diff --git a/packages/core/RNSentry.podspec b/packages/core/RNSentry.podspec
index ddff4d305a..9e6f5ae0ef 100644
--- a/packages/core/RNSentry.podspec
+++ b/packages/core/RNSentry.podspec
@@ -164,10 +164,14 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
     #
     # The flag must ride whichever target's link does the stripping, which
     # depends on linkage: static libs (the default) absorb Sentry into the app
-    # binary → app link → `user_target_xcconfig`; `:linkage => :dynamic` absorbs
+    # binary → app link → `user_target_xcconfig`; a dynamic framework absorbs
     # it into the RNSentry dylib → that link → `pod_target_xcconfig`. Never
-    # both, or a second copy of Sentry lands in the app. Detected via
-    # `ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS']`.
+    # both, or a second copy of Sentry lands in the app.
+    #
+    # Linkage is resolved by `sentry_uses_dynamic_linkage` (see sentry_utils):
+    # `ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS']` when set (this repo's CI + the RN/Expo samples),
+    # otherwise read off the consumer's Podfile so a bare `use_frameworks!`
+    # without that env var still lands on the right target.
     force_load_flags = SENTRY_XCFRAMEWORK_SLICES_BY_SDK.each_with_object({}) do |(sdk, slice_ids), acc|
       loads = slice_ids.map do |slice|
         %(-force_load "#{File.join(sentry_xcframework_ref, slice, 'Sentry.framework', 'Sentry')}")
@@ -177,7 +181,7 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
 
     pod_target_xcconfig.merge!(xcframework_search_paths)
     user_target_xcconfig = xcframework_search_paths.dup
-    if ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS'] == 'dynamic'
+    if sentry_uses_dynamic_linkage
       pod_target_xcconfig.merge!(force_load_flags)
     else
       user_target_xcconfig.merge!(force_load_flags)
diff --git a/packages/core/scripts/sentry_utils.rb b/packages/core/scripts/sentry_utils.rb
index 8d6e899a71..b5cd61e02c 100644
--- a/packages/core/scripts/sentry_utils.rb
+++ b/packages/core/scripts/sentry_utils.rb
@@ -233,3 +233,40 @@ def stage_sentry_xcframework_in_pods(xcframework_dir, version, product = 'Sentry
   end
   nil
 end
+
+# Whether RNSentry (and thus the Sentry static archive it absorbs) is linked
+# into a dynamic framework rather than statically into the app. This decides
+# which target's link the `-force_load` flag must ride — see the call site in
+# `RNSentry.podspec`.
+#
+# `ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS']` is an explicit override (the convention the RN and
+# Expo sample Podfiles and this repo's CI already use): `dynamic` forces the
+# dynamic path, any other value forces static. When it is unset we read the
+# actual linkage off the Podfile CocoaPods has already loaded, because a bare
+# `use_frameworks!` / `use_frameworks! :linkage => :dynamic` in a consumer's
+# Podfile does NOT export that env var — trusting the env var alone would take
+# the static path and force-load Sentry into the app while RNSentry is really a
+# dylib (a second Sentry copy in the app, and the framework link still strips
+# the category). Reading the Podfile closes that gap.
+#
+# This is a best-effort proxy: the linkage that ultimately governs is
+# RNSentry's own pod `build_type`, which the installer only computes after
+# `pre_install` hooks run and which isn't available at podspec-eval time. We
+# therefore read the declared target linkage, matching (and widening) what the
+# env var proxied. Guarded like `stage_sentry_xcframework_in_pods`: outside a
+# real `pod install` (`pod ipc spec`, `pod lib lint`) there is no Podfile, so
+# we fall back to the static default, which is correct for the RN default.
+def sentry_uses_dynamic_linkage
+  env = ENV['USE_FRAMEWORKS']
+  return true if env == 'dynamic'
+  return false unless env.nil? || env.empty?
+
+  podfile = (Pod::Config.instance.podfile if defined?(Pod::Config)) rescue nil
+  return false unless podfile
+
+  podfile.target_definition_list.any? do |td|
+    !td.root? && (td.build_type.dynamic_framework? rescue false)
+  end
+rescue StandardError, NotImplementedError
+  false
+end