diff --git a/resources/js/electron-plugin/dist/server/php.js b/resources/js/electron-plugin/dist/server/php.js
index aa6420f5..b0f5585e 100644
--- a/resources/js/electron-plugin/dist/server/php.js
+++ b/resources/js/electron-plugin/dist/server/php.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { promisify } from 'util';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { app } from 'electron';
 import { execFile, spawn, spawnSync } from 'child_process';
+import { createServer } from 'net';
 import state from "./state.js";
 import getPort, { portNumbers } from 'get-port';
 const storagePath = join(app.getPath('userData'), 'storage');
@@ -42,10 +43,31 @@ function shouldOptimize(store) {
 }
 function getPhpPort() {
     return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
-        return yield getPort({
+        const suggestedPort = yield getPort({
             host: '127.0.0.1',
             port: portNumbers(8100, 9000)
         });
+        if (yield canBindToPort(suggestedPort)) {
+            return suggestedPort;
+        }
+        console.warn(`Port ${suggestedPort} is not bindable, manually searching...`);
+        for (let port = suggestedPort + 1; port < 9000; port++) {
+            if (yield canBindToPort(port)) {
+                return port;
+            }
+        }
+        throw new Error('Could not find an available port in range 8100-9000');
+    });
+}
+function canBindToPort(port) {
+    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+        const server = createServer();
+        server.listen(port, '127.0.0.1', () => {
+            server.close(() => resolve(true));
+        });
+        server.on('error', () => {
+            resolve(false);
+        });
     });
 }
 function retrievePhpIniSettings() {
@@ -235,8 +257,6 @@ function serveApp(secret, apiPort, phpIniSettings) {
             console.log('Skipping Database migration while in development.');
             console.log('You may migrate manually by running: php artisan native:migrate');
         }
-        console.log('Starting PHP server...');
-        const phpPort = yield getPhpPort();
         let serverPath;
         let cwd;
         if (runningSecureBuild()) {
@@ -247,6 +267,8 @@ function serveApp(secret, apiPort, phpIniSettings) {
             serverPath = join(appPath, 'vendor', 'laravel', 'framework', 'src', 'Illuminate', 'Foundation', 'resources', 'server.php');
             cwd = join(appPath, 'public');
         }
+        console.log('Starting PHP server...');
+        const phpPort = yield getPhpPort();
         const phpServer = callPhp(['-S', `127.0.0.1:${phpPort}`, serverPath], {
             cwd: cwd,
             env
diff --git a/resources/js/electron-plugin/src/server/php.ts b/resources/js/electron-plugin/src/server/php.ts
index 2d0f5ebe..562b258d 100644
--- a/resources/js/electron-plugin/src/server/php.ts
+++ b/resources/js/electron-plugin/src/server/php.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {promisify} from 'util'
 import {join} from 'path'
 import {app} from 'electron'
 import {execFile, spawn, spawnSync} from 'child_process'
+import {createServer} from 'net'
 import state from "./state.js";
 import getPort, {portNumbers} from 'get-port';
 import {ProcessResult} from "./ProcessResult.js";
@@ -50,10 +51,41 @@ function shouldOptimize(store) {
 }
 
 async function getPhpPort() {
-    return await getPort({
+    // Try get-port first (fast path)
+    const suggestedPort = await getPort({
         host: '127.0.0.1',
         port: portNumbers(8100, 9000)
     });
+
+    // Validate that we can actually bind to this port
+    if (await canBindToPort(suggestedPort)) {
+        return suggestedPort;
+    }
+
+    // If get-port gave us a bad port, manually search starting from suggestedPort + 1
+    console.warn(`Port ${suggestedPort} is not bindable, manually searching...`);
+
+    for (let port = suggestedPort + 1; port < 9000; port++) {
+        if (await canBindToPort(port)) {
+            return port;
+        }
+    }
+
+    throw new Error('Could not find an available port in range 8100-9000');
+}
+
+function canBindToPort(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
+    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+        const server = createServer();
+
+        server.listen(port, '127.0.0.1', () => {
+            server.close(() => resolve(true));
+        });
+
+        server.on('error', () => {
+            resolve(false);
+        });
+    });
 }
 
 async function retrievePhpIniSettings() {
@@ -346,10 +378,6 @@ function serveApp(secret, apiPort, phpIniSettings): Promise<ProcessResult> {
             console.log('You may migrate manually by running: php artisan native:migrate')
         }
 
-        console.log('Starting PHP server...');
-        const phpPort = await getPhpPort();
-
-
         let serverPath: string;
         let cwd: string;
 
@@ -361,6 +389,8 @@ function serveApp(secret, apiPort, phpIniSettings): Promise<ProcessResult> {
             cwd = join(appPath, 'public');
         }
 
+        console.log('Starting PHP server...');
+        const phpPort = await getPhpPort();
         const phpServer = callPhp(['-S', `127.0.0.1:${phpPort}`, serverPath], {
             cwd: cwd,
             env
@@ -371,7 +401,6 @@ function serveApp(secret, apiPort, phpIniSettings): Promise<ProcessResult> {
         // Show urls called
         phpServer.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
             // [Tue Jan 14 19:51:00 2025] 127.0.0.1:52779 [POST] URI: /_native/api/events
-
             if (parseInt(process.env.SHELL_VERBOSITY) > 0) {
                 console.log(data.toString().trim());
             }
diff --git a/resources/js/electron-plugin/tests/api.test.ts b/resources/js/electron-plugin/tests/api.test.ts
index 3abe8b85..2bcb3b8c 100644
--- a/resources/js/electron-plugin/tests/api.test.ts
+++ b/resources/js/electron-plugin/tests/api.test.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ describe('API test', () => {
     });
 
     it('starts API server on port 4000', async () => {
+        // NOTE: If this fails it may be you have a NativePHP app running locally
+        // and the port negotiation actually woks as expected (might be 4001).
+        // Quit any running NativePHP apps to verify.
         expect(apiServer.port).toBe(4000);
     });