diff --git a/src/ops.mjs b/src/ops.mjs
index b573ad5..925e031 100644
--- a/src/ops.mjs
+++ b/src/ops.mjs
@@ -85,9 +85,16 @@ function getPaths(root, installDirName) {
  * @param {string} dest - Destination directory path.
  */
 function copyDir(src, dest) {
-    if (fs.existsSync(src)) {
-        fs.cpSync(src, dest, { recursive: true });
+    if (!fs.existsSync(src)) return false;
+
+    const normalizedSrc = path.resolve(src);
+    const normalizedDest = path.resolve(dest);
+    if (normalizedSrc === normalizedDest) {
+      return false;
     }
+
+    fs.cpSync(src, dest, { recursive: true });
+    return true;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -149,8 +156,12 @@ function syncAppDirectories(torchDir, verb = 'Copied') {
     const src = path.join(PKG_ROOT, dir);
     const dest = path.join(torchDir, dir);
     if (fs.existsSync(src)) {
-      copyDir(src, dest);
-      console.log(`  ${verb} ${dir}/`);
+      const copied = copyDir(src, dest);
+      if (copied) {
+        console.log(`  ${verb} ${dir}/`);
+      } else {
+        console.log(`  Skipped ${dir}/ (source and destination are identical)`);
+      }
     }
   }
 }
@@ -179,6 +190,11 @@ function syncAppFiles(torchDir, installDir, verb = 'Copied') {
         }
       }
 
+      if (path.resolve(src) === path.resolve(dest)) {
+        console.log(`  Skipped ${file} (source and destination are identical)`);
+        continue;
+      }
+
       fs.copyFileSync(src, dest);
       console.log(`  ${verb} ${file}`);
     }
diff --git a/test/ops.test.mjs b/test/ops.test.mjs
index 3d9a3c9..930afbf 100644
--- a/test/ops.test.mjs
+++ b/test/ops.test.mjs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { test, after } from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import { exec } from 'node:child_process';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
 import { WebSocketServer } from 'ws';
@@ -119,6 +120,32 @@ test('cmdUpdate creates backup', async () => {
   assert.ok(backupContent.includes('roster.json'), 'Backup contains roster.json');
 });
 
+test('cmdUpdate succeeds when running from package root install (src and dest identical)', async () => {
+  const fixtureRoot = path.join(tempBase, 'project_self_root');
+  fs.mkdirSync(fixtureRoot, { recursive: true });
+
+  const dirsToCopy = ['src', 'bin', 'dashboard', 'landing', 'assets', 'scripts'];
+  const filesToCopy = ['package.json', 'build.mjs', 'README.md', 'torch-config.example.json', 'TORCH.md', 'eslint.config.mjs'];
+
+  for (const dir of dirsToCopy) {
+    fs.cpSync(path.join(process.cwd(), dir), path.join(fixtureRoot, dir), { recursive: true });
+  }
+  for (const file of filesToCopy) {
+    fs.copyFileSync(path.join(process.cwd(), file), path.join(fixtureRoot, file));
+  }
+
+  const moduleUrl = pathToFileURL(path.join(fixtureRoot, 'src', 'ops.mjs'));
+  const { cmdUpdate: fixtureCmdUpdate } = await import(moduleUrl.href);
+
+  await assert.doesNotReject(async () => {
+    await fixtureCmdUpdate(true, fixtureRoot);
+  }, 'update should not fail when package root is install target');
+
+  const backupRoot = path.join(fixtureRoot, '_backups');
+  assert.ok(fs.existsSync(backupRoot), '_backups directory created for package-root update');
+  assert.ok(fs.readdirSync(backupRoot).length > 0, 'backup entry created for package-root update');
+});
+
 test('torch-lock check respects local roster', async () => {
   const wss = new WebSocketServer({ port: 0 });
   const port = wss.address().port;