diff --git a/src/indexer/bns-indexer.js b/src/indexer/bns-indexer.js
index 20bb25c..4d4529e 100644
--- a/src/indexer/bns-indexer.js
+++ b/src/indexer/bns-indexer.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import http from "node:http";
 import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 import { readFileSync, writeFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import { WebSocketServer } from "ws";
 
 // ---- config (env, with sane chipnet defaults) ----
@@ -240,6 +241,8 @@ async function main() {
 }
 
 // Only run the daemon when invoked directly (imports for tests stay side-effect free).
-if (import.meta.url === `file://${process.argv[1]?.replace(/\\/g, "/")}`) {
+// pathToFileURL is cross-platform: on Windows argv[1]="D:\..." yields file:///D:/...
+// matching import.meta.url (the old `file://`+path check only matched on POSIX).
+if (import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1] || "").href) {
   main().catch((e) => { console.error("fatal:", e.message); process.exit(1); });
 }