diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0246fe2..07f7992 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ All notable changes to kage are recorded here. The format follows
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.3.9] - 2026-07-08
+
+### Fixed
+
+- The Windows build no longer embeds the leakless watchdog binary that Windows Defender flags as `Trojan:Win32/Kepavll!rfn`, which made a fresh `scoop install` fail with a virus warning on `leakless.exe` ([#68](https://github.com/tamnd/kage/issues/68)).
+  go-rod's launcher imports [leakless](https://github.com/ysmood/leakless), which base64/gzip-embeds a prebuilt helper for every platform and links the Windows one into `kage.exe`.
+  kage already launches Chrome with leakless disabled, so the helper never ran, only added the flagged bytes.
+  A `replace` directive now points the package at an API-compatible stub under `third_party/leakless` that carries no embedded binary, dropping about 1.28 MB from the Windows build.
+
 ## [0.3.6] - 2026-06-19
 
 ### Fixed
@@ -255,7 +264,8 @@ can browse offline, with every script stripped out.
   a multi-arch container image on GHCR (Chromium bundled), checksums, SBOMs, and
   a cosign signature, all cut from one version tag by GoReleaser.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.4...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.9...HEAD
+[0.3.9]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.8...v0.3.9
 [0.3.4]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.3...v0.3.4
 [0.3.3]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.2...v0.3.3
 [0.3.2]: https://github.com/tamnd/kage/compare/v0.3.1...v0.3.2
diff --git a/docs/content/reference/release-notes.md b/docs/content/reference/release-notes.md
index 4e89fb1..a26b83a 100644
--- a/docs/content/reference/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/content/reference/release-notes.md
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ weight: 40
 
 The authoritative, commit-level history lives in [`CHANGELOG.md`](https://github.com/tamnd/kage/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) and on the [releases page](https://github.com/tamnd/kage/releases). This page summarises each version.
 
+## v0.3.9
+
+A fix for the antivirus warning some Windows users hit when installing kage.
+
+- **The Windows build no longer ships the leakless helper antivirus flags.** kage renders pages with [go-rod](https://github.com/go-rod/rod), whose launcher pulls in [leakless](https://github.com/ysmood/leakless), a small watchdog that force-kills Chrome if kage exits. leakless carries a prebuilt helper binary for every platform and links the Windows one straight into `kage.exe`. Windows Defender recognises that helper as `Trojan:Win32/Kepavll!rfn` and quarantines it, so a fresh `scoop install` failed with a virus warning on `leakless.exe` ([#68](https://github.com/tamnd/kage/issues/68)). kage already launches Chrome with leakless switched off, so the helper never ran anyway. It is now replaced with a stub that carries no embedded binary, which drops about 1.28 MB from the Windows build and clears the warning. Thanks to John Pywtorak for the report. `go install`, unaffected before, stays clean.
+
 ## v0.3.4
 
 Two community fixes: a clean stop for `kage serve`, and pages with heavy JavaScript that used to be dropped.
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5a2b0ac..8135f24 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -54,3 +54,11 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/text v0.38.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2 // indirect
 )
+
+// go-rod's launcher imports github.com/ysmood/leakless, which base64/gzip-embeds
+// a prebuilt leakless.exe into the Windows build. Antivirus engines flag that
+// embedded helper as malware and quarantine kage on install (issue #68). kage
+// always launches Chrome with leakless disabled (browser/leakless.go), so the
+// guard is dead weight; this replace swaps in an API-compatible stub that
+// carries no embedded binary.
+replace github.com/ysmood/leakless => ./third_party/leakless
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 4be5fec..15a5bc9 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -107,9 +107,6 @@ github.com/ysmood/gotrace v0.6.0 h1:SyI1d4jclswLhg7SWTL6os3L1WOKeNn/ZtzVQF8QmdY=
 github.com/ysmood/gotrace v0.6.0/go.mod h1:TzhIG7nHDry5//eYZDYcTzuJLYQIkykJzCRIo4/dzQM=
 github.com/ysmood/gson v0.7.3 h1:QFkWbTH8MxyUTKPkVWAENJhxqdBa4lYTQWqZCiLG6kE=
 github.com/ysmood/gson v0.7.3/go.mod h1:3Kzs5zDl21g5F/BlLTNcuAGAYLKt2lV5G8D1zF3RNmg=
-github.com/ysmood/leakless v0.8.0/go.mod h1:R8iAXPRaG97QJwqxs74RdwzcRHT1SWCGTNqY8q0JvMQ=
-github.com/ysmood/leakless v0.9.0 h1:qxCG5VirSBvmi3uynXFkcnLMzkphdh3xx5FtrORwDCU=
-github.com/ysmood/leakless v0.9.0/go.mod h1:R8iAXPRaG97QJwqxs74RdwzcRHT1SWCGTNqY8q0JvMQ=
 go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4/go.mod h1:DhzuOOF2ATzADvBadXxruRBLzYTpT36CKvDb3+aBEFg=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20231006140011-7918f672742d h1:jtJma62tbqLibJ5sFQz8bKtEM8rJBtfilJ2qTU199MI=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20231006140011-7918f672742d/go.mod h1:ldy0pHrwJyGW56pPQzzkH36rKxoZW1tw7ZJpeKx+hdo=
diff --git a/third_party/leakless/go.mod b/third_party/leakless/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..309d7cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third_party/leakless/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module github.com/ysmood/leakless
+
+go 1.26.4
diff --git a/third_party/leakless/leakless.go b/third_party/leakless/leakless.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07c3011
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third_party/leakless/leakless.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Package leakless is kage's drop-in replacement for
+// github.com/ysmood/leakless, wired in through a replace directive in the root
+// go.mod.
+//
+// The upstream package guards a child process by extracting a small helper
+// executable that force-kills the child when the parent dies. It ships that
+// helper by base64/gzip-embedding a prebuilt binary for every target
+// (bin_amd64_windows.go and friends), so the packed leakless.exe ends up linked
+// into any program that imports the package, kage included. Antivirus engines
+// flag that embedded Windows helper as malware, so a fresh install of kage got
+// quarantined before it ever ran (issue #68).
+//
+// kage already launches Chrome with leakless disabled (see
+// browser/leakless.go), so the guard is never used. This stub keeps the exact
+// public surface go-rod's launcher depends on (New, Support, LockPort, and the
+// Launcher type's Command/Pid/Err) while carrying no embedded binary, which
+// removes the false positive entirely. Support reports no guard is available,
+// so go-rod's launcher never takes the leakless path even if a caller asked
+// for it.
+package leakless
+
+import "os/exec"
+
+// Launcher mirrors the upstream type. The channel is left unbuffered and is
+// never written to, matching the "may never receive the pid" contract go-rod
+// already tolerates.
+type Launcher struct {
+	pid chan int
+}
+
+// New returns a Launcher. It allocates nothing beyond the pid channel.
+func New() *Launcher {
+	return &Launcher{pid: make(chan int)}
+}
+
+// Command builds the command without a guard wrapper. Because Support returns
+// false, go-rod never calls this in practice; if some other caller did, running
+// the target directly is the correct no-guard behaviour.
+func (l *Launcher) Command(name string, arg ...string) *exec.Cmd {
+	return exec.Command(name, arg...)
+}
+
+// Pid returns the (never-signalled) pid channel.
+func (l *Launcher) Pid() chan int { return l.pid }
+
+// Err returns the guard error, always empty here since there is no guard.
+func (l *Launcher) Err() string { return "" }
+
+// Support reports whether a guard binary is available. It always returns false
+// so callers skip leakless entirely.
+func Support() bool { return false }
+
+// LockPort is the cross-process mutex the upstream guard uses to serialise
+// extraction. With no guard there is nothing to serialise, so it is a no-op.
+func LockPort(port int) func() { return func() {} }