diff --git a/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts b/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
index 59c5556060..e1527ea818 100644
--- a/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
+++ b/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { parseGhidraJavaProperties } from "./GhidraJavaProperties.js";
 import {
   GHIDRA_SEED_SCRIPT,
   snapshotGhidraAnalysisSeeds,
@@ -5,7 +6,7 @@ import {
 } from "./GhidraAnalysisSeeds.js";
 import type { GhidraLanguageOverride } from "../config/ghidraLanguageOverride.js";
 import { snapshotEnvironment } from "../process/snapshotEnvironment.js";
-import { mkdir, realpath } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { mkdir, readFile, realpath } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { basename, dirname, join, posix, win32 } from "node:path";
 
 import writeFileAtomic from "write-file-atomic";
@@ -219,7 +220,11 @@ export class GhidraHeadlessLauncher implements GhidraLauncher {
             "Installed Allegrex content changed since profile resolution; reopen the target to resolve a fresh profile.",
           );
       }
-      await createGhidraRuntimeDirectories(paths, platform);
+      await createGhidraRuntimeDirectories(
+        paths,
+        platform,
+        await ghidraConfigReleaseDirectory(this.options.analyzeHeadlessPath),
+      );
       const seedPath =
         this.options.analysisSeeds === undefined
           ? undefined
@@ -721,9 +726,44 @@ const ghidraRuntimePaths = (runtimeRoot: string) => ({
   scriptLogPath: join(runtimeRoot, "script.log"),
 });
 
+/**
+ * Ghidra's launch support resolves its JDK before the headless run and then
+ * persists that choice under `<config>/ghidra/<release directory>`. Inside
+ * REA's Windows private runtime a child JVM cannot create those directories
+ * itself, so startup aborted with "Failed to create directory" and reported
+ * that no supported JDK was found. Create the release directory while this
+ * process still owns the runtime, leaving Ghidra only a file write inside it.
+ */
+const ghidraConfigReleaseDirectory = async (
+  analyzeHeadlessPath: string,
+): Promise<string> => {
+  const installRoot = dirname(dirname(analyzeHeadlessPath));
+  try {
+    const properties = await readFile(
+      join(installRoot, "Ghidra", "application.properties"),
+      "latin1",
+    );
+    const parsed = parseGhidraJavaProperties(properties);
+    if (!parsed.ok) return basename(installRoot);
+    const version = parsed.value.get("application.version");
+    const release = parsed.value.get("application.release.name");
+    return version === undefined ||
+      release === undefined ||
+      release.length === 0
+      ? basename(installRoot)
+      : `ghidra_${version}_${release}`;
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // An unreadable properties file leaves the release coordinate unknown; the
+    // conventional extraction directory carries the same name.
+    void cause;
+    return basename(installRoot);
+  }
+};
+
 const createGhidraRuntimeDirectories = async (
   paths: ReturnType<typeof ghidraRuntimePaths>,
   platform: NodeJS.Platform,
+  configReleaseDirectory: string,
 ): Promise<void> => {
   if (platform === "win32") {
     const runtime = windowsPrivateRuntime(dirname(paths.projectRoot));
@@ -736,6 +776,11 @@ const createGhidraRuntimeDirectories = async (
       paths.dataRoot,
     ])
       runtime.mkdir(basename(path));
+    // Each level needs its parent first: the native owner opens every existing
+    // component and creates only the final one.
+    const configRoot = basename(paths.configRoot);
+    runtime.mkdir(win32.join(configRoot, "ghidra"));
+    runtime.mkdir(win32.join(configRoot, "ghidra", configReleaseDirectory));
     return;
   }
   await Promise.all(
@@ -746,6 +791,7 @@ const createGhidraRuntimeDirectories = async (
       paths.cacheRoot,
       paths.configRoot,
       paths.dataRoot,
+      join(paths.configRoot, "ghidra", configReleaseDirectory),
     ].map((path) => mkdir(path, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 })),
   );
 };
diff --git a/tests/boundary/providers/ghidra/ghidraLauncher.test.ts b/tests/boundary/providers/ghidra/ghidraLauncher.test.ts
index 270bf02b3f..ea8fb964c6 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/providers/ghidra/ghidraLauncher.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/providers/ghidra/ghidraLauncher.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-import { access, chmod, readFile, stat } from "node:fs/promises";
+import {
+  access,
+  chmod,
+  mkdir,
+  readFile,
+  stat,
+  writeFile,
+} from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join, posix, win32 } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
@@ -480,6 +487,64 @@ describe("Ghidra Windows launcher", () => {
     ).toThrow(/metacharacters/u);
   });
 
+  it.skipIf(process.platform !== "win32").each([
+    {
+      properties:
+        "application.version=12.1.4\napplication.release.name=PUBLIC\n",
+      release: "ghidra_12.1.4_PUBLIC",
+    },
+    { properties: undefined, release: "renamed-install" },
+    { properties: "application.version=12.1.4\n", release: "renamed-install" },
+  ])(
+    "prepares the release directory through the Windows runtime ($release)",
+    async ({ properties, release }) => {
+      const parent = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-launch-config-");
+      const installRoot = join(parent, "renamed-install");
+      if (properties !== undefined) {
+        await mkdir(join(installRoot, "Ghidra"), { recursive: true });
+        await writeFile(
+          join(installRoot, "Ghidra", "application.properties"),
+          properties,
+        );
+      }
+      const runtime = await createGhidraTestRuntime(parent);
+      runtimes.push(runtime);
+      const spawnProcess = vi.fn(async () => {
+        throw new Error("fixture stops before process creation");
+      });
+      const launcher = new GhidraHeadlessLauncher({
+        environment: process.env,
+        platform: "win32",
+        analyzeHeadlessPath: join(
+          installRoot,
+          "support",
+          "analyzeHeadless.bat",
+        ),
+        javaHome: "C:\\Java\\jdk-21",
+        bridgeScriptPath: join(parent, "ReaGhidraBridge.java"),
+        spawnProcess,
+      });
+      const launched = await launcher.launch({
+        runtimeRoot: runtime.path,
+        transport: "unix-socket",
+        endpointPath: join(runtime.path, "bridge.sock"),
+        token: "fixture-token",
+        runId: "d6fcbb66-e829-4ff6-a535-0035aec63139",
+        targetPath: join(parent, "fixture.exe"),
+        targetSha256: "b".repeat(64),
+        providerVersion: "12.1.4",
+        profileDigest: "a".repeat(64),
+      });
+      expect(launched.ok).toBe(false);
+      expect(spawnProcess).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(
+        (
+          await stat(join(runtime.path, "config", "ghidra", release))
+        ).isDirectory(),
+      ).toBe(true);
+    },
+  );
+
   it.skipIf(process.platform !== "win32")(
     "keeps authority in a private descriptor and isolates Ghidra state through the batch launcher",
     async () => {