diff --git a/tests/e2e/npx/npx-test-utils.ts b/tests/e2e/npx/npx-test-utils.ts
index fcbad09dc..1a01cc067 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/npx/npx-test-utils.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/npx/npx-test-utils.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Helper functions for testing MCP debugger through npx distribution (npm pack)
  */
 
-import { exec } from 'child_process';
+import { exec, execFile } from 'child_process';
 import { promisify } from 'util';
 import path from 'path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { appendFile, mkdir, writeFile } from 'fs/promises';
 import { createHash } from 'crypto';
 
 const execAsync = promisify(exec);
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
 const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
 const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename);
@@ -442,8 +443,12 @@ export async function verifyPackageContents(tarballPath: string): Promise<{
   console.log('[NPX Test] Verifying package contents...');
   
   try {
-    // List tarball contents
-    const { stdout } = await execAsync(`tar -tzf "${tarballPath}"`);
+    // A relative archive argument keeps GNU tar from treating a Windows drive
+    // prefix as a remote host (#752); execFile preserves literal filenames.
+    const absoluteTarballPath = path.resolve(tarballPath);
+    const { stdout } = await execFileAsync('tar', ['-tzf', `./${path.basename(absoluteTarballPath)}`], {
+      cwd: path.dirname(absoluteTarballPath)
+    });
     const contents = stdout.toLowerCase();
     const entries = new Set(stdout.split('\n').map((line) => line.trim()).filter(Boolean));
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/cli/package-contents.test.ts b/tests/integration/cli/package-contents.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d7a8f2cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/cli/package-contents.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, stat, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { promisify } from 'node:util';
+import { verifyPackageContents } from '../../e2e/npx/npx-test-utils.js';
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+
+describe('package contents verification (issue #752)', () => {
+  let tempDir: string;
+  let tarballPath: string;
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    tempDir = await mkdtemp(path.join(tmpdir(), 'npx package contents '));
+    const entries = [
+      'package/dist/cli.mjs',
+      'package/dist/vendor/js-debug/vsDebugServer.cjs',
+      'package/dist/vendor/debugpy/__init__.py',
+      'package/dist/mock.js',
+      'package/skills/debugging/SKILL.md',
+      'package/pi.mcp.json',
+    ];
+    for (const entry of entries) {
+      const filePath = path.join(tempDir, entry);
+      await mkdir(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(filePath, 'fixture\n');
+    }
+
+    // Spaces and a literal dollar sign must survive without shell expansion.
+    const tarballName = 'package $contents.tgz';
+    tarballPath = path.join(tempDir, tarballName);
+    await execFileAsync('tar', ['-czf', `./${tarballName}`, 'package'], { cwd: tempDir });
+  });
+
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    if (tempDir) await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it.each(['absolute', 'relative'] as const)('reads a real archive using a path that is %s', async (kind) => {
+    const archivePath = kind === 'absolute'
+      ? tarballPath
+      : path.relative(process.cwd(), tarballPath);
+
+    expect(await verifyPackageContents(archivePath)).toEqual({
+      hasJavaScript: true,
+      hasPython: true,
+      hasMock: true,
+      hasSkill: true,
+      hasPiManifest: true,
+      tarballSize: (await stat(tarballPath)).size,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('rejects a missing archive', async () => {
+    await expect(verifyPackageContents(path.join(tempDir, 'missing.tgz'))).rejects.toThrow();
+  });
+});