diff --git a/cw_core/lib/db/sqlite.dart b/cw_core/lib/db/sqlite.dart
index 07297449b..3e91f24a5 100644
--- a/cw_core/lib/db/sqlite.dart
+++ b/cw_core/lib/db/sqlite.dart
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import 'dart:ffi';
 import 'dart:io';
 
 import 'package:cw_core/db/sqlite_debug.dart';
@@ -5,6 +6,7 @@ import 'package:cw_core/root_dir.dart';
 import 'package:cw_core/utils/print_verbose.dart';
 import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
 import 'package:sqflite_common_ffi/sqflite_ffi.dart';
+import 'package:sqlite3/open.dart';
 import 'package:path/path.dart' as p;
 
 Database? db;
@@ -49,6 +51,20 @@ Future<void> initDb({String? pathOverride}) async {
 
 Future<void> _initDb({String? pathOverride}) async {
   if (Platform.isLinux || Platform.isWindows) {
+    if (Platform.isLinux) {
+      // The Linux bundle only installs the bundled sqlite3 shared object as
+      // libsqlite3_flutter_libs_plugin.so (see linux/CMakeLists.txt); load it
+      // directly instead of relying on a libsqlite3.so symlink, which the
+      // release tarball dereferences into a second copy of the same library
+      // and crashes the process when both copies get mapped.
+      open.overrideFor(OperatingSystem.linux, () {
+        try {
+          return DynamicLibrary.open('libsqlite3_flutter_libs_plugin.so');
+        } catch (_) {
+          return DynamicLibrary.open('libsqlite3.so.0');
+        }
+      });
+    }
     databaseFactory = databaseFactoryFfi;
   }
 
diff --git a/cw_core/pubspec.yaml b/cw_core/pubspec.yaml
index b7843f4b1..a5d496474 100644
--- a/cw_core/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/cw_core/pubspec.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ dependencies:
   bech32:
     git:
       url: https://github.com/cake-tech/bech32.git
+  sqlite3: 3.5.1
   sqlite3_flutter_libs: 0.5.40
 
 dev_dependencies:
diff --git a/linux/CMakeLists.txt b/linux/CMakeLists.txt
index d9466e56e..7a45c054b 100644
--- a/linux/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/linux/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -160,13 +160,6 @@ foreach(bundled_library ${PLUGIN_BUNDLED_LIBRARIES})
     COMPONENT Runtime)
 endforeach(bundled_library)
 
-install(CODE "
-  execute_process(
-    COMMAND \"${CMAKE_COMMAND}\" -E create_symlink
-      libsqlite3_flutter_libs_plugin.so
-      \"${INSTALL_BUNDLE_LIB_DIR}/libsqlite3.so\")
-" COMPONENT Runtime)
-
 # Fully re-copy the assets directory on each build to avoid having stale files
 # from a previous install.
 set(FLUTTER_ASSET_DIR_NAME "flutter_assets")