diff --git a/src/xceadmin/meson-build.sh b/src/xceadmin/meson-build.sh
index 999b6371..2f423d73 100755
--- a/src/xceadmin/meson-build.sh
+++ b/src/xceadmin/meson-build.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ GIT_COMMIT="$6"    # build-time-versioning task 5.1: get_option('commit_id'),
                     # resolved by xce-build.sh (task 2.1) -- empty if meson was
                     # invoked without -Dcommit_id= (e.g. a bare `meson setup`)
 BUILD_TIME="$7"    # build-time-versioning task 5.1: get_option('build_time'), same as above
+CONTROLLER_BIN="${9:-}"  # the xce_controller this build links (meson.build
+                        # `depends: [controller]`), for the live E2E tests
 DIRTY_FINGERPRINT="$8"  # dirty-content-fingerprint task 5.1: get_option('dirty_fingerprint'),
                     # resolved by xce-build.sh (task 2.1) / flake.nix (task 2.2) -- empty if
                     # meson was invoked without -Ddirty_fingerprint= or the tree is clean
@@ -156,6 +158,16 @@ echo "=== xceadmin (meson): running tests ==="
 # (resolve_binary_candidates in _live_e2e_common.py) override discovery
 # entirely, and this build's own freshly pip-installed binary is exactly
 # what the live E2E tests should exercise.
+# XCE_CONTROLLER_BIN gets the controller this same build linked (passed in
+# by meson.build, which also depends on it), so the live E2E tests find it
+# under any build dir name; a value already set by the caller wins. Inside
+# the Nix package-build sandbox (HOME=/homeless-shelter) it is left unset,
+# as before, so those tests keep skipping there instead of deploying a
+# controller cluster during `nix build`.
+if [ -z "${XCE_CONTROLLER_BIN:-}" ] && [ -n "$CONTROLLER_BIN" ] \
+   && [ "${HOME:-}" != "/homeless-shelter" ]; then
+    export XCE_CONTROLLER_BIN="$CONTROLLER_BIN"
+fi
 XCEADMIN_BIN="$VENV_DIR/bin/xceadmin" "$VENV_DIR/bin/python" -m pytest "$WORK_DIR/tests" -v
 
 # Build an installable wheel from the SAME schema-synced $WORK_DIR the pinned
diff --git a/src/xceadmin/meson.build b/src/xceadmin/meson.build
index 0ec3e1bd..906e7c4d 100644
--- a/src/xceadmin/meson.build
+++ b/src/xceadmin/meson.build
@@ -58,7 +58,13 @@ xceadmin_stamp = custom_target('xceadmin',
     # dirty_fingerprint), not the original feature's commit_id/build_time
     # convention.
     get_option('dirty_fingerprint'),
+    # The live E2E tests (tests/test_e2e_live_*.py) deploy and drive a real
+    # xce_controller. Passing its path, and depending on the target, makes
+    # sure the binary exists before pytest runs -- under a parallel build or
+    # a lone `meson compile xceadmin` -- whatever the build dir is named.
+    controller.full_path(),
   ],
+  depends: [controller],
   build_by_default: true,
   build_always_stale: true,
   console: true,