diff --git a/pnpm-workspace.yaml b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52304c4de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# The desktop app is a single-project install. `mobile/` is a separate workspace
+# with its own pnpm-workspace.yaml and lockfile, so keep it out of the root
+# package graph. Without this file `pnpm -r` auto-discovers mobile/ and its
+# nested package, and the root's patchedDependencies fail as ERR_PNPM_UNUSED_PATCH.
+packages: []