diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
index 5e2e8a71..4689c812 100755
--- a/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -111,20 +111,8 @@ check_existing_installation() {
                 continue
             fi
 
-            if [[ -n "$path" ]]; then
-                echo -e "${MUTED}Found existing strix at: ${NC}$path"
-
-                if [[ "$path" == *".local/bin"* ]]; then
-                    echo -e "${MUTED}Removing old pipx installation...${NC}"
-                    if command -v pipx >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-                        pipx uninstall strix-agent 2>/dev/null || true
-                    fi
-                    rm -f "$path" 2>/dev/null || true
-                elif [[ -L "$path" || -f "$path" ]]; then
-                    echo -e "${MUTED}Removing old installation...${NC}"
-                    rm -f "$path" 2>/dev/null || true
-                fi
-            fi
+            echo -e "${YELLOW}Found another strix executable at: ${NC}$path"
+            echo -e "${MUTED}Leaving it unchanged; this installer only manages $INSTALL_DIR.${NC}"
         done
     fi
 }
@@ -297,14 +285,7 @@ verify_installation() {
     if [[ "$which_strix" != "$INSTALL_DIR/strix" && "$which_strix" != "$INSTALL_DIR/strix.exe" ]]; then
         if [[ -n "$which_strix" ]]; then
             echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠ Found conflicting strix at: ${NC}$which_strix"
-            echo -e "${MUTED}Attempting to remove...${NC}"
-
-            if rm -f "$which_strix" 2>/dev/null; then
-                echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Removed conflicting installation${NC}"
-            else
-                echo -e "${YELLOW}Could not remove automatically.${NC}"
-                echo -e "${MUTED}Please remove manually: ${NC}rm $which_strix"
-            fi
+            echo -e "${MUTED}Leaving it unchanged. Put $INSTALL_DIR first in PATH to use this installation.${NC}"
         fi
     fi
 
diff --git a/tests/test_install_script.py b/tests/test_install_script.py
index 67ca4843..f95acc22 100644
--- a/tests/test_install_script.py
+++ b/tests/test_install_script.py
@@ -136,6 +136,81 @@ def test_installer_downloads_and_runs_linux_arm64_release(tmp_path: Path) -> Non
     assert installed_result.stdout.strip() == f"strix {RELEASE_VERSION}"
 
 
+def test_installer_leaves_unmanaged_executables_unchanged(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    repository_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+    archive_path = _create_release_archive(tmp_path)
+    mock_bin = _create_mock_commands(tmp_path, machine="aarch64")
+    environment, home_path, _ = _create_installer_environment(
+        tmp_path,
+        archive_path,
+        mock_bin,
+    )
+
+    unmanaged_path = mock_bin / "strix"
+    unmanaged_content = "#!/bin/sh\nprintf 'unmanaged strix\\n'\n"
+    _write_executable(unmanaged_path, unmanaged_content)
+
+    local_bin = home_path / ".local" / "bin"
+    local_bin.mkdir(parents=True)
+    pipx_path = local_bin / "strix"
+    pipx_content = "#!/bin/sh\nprintf 'pipx strix\\n'\n"
+    _write_executable(pipx_path, pipx_content)
+    environment["PATH"] = f"{mock_bin}:{local_bin}:/usr/bin:/bin"
+
+    pipx_log_path = tmp_path / "pipx.log"
+    environment["STRIX_TEST_PIPX_LOG"] = str(pipx_log_path)
+    _write_executable(
+        mock_bin / "pipx",
+        '#!/bin/sh\nprintf \'%s\\n\' "$*" >> "$STRIX_TEST_PIPX_LOG"\n',
+    )
+
+    result = _run_installer(repository_root, environment)
+
+    assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
+    assert unmanaged_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8") == unmanaged_content
+    assert pipx_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8") == pipx_content
+    assert not pipx_log_path.exists()
+    assert result.stdout.count("Found another strix executable at:") == 2
+    assert str(unmanaged_path) in result.stdout
+    assert str(pipx_path) in result.stdout
+    assert (home_path / ".strix/bin/strix").is_file()
+
+
+def test_installer_does_not_remove_conflict_found_during_verification(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    repository_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+    archive_path = _create_release_archive(tmp_path)
+    mock_bin = _create_mock_commands(tmp_path, machine="aarch64")
+    environment, home_path, _ = _create_installer_environment(
+        tmp_path,
+        archive_path,
+        mock_bin,
+    )
+
+    unmanaged_path = tmp_path / "other-bin" / "strix"
+    unmanaged_path.parent.mkdir()
+    unmanaged_content = "#!/bin/sh\nprintf 'unmanaged strix\\n'\n"
+    _write_executable(unmanaged_path, unmanaged_content)
+    environment["STRIX_TEST_UNMANAGED_PATH"] = str(unmanaged_path)
+    _write_executable(
+        mock_bin / "which",
+        """#!/bin/sh
+if [ -x "$HOME/.strix/bin/strix" ]; then
+  printf '%s\\n' "$STRIX_TEST_UNMANAGED_PATH"
+fi
+""",
+    )
+
+    result = _run_installer(repository_root, environment)
+
+    assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
+    assert unmanaged_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8") == unmanaged_content
+    assert "Found conflicting strix at:" in result.stdout
+    assert str(unmanaged_path) in result.stdout
+    assert (home_path / ".strix/bin/strix").is_file()
+
+
 def test_installer_rejects_unsupported_architecture(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     repository_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
     archive_path = _create_release_archive(tmp_path)