diff --git a/libs/platform/src/node-finder.ts b/libs/platform/src/node-finder.ts
index cfe8d7d9..ed2cbb03 100644
--- a/libs/platform/src/node-finder.ts
+++ b/libs/platform/src/node-finder.ts
@@ -10,13 +10,12 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import os from 'os';
 
-/**
- * Pattern to match version directories (e.g., "v18.17.0", "18.17.0", "v18")
- * Intentionally permissive to match pre-release versions (v18.17.0-beta, v18.17.0-rc1)
- * since localeCompare with numeric:true handles sorting correctly
- */
+/** Pattern to match version directories (e.g., "v18.17.0", "18.17.0", "v18") */
 const VERSION_DIR_PATTERN = /^v?\d+/;
 
+/** Pattern to identify pre-release versions (beta, rc, alpha, nightly, canary) */
+const PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN = /-(beta|rc|alpha|nightly|canary|dev|pre)/i;
+
 /** Result of finding Node.js executable */
 export interface NodeFinderResult {
   /** Path to the Node.js executable */
@@ -65,11 +64,8 @@ function isExecutable(filePath: string): boolean {
 
 /**
  * Find Node.js executable from version manager directories (NVM, fnm)
- * Uses semantic version sorting to prefer the latest version
- *
- * Note: Version sorting uses localeCompare with numeric:true which handles most cases
- * correctly (e.g., v18.17.0 > v18.9.0) but may not perfectly sort pre-release versions
- * (e.g., v20.0.0-beta vs v19.9.9). This is acceptable as we prefer the latest stable.
+ * Uses semantic version sorting to prefer the latest stable version
+ * Pre-release versions (beta, rc, alpha) are deprioritized but used as fallback
  */
 function findNodeFromVersionManager(
   basePath: string,
@@ -78,13 +74,18 @@ function findNodeFromVersionManager(
   if (!fs.existsSync(basePath)) return null;
 
   try {
-    const versions = fs
+    const allVersions = fs
       .readdirSync(basePath)
       .filter((v) => VERSION_DIR_PATTERN.test(v))
       // Semantic version sort - newest first using localeCompare with numeric option
       .sort((a, b) => b.localeCompare(a, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base' }));
 
-    for (const version of versions) {
+    // Separate stable and pre-release versions, preferring stable
+    const stableVersions = allVersions.filter((v) => !PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(v));
+    const preReleaseVersions = allVersions.filter((v) => PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(v));
+
+    // Try stable versions first, then fall back to pre-release
+    for (const version of [...stableVersions, ...preReleaseVersions]) {
       const nodePath = path.join(basePath, version, binSubpath);
       if (isExecutable(nodePath)) {
         return nodePath;
diff --git a/libs/platform/tests/node-finder.test.ts b/libs/platform/tests/node-finder.test.ts
index 62976446..6956884b 100644
--- a/libs/platform/tests/node-finder.test.ts
+++ b/libs/platform/tests/node-finder.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,59 @@ import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs';
 
 describe('node-finder', () => {
+  describe('version sorting and pre-release filtering', () => {
+    // Test the PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN logic indirectly
+    const PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN = /-(beta|rc|alpha|nightly|canary|dev|pre)/i;
+
+    it('should identify pre-release versions correctly', () => {
+      const preReleaseVersions = [
+        'v20.0.0-beta',
+        'v18.17.0-rc1',
+        'v19.0.0-alpha',
+        'v21.0.0-nightly',
+        'v20.0.0-canary',
+        'v18.0.0-dev',
+        'v17.0.0-pre',
+      ];
+
+      for (const version of preReleaseVersions) {
+        expect(PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(version)).toBe(true);
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('should not match stable versions as pre-release', () => {
+      const stableVersions = ['v18.17.0', 'v20.10.0', 'v16.20.2', '18.17.0', 'v21.0.0'];
+
+      for (const version of stableVersions) {
+        expect(PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(version)).toBe(false);
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('should sort versions with numeric comparison', () => {
+      const versions = ['v18.9.0', 'v18.17.0', 'v20.0.0', 'v8.0.0'];
+      const sorted = [...versions].sort((a, b) =>
+        b.localeCompare(a, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base' })
+      );
+
+      expect(sorted).toEqual(['v20.0.0', 'v18.17.0', 'v18.9.0', 'v8.0.0']);
+    });
+
+    it('should prefer stable over pre-release when filtering', () => {
+      const allVersions = ['v20.0.0-beta', 'v19.9.9', 'v18.17.0', 'v21.0.0-rc1'];
+
+      const stableVersions = allVersions.filter((v) => !PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(v));
+      const preReleaseVersions = allVersions.filter((v) => PRE_RELEASE_PATTERN.test(v));
+      const prioritized = [...stableVersions, ...preReleaseVersions];
+
+      // Stable versions should come first
+      expect(prioritized[0]).toBe('v19.9.9');
+      expect(prioritized[1]).toBe('v18.17.0');
+      // Pre-release versions should come after
+      expect(prioritized[2]).toBe('v20.0.0-beta');
+      expect(prioritized[3]).toBe('v21.0.0-rc1');
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('findNodeExecutable', () => {
     it("should return 'node' with fallback source when skipSearch is true", () => {
       const result = findNodeExecutable({ skipSearch: true });