diff --git a/codex-rs/exec-server/tests/suite/accept_elicitation.rs b/codex-rs/exec-server/tests/suite/accept_elicitation.rs
index b56c717599..1858deeecb 100644
--- a/codex-rs/exec-server/tests/suite/accept_elicitation.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/exec-server/tests/suite/accept_elicitation.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 #![allow(clippy::unwrap_used, clippy::expect_used)]
 use std::borrow::Cow;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::sync::Mutex;
 
+use anyhow::Context;
 use anyhow::Result;
+use anyhow::ensure;
 use codex_exec_server::ExecResult;
 use exec_server_test_support::InteractiveClient;
 use exec_server_test_support::create_transport;
@@ -17,6 +20,7 @@ use rmcp::model::CallToolResult;
 use rmcp::model::CreateElicitationRequestParam;
 use rmcp::model::object;
 use serde_json::json;
+use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
 use std::os::unix::fs::symlink;
 use tempfile::TempDir;
 
@@ -70,11 +74,8 @@ prefix_rule(
     let linux_sandbox_exe_folder = TempDir::new()?;
     let codex_linux_sandbox_exe = if cfg!(target_os = "linux") {
         let codex_linux_sandbox_exe = linux_sandbox_exe_folder.path().join("codex-linux-sandbox");
-        let codex_cli = assert_cmd::Command::cargo_bin("codex")?
-            .get_program()
-            .to_os_string();
-        let codex_cli_path = std::path::PathBuf::from(codex_cli);
-        symlink(&codex_cli_path, &codex_linux_sandbox_exe)?;
+        let codex_cli = ensure_codex_cli()?;
+        symlink(&codex_cli, &codex_linux_sandbox_exe)?;
         Some(codex_linux_sandbox_exe)
     } else {
         None
@@ -131,3 +132,32 @@ prefix_rule(
 
     Ok(())
 }
+
+fn ensure_codex_cli() -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let codex_cli = PathBuf::from(
+        assert_cmd::Command::cargo_bin("codex")?
+            .get_program()
+            .to_os_string(),
+    );
+
+    let metadata = codex_cli.metadata().with_context(|| {
+        format!(
+            "failed to read metadata for codex binary at {}",
+            codex_cli.display()
+        )
+    })?;
+    ensure!(
+        metadata.is_file(),
+        "expected codex binary at {} to be a file; run `cargo build -p codex-cli --bin codex` before this test",
+        codex_cli.display()
+    );
+
+    let mode = metadata.permissions().mode();
+    ensure!(
+        mode & 0o111 != 0,
+        "codex binary at {} is not executable (mode {mode:o}); run `cargo build -p codex-cli --bin codex` before this test",
+        codex_cli.display()
+    );
+
+    Ok(codex_cli)
+}