diff --git a/src/cli/commands/self-update.test.ts b/src/cli/commands/self-update.test.ts
index 1b55e59..0f50ab7 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/self-update.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/commands/self-update.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import { Result as R } from "../../shared/result.ts";
 import {
 	detectBinaryName,
+	interpretXattrRemoval,
 	type QuarantineRemover,
 	tryRemoveMacosQuarantine,
 	WINDOWS_UNSUPPORTED_MESSAGE,
@@ -68,6 +69,44 @@ describe("detectBinaryName", () => {
 	});
 });
 
+describe("interpretXattrRemoval", () => {
+	test("exit 0 → ok", () => {
+		expect(R.isOk(interpretXattrRemoval(0, ""))).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	test("missing attribute (No such xattr) → ok, not a failure", () => {
+		// The binary is fetched over HTTP, so macOS never stamps it with the
+		// quarantine attribute. `xattr -d` then exits non-zero with this message,
+		// which must NOT surface as a warning.
+		const stderr = "xattr: /Users/me/.local/bin/wt: No such xattr: com.apple.quarantine";
+		expect(R.isOk(interpretXattrRemoval(1, stderr))).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	test("missing attribute (ENOATTR) → ok", () => {
+		expect(R.isOk(interpretXattrRemoval(1, "xattr: [Errno 93] ENOATTR"))).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	test("missing attribute (Attribute not found) → ok", () => {
+		expect(R.isOk(interpretXattrRemoval(1, "Attribute not found"))).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	test("genuine failure → err with stderr message", () => {
+		const result = interpretXattrRemoval(1, "xattr: command not found");
+		expect(R.isErr(result)).toBe(true);
+		if (R.isErr(result)) {
+			expect(result.error.message).toBe("xattr: command not found");
+		}
+	});
+
+	test("non-zero exit with empty stderr → err mentions the exit code", () => {
+		const result = interpretXattrRemoval(2, "");
+		expect(R.isErr(result)).toBe(true);
+		if (R.isErr(result)) {
+			expect(result.error.message).toBe("xattr exited with code 2");
+		}
+	});
+});
+
 describe("tryRemoveMacosQuarantine", () => {
 	test("remover ok → no warning", () => {
 		const warnings: string[] = [];
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/self-update.ts b/src/cli/commands/self-update.ts
index a398a06..14cf6bb 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/self-update.ts
+++ b/src/cli/commands/self-update.ts
@@ -32,20 +32,41 @@ export function detectBinaryName(platform: NodeJS.Platform, arch: string): Resul
 
 /**
  * Best-effort removal of the macOS quarantine attribute from a freshly
- * downloaded binary. Failures (missing `xattr`, non-zero exit, or no
- * attribute present) must NOT fail the self-update — they only surface
- * as a warning so the user knows why the binary might be Gatekeeper-blocked.
+ * downloaded binary. Real failures (missing `xattr`, unexpected non-zero exit)
+ * must NOT fail the self-update — they only surface as a warning so the user
+ * knows why the binary might be Gatekeeper-blocked.
  */
 export type QuarantineRemover = (targetPath: string) => Result<void>;
 
+/**
+ * Interpret the outcome of `xattr -d com.apple.quarantine`.
+ *
+ * A missing attribute is NOT a failure: the binary is fetched over HTTP, so
+ * macOS never stamps it with `com.apple.quarantine` in the first place and
+ * Gatekeeper has nothing to block. `xattr` reports this with a non-zero exit
+ * and a "No such xattr" message, which we treat as success to avoid a
+ * misleading warning that tells the user to re-run a command that would fail
+ * the same way.
+ */
+export function interpretXattrRemoval(exitCode: number, stderr: string): Result<void> {
+	if (exitCode === 0) {
+		return R.ok(undefined);
+	}
+	const normalized = stderr.toLowerCase();
+	if (
+		normalized.includes("no such xattr") ||
+		normalized.includes("attribute not found") ||
+		normalized.includes("enoattr")
+	) {
+		return R.ok(undefined);
+	}
+	return R.err(new Error(stderr.trim() || `xattr exited with code ${exitCode}`));
+}
+
 export const defaultQuarantineRemover: QuarantineRemover = (targetPath) => {
 	try {
 		const proc = Bun.spawnSync(["xattr", "-d", "com.apple.quarantine", targetPath]);
-		if (proc.exitCode !== 0) {
-			const stderr = proc.stderr?.toString().trim();
-			return R.err(new Error(stderr || `xattr exited with code ${proc.exitCode}`));
-		}
-		return R.ok(undefined);
+		return interpretXattrRemoval(proc.exitCode, proc.stderr?.toString() ?? "");
 	} catch (err) {
 		return R.err(err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err)));
 	}