diff --git a/life-church/playbooks/thinkcenter-obs.yml b/life-church/playbooks/thinkcenter-obs.yml
index bba4c64..50d8ac7 100644
--- a/life-church/playbooks/thinkcenter-obs.yml
+++ b/life-church/playbooks/thinkcenter-obs.yml
@@ -141,16 +141,24 @@
       register: vcam_load
       failed_when: false
 
-    - name: "[verify] OBS binary present + version"
-      ansible.builtin.command: obs --version
-      register: obs_ver
+    - name: "[verify] Query obs-studio package status (dpkg, not the GUI binary)"
+      ansible.builtin.command: dpkg-query -W -f='${Status} ${Version}' obs-studio
+      register: obs_pkg
+      changed_when: false
+      failed_when: false
+
+    - name: "[verify] obs binary present on PATH"
+      ansible.builtin.command: which obs
+      register: obs_bin
       changed_when: false
       failed_when: false
 
     - name: "[verify] Assert OBS installed"
       ansible.builtin.assert:
-        that: "'obs-studio' in (obs_install.stdout | default('')) or obs_ver.rc == 0 or ('OBS' in (obs_ver.stdout | default('')) | string)"
-        fail_msg: "OBS Studio does not appear to be installed."
+        that:
+          - "'install ok installed' in (obs_pkg.stdout | default(''))"
+          - obs_bin.rc == 0
+        fail_msg: "OBS Studio not installed. pkg='{{ obs_pkg.stdout | default('') }}', bin rc={{ obs_bin.rc }}"
         success_msg: "OBS Studio installed."
 
     - name: "[report] OBS summary"
@@ -158,6 +166,6 @@
         msg:
           - "===== thinkcenter OBS Studio ====="
           - "packages changed this run : {{ obs_install.changed }}"
-          - "OBS version               : {{ obs_ver.stdout | default('(query failed — check after login)') | trim }}"
+          - "OBS package               : {{ obs_pkg.stdout | default('n/a') | trim }}"
           - "v4l2loopback module loaded: {{ 'yes' if vcam_load.rc | default(1) == 0 else 'not yet (loads on Start Virtual Camera / reboot)' }}"
           - "NOTE: on Mint X11 use XSHM/XComposite capture sources; PipeWire capture is for Wayland."