diff --git a/packages/cli/binding/index.cjs b/packages/cli/binding/index.cjs
index 8266b872ee..64262d2a95 100644
--- a/packages/cli/binding/index.cjs
+++ b/packages/cli/binding/index.cjs
@@ -1046,6 +1046,7 @@ module.exports.detectWorkspace = nativeBinding.detectWorkspace;
 module.exports.documentationUrl = nativeBinding.documentationUrl;
 module.exports.downloadPackageManager = nativeBinding.downloadPackageManager;
 module.exports.ensureBlockingStdio = nativeBinding.ensureBlockingStdio;
+module.exports.findMonorepoRoot = nativeBinding.findMonorepoRoot;
 module.exports.getVpDirs = nativeBinding.getVpDirs;
 module.exports.hasConfigKey = nativeBinding.hasConfigKey;
 module.exports.isDirectoryGitignored = nativeBinding.isDirectoryGitignored;
diff --git a/packages/cli/binding/index.d.cts b/packages/cli/binding/index.d.cts
index 1950b32369..a609a294a1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/binding/index.d.cts
+++ b/packages/cli/binding/index.d.cts
@@ -3696,6 +3696,13 @@ export interface DownloadPackageManagerResult {
 /** Re-enable blocking stdio after Node.js has initialized its lazy standard streams. */
 export declare function ensureBlockingStdio(): void;
 
+/**
+ * Find the monorepo root containing `cwd` with the same rules as `vp run` and `vp install`.
+ *
+ * Returns `null` when `cwd` is not inside a pnpm or `package.json` workspace.
+ */
+export declare function findMonorepoRoot(cwd: string): string | null;
+
 /**
  * Resolved on-disk category roots from [`vp_shared::EnvConfig`].
  *
diff --git a/packages/cli/binding/src/package_manager.rs b/packages/cli/binding/src/package_manager.rs
index 9b0eea2f2a..76e7da788b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/binding/src/package_manager.rs
+++ b/packages/cli/binding/src/package_manager.rs
@@ -178,6 +178,24 @@ pub async fn detect_workspace(cwd: String) -> Result<DetectWorkspaceResult> {
     }
 }
 
+/// Find the monorepo root containing `cwd` with the same rules as `vp run` and `vp install`.
+///
+/// Returns `null` when `cwd` is not inside a pnpm or `package.json` workspace.
+#[napi]
+pub fn find_monorepo_root(cwd: String) -> Result<Option<String>> {
+    let cwd = AbsolutePathBuf::new(cwd.into()).ok_or(Error::from_reason("invalid cwd"))?;
+    match find_workspace_root(&cwd) {
+        Ok((workspace_root, _)) => match workspace_root.workspace_file {
+            WorkspaceFile::PnpmWorkspaceYaml(_) | WorkspaceFile::NpmWorkspaceJson(_) => {
+                Ok(Some(workspace_root.path.as_path().to_string_lossy().to_string()))
+            }
+            WorkspaceFile::NonWorkspacePackage(_) => Ok(None),
+        },
+        Err(PackageJsonNotFound(_)) => Ok(None),
+        Err(e) => Err(anyhow::Error::from(e).into()),
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/resolve-vite-config.spec.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/resolve-vite-config.spec.ts
index e73a5187ce..ab82618d1f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/resolve-vite-config.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/resolve-vite-config.spec.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ describe('findViteConfigUp', () => {
     expect(result).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  it('should not search above stopDir when starting from its parent', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tempDir, 'vite.config.ts'), '');
+    const stopDir = path.join(tempDir, 'monorepo');
+    fs.mkdirSync(stopDir);
+
+    const result = findViteConfigUp(tempDir, stopDir);
+    expect(result).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it('should prefer the closest config file', () => {
     const subDir = path.join(tempDir, 'packages', 'my-lib');
     fs.mkdirSync(subDir, { recursive: true });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/create/org-resolve.ts b/packages/cli/src/create/org-resolve.ts
index 2aed63a82d..b3aa4fa29e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/create/org-resolve.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/create/org-resolve.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import * as prompts from '@voidzero-dev/vite-plus-prompts';
 
-import { findWorkspaceRoot, hasViteConfig, resolveViteConfig } from '../resolve-vite-config.ts';
+import { findMonorepoRoot } from '../../binding/index.js';
+import { hasViteConfig, resolveViteConfig } from '../resolve-vite-config.ts';
 import { cancelAndExit } from '../utils/prompts.ts';
 import {
   CreateConfigSchemaError,
@@ -204,9 +205,9 @@ export async function resolveOrgManifestForCreate(args: {
  * Read the `create` config (`defaultTemplate` + validated `templates`) from
  * a workspace's `vite.config.ts` in a single config evaluation.
  *
- * By default, walks up from `startDir` via `findWorkspaceRoot` (monorepo
- * markers only — `pnpm-workspace.yaml`, `workspaces` in `package.json`,
- * `lerna.json`) so monorepo invocations from any subdirectory still pick up
+ * By default, walks up from `startDir` via `findMonorepoRoot` (monorepo
+ * markers only — `pnpm-workspace.yaml` or `workspaces` in `package.json`)
+ * so monorepo invocations from any subdirectory still pick up
  * the root config. Pass `walkUp: false` to read `startDir` directly when the
  * caller already holds the exact workspace root.
  *
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ export async function getConfiguredCreate(
   options?: { walkUp?: boolean; throwOnReadError?: boolean },
 ): Promise<{ defaultTemplate?: string; templates: CreateTemplateEntry[] }> {
   const projectRoot =
-    options?.walkUp === false ? startDir : (findWorkspaceRoot(startDir) ?? startDir);
+    options?.walkUp === false ? startDir : (findMonorepoRoot(startDir) ?? startDir);
   if (!hasViteConfig(projectRoot)) {
     return { templates: [] };
   }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/resolve-vite-config.ts b/packages/cli/src/resolve-vite-config.ts
index 0632f109b1..4e3b177e91 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/resolve-vite-config.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/resolve-vite-config.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 
+import { findMonorepoRoot } from '../binding/index.js';
 import { withConfigMetadataResolution } from './define-config.ts';
 import { VITE_CONFIG_FILES } from './utils/constants.ts';
 
@@ -11,6 +12,11 @@ import { VITE_CONFIG_FILES } from './utils/constants.ts';
 export function findViteConfigUp(startDir: string, stopDir: string): string | undefined {
   let dir = path.resolve(startDir);
   const stop = path.resolve(stopDir);
+  // Callers may start above `stopDir`, e.g. at the parent of a workspace root.
+  const relative = path.relative(stop, dir);
+  if (relative === '..' || relative.startsWith(`..${path.sep}`) || path.isAbsolute(relative)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
 
   while (true) {
     for (const filename of VITE_CONFIG_FILES) {
@@ -20,7 +26,7 @@ export function findViteConfigUp(startDir: string, stopDir: string): string | un
       }
     }
     const parent = path.dirname(dir);
-    if (parent === dir || !parent.startsWith(stop)) {
+    if (dir === stop || parent === dir) {
       break;
     }
     dir = parent;
@@ -42,39 +48,6 @@ export function hasViteConfig(dir: string): boolean {
   return findViteConfig(dir) !== undefined;
 }
 
-/**
- * Find the workspace root by walking up from `startDir` looking for
- * monorepo indicators (pnpm-workspace.yaml, workspaces in package.json, lerna.json).
- */
-export function findWorkspaceRoot(startDir: string): string | undefined {
-  let dir = path.resolve(startDir);
-  while (true) {
-    if (fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'pnpm-workspace.yaml'))) {
-      return dir;
-    }
-    const pkgPath = path.join(dir, 'package.json');
-    if (fs.existsSync(pkgPath)) {
-      try {
-        const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath, 'utf-8'));
-        if (pkg.workspaces) {
-          return dir;
-        }
-      } catch {
-        // Skip malformed package.json and continue searching parent directories
-      }
-    }
-    if (fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'lerna.json'))) {
-      return dir;
-    }
-    const parent = path.dirname(dir);
-    if (parent === dir) {
-      break;
-    }
-    dir = parent;
-  }
-  return undefined;
-}
-
 export interface ResolveViteConfigOptions {
   traverseUp?: boolean;
 }
@@ -89,7 +62,7 @@ export async function resolveViteConfig(cwd: string, options?: ResolveViteConfig
   // staged/create…), so skip the user's plugin factory while it evaluates.
   return withConfigMetadataResolution(async () => {
     if (options?.traverseUp && !hasViteConfig(cwd)) {
-      const workspaceRoot = findWorkspaceRoot(cwd);
+      const workspaceRoot = findMonorepoRoot(cwd);
       if (workspaceRoot) {
         const configFile = findViteConfigUp(path.dirname(cwd), workspaceRoot);
         if (configFile) {