diff --git a/src/ci_orchestrator/commands/build.py b/src/ci_orchestrator/commands/build.py
index a1d6dbb..0b44650 100644
--- a/src/ci_orchestrator/commands/build.py
+++ b/src/ci_orchestrator/commands/build.py
@@ -284,11 +284,18 @@ def _windows_build(
                 "--output (Join-Path (Get-Location) 'bin\\CIOutput')"
             )
 
+        # Run the build command as PowerShell on the Windows guest. It is
+        # authored in PS by the workflow (New-Item, Set-Content, ...) and
+        # may also invoke native exes (python, dotnet). Wrapping it in
+        # `cmd /c` broke PS-native commands ("'New-Item' is not
+        # recognized"). LASTEXITCODE is seeded to 0 so a PS-only command
+        # (which never sets it) exits cleanly; native tools still set it.
         full_ps = (
             f"{env_setup}Set-Location {_ps_quote(workdir)}; "
             f"$ErrorActionPreference='Continue'; "
-            f"& cmd /c {_ps_quote(run_cmd + ' 2>&1')}; "
-            "exit $LASTEXITCODE"
+            f"$global:LASTEXITCODE = 0; "
+            f"{run_cmd}; "
+            "if ($null -eq $LASTEXITCODE) { exit 0 } else { exit $LASTEXITCODE }"
         )
         result = t.run(full_ps, check=False)
         if result.stdout:
@@ -305,14 +312,20 @@ def _windows_build(
             return
 
         # Package the artifact source into the requested zip on the guest.
+        # artifact_source may be absolute (e.g. C:\CI\output) or relative
+        # to the build workdir. PowerShell Join-Path does NOT treat a
+        # rooted second segment as absolute (it concatenates, yielding
+        # C:\CI\build\C:\CI\output), so resolve it explicitly.
         if build_command:
             src_rel = artifact_source or "dist"
-            src_expr = f"Join-Path {_ps_quote(workdir)} {_ps_quote(src_rel)}"
         else:
-            src_expr = f"Join-Path {_ps_quote(workdir)} 'bin\\CIOutput'"
+            src_rel = "bin\\CIOutput"
 
         pkg_ps = (
-            f"$src = {src_expr}; "
+            f"$work = {_ps_quote(workdir)}; "
+            f"$rel  = {_ps_quote(src_rel)}; "
+            "$src = if ([System.IO.Path]::IsPathRooted($rel)) "
+            "{ $rel } else { Join-Path $work $rel }; "
             f"$zip = {_ps_quote(artifact_zip)}; "
             "if (-not (Test-Path $src)) { "
             "  throw \"[build run] artifact source not found: $src\" }; "