diff --git a/scripts/smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py b/scripts/smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py
index 93f4562a99de..38a42641d1b1 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py
+++ b/scripts/smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import argparse
 import json
 import os
+import shutil
 import sqlite3
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -21,6 +22,23 @@ MODEL_CANARY = "gpt-relay-smoke-sensitive-model"
 RESPONSE_CANARY = "relay-smoke-sensitive-response"
 
 
+def _resolve_hermes_executable(hermes_repo: Path) -> Path:
+    for relative_path in (
+        Path(".venv") / "bin" / "hermes",
+        Path(".venv") / "Scripts" / "hermes.exe",
+    ):
+        candidate = hermes_repo / relative_path
+        if candidate.is_file():
+            return candidate
+    discovered = shutil.which("hermes")
+    if discovered:
+        return Path(discovered)
+    raise SystemExit(
+        "Hermes executable not found in the repository virtual environment "
+        "or on PATH"
+    )
+
+
 class _ModelHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
     """Minimal OpenAI-compatible model server for one deterministic turn."""
 
@@ -321,9 +339,7 @@ def main() -> int:
     args = _arguments()
     hermes_repo = args.hermes_repo.resolve()
     relay_python = args.relay_python.resolve() if args.relay_python else None
-    hermes = hermes_repo / ".venv" / "bin" / "hermes"
-    if not hermes.is_file():
-        raise SystemExit(f"Hermes executable not found: {hermes}")
+    hermes = _resolve_hermes_executable(hermes_repo)
     if relay_python is not None and not any(
         (relay_python / "nemo_relay").glob("_native.*")
     ):
diff --git a/tests/scripts/test_smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py b/tests/scripts/test_smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d31a90bb4395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/test_smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"""Tests for the shared-metrics smoke artifact."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from scripts import smoke_nemo_relay_shared_metrics as smoke
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "relative_path",
+    [
+        Path(".venv") / "bin" / "hermes",
+        Path(".venv") / "Scripts" / "hermes.exe",
+    ],
+)
+def test_resolve_hermes_executable_from_repository_venv(
+    tmp_path,
+    monkeypatch,
+    relative_path,
+):
+    executable = tmp_path / relative_path
+    executable.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
+    executable.touch()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(smoke.shutil, "which", lambda _name: None)
+
+    assert smoke._resolve_hermes_executable(tmp_path) == executable
+
+
+def test_resolve_hermes_executable_falls_back_to_path(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    executable = tmp_path / "bin" / "hermes"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(smoke.shutil, "which", lambda _name: str(executable))
+
+    assert smoke._resolve_hermes_executable(tmp_path / "repo") == executable
+
+
+def test_resolve_hermes_executable_reports_missing_binary(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(smoke.shutil, "which", lambda _name: None)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit, match="or on PATH"):
+        smoke._resolve_hermes_executable(tmp_path)