("Expected %v, got %v", s.expected, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}