diff --git a/core/Cargo.lock b/core/Cargo.lock
index 37fa3cf3..1ef9fcda 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.lock
+++ b/core/Cargo.lock
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ checksum = "a23eb6b1614318a8071c9b2521f36b424b2c83db5eb3a0fead4a6c0809af6e61"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.7.39-alpha"
+version = "1.7.40-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "archipelago-container",
diff --git a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
index 4e3ead58..85dea42d 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.7.39-alpha"
+version = "1.7.40-alpha"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS - Native backend"
 authors = ["Archipelago Team"]
diff --git a/neode-ui/package.json b/neode-ui/package.json
index 0660c435..483ec639 100644
--- a/neode-ui/package.json
+++ b/neode-ui/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "neode-ui",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "1.7.39-alpha",
+  "version": "1.7.40-alpha",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "./start-dev.sh",
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue b/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
index 82921281..90993946 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
@@ -180,6 +180,16 @@ init()
               </button>
             </div>
             <div class="overflow-y-auto flex-1 min-h-0 space-y-6 pr-1">
+              <!-- v1.7.40-alpha -->
+              <div>
+                <div class="flex items-center gap-2 mb-3">
+                  <span class="text-xs font-mono px-2 py-0.5 rounded bg-orange-500/20 text-orange-300">v1.7.40-alpha</span>
+                  <span class="text-xs text-white/40">Apr 22, 2026</span>
+                </div>
+                <div class="space-y-3 text-sm text-white/80 pl-3 border-l border-white/10">
+                  <p>Proper fix for the 500 / Internal Server Error after update. The v1.7.38 and v1.7.39 frontend archives had the wrong permissions baked into the archive itself — the tarball's root directory entry was private, so every node that extracted it ended up with a web UI directory nginx couldn't read. v1.7.40 packages the archive with correct world-readable permissions from the start, so no node ever sees the 500 again.</p>
+                </div>
+              </div>
               <!-- v1.7.39-alpha -->
               <div>
                 <div class="flex items-center gap-2 mb-3">
diff --git a/scripts/create-release-manifest.sh b/scripts/create-release-manifest.sh
index 5281261d..6327d3e7 100755
--- a/scripts/create-release-manifest.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-release-manifest.sh
@@ -87,8 +87,39 @@ if [ -z "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE" ]; then
             echo "  Including AIUI from demo/aiui/"
             cp -r "$PROJECT_ROOT/demo/aiui" "$STAGING_DIR/aiui"
         fi
+        # Force world-readable perms on every entry BEFORE tar, so the
+        # archive's internal mode bits are 755/644 regardless of what
+        # the staging dir's umask gave us. Without this, mktemp -d
+        # creates the staging dir at 700, that 700 gets baked into the
+        # tarball's root `./` entry, and every node that extracts the
+        # archive ends up with /opt/archipelago/web-ui at 700 — which
+        # causes nginx (www-data) to return 500 "permission denied" on
+        # every page. Bit us on the v1.7.38 + v1.7.39 rollouts.
+        chmod 755 "$STAGING_DIR"
+        find "$STAGING_DIR" -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +
+        find "$STAGING_DIR" -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +
         echo "Creating frontend archive $FRONTEND_ARCHIVE..."
-        tar -czf "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE" -C "$STAGING_DIR" .
+        # --mode is a belt-and-braces in case a file's on-disk perms
+        # drift again; forces 755 dir / 644 file in the archive too.
+        tar --owner=0 --group=0 \
+            --mode='u=rwX,go=rX' \
+            -czf "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE" \
+            -C "$STAGING_DIR" .
+        # Verify the archive root entry is world-readable before we
+        # declare success — catches regressions in tar-flag handling
+        # (BSD tar, busybox tar) that might silently drop --mode.
+        root_mode=$(tar tvzf "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
+        case "$root_mode" in
+            drwxr-xr-x|drwxr-x*x*)
+                echo "  Tarball root perms OK: $root_mode"
+                ;;
+            *)
+                echo "  ERROR: tarball root perms are $root_mode (want drwxr-xr-x) — aborting release"
+                rm -f "$FRONTEND_ARCHIVE"
+                rm -rf "$STAGING_DIR"
+                exit 1
+                ;;
+        esac
         rm -rf "$STAGING_DIR"
     fi
 fi