diff --git a/.changeset/funny-hairs-grab.md b/.changeset/funny-hairs-grab.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c46e82d7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/funny-hairs-grab.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@core/sync-service": patch
+---
+
+Fix the startup failure problem caused by broken release packaging.
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs b/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
index 6b749cf70b..1bf29e38e8 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
+++ b/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ if !is_nil(sentry_dsn) do
     dsn: sentry_dsn
 end
 
+# Disable the default telemetry_poller process since we start our own in `Electric.Telemetry`.
+config :telemetry_poller, default: false
+
 service_name = env!("ELECTRIC_SERVICE_NAME", :string, "electric")
 instance_id = env!("ELECTRIC_INSTANCE_ID", :string, Electric.Utils.uuid4())
 version = Electric.version()
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/mix.exs b/packages/sync-service/mix.exs
index d11039ed69..e5481d4f7f 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/mix.exs
+++ b/packages/sync-service/mix.exs
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ defmodule Electric.MixProject do
         {:sentry, "~> 10.0"},
         {:telemetry_metrics_prometheus_core, "~> 1.1"},
         {:telemetry_metrics_statsd, "~> 0.7"},
-        {:telemetry_poller, "~> 1.1", runtime: false},
+        {:telemetry_poller, "~> 1.1"},
         {:tls_certificate_check, "~> 1.23"},
         {:tz, "~> 0.27"}
       ],