diff --git a/run_once_20-install-user-packages.sh.tmpl b/run_once_20-install-user-packages.sh.tmpl
index 8f1d0a0..69236e7 100755
--- a/run_once_20-install-user-packages.sh.tmpl
+++ b/run_once_20-install-user-packages.sh.tmpl
@@ -157,7 +157,11 @@ fi
 # Pin Maple-font version. Bump manually if a release breaks things.
 MAPLE_FONT_VERSION="v7.9"
 
-if fc-list 2>/dev/null | grep -qi "Maple Mono NF"; then
+# fc-list check: bash string match instead of pipeline, because `set -o pipefail`
+# in this script causes `fc-list | grep -q` to fail with SIGPIPE (exit 141) when
+# grep exits early on first match — the pipeline then reports non-zero, the
+# `if` evaluates to false, and the bootstrap re-installs the font unnecessarily.
+if [[ "$(fc-list 2>/dev/null)" == *"Maple Mono NF"* ]]; then
     log "Maple Mono NF already installed"
 else
 {{ if eq .os_family "arch" -}}