diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 426d2df26c1..a1749912310 100755
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -375,6 +375,8 @@ bootstrap-gen0-refresh-argv-driver:
 	./script/bootstrap-gen0-refresh-argv-driver.sh
 helper-runtime-prelink-refresh:
 	php script/emit-helper-runtime-object.php --prelink
+helper-runtime-common-publish:
+	php script/emit-helper-runtime-common.php --from-prelinked
 helper-runtime-prelink-check:
 	php script/check-helper-runtime-prelink.php
 bootstrap-init:
diff --git a/lib/AOT/HelperRuntimeCommon.php b/lib/AOT/HelperRuntimeCommon.php
index 00ec201c327..c9396227479 100644
--- a/lib/AOT/HelperRuntimeCommon.php
+++ b/lib/AOT/HelperRuntimeCommon.php
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  */
 final class HelperRuntimeCommon
 {
-    /** Opt-in: PHP_COMPILER_HELPER_RUNTIME_COMMON=1 */
+    /** Opt-in until units are re-emitted with AotGcSections: PHP_COMPILER_HELPER_RUNTIME_COMMON=1 */
     public const ENV = 'PHP_COMPILER_HELPER_RUNTIME_COMMON';
 
     /**
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ public static function publishManifestMetadata(string $objectPath, string $bitco
             'arch' => HelperRuntimeCache::archKey(),
             'role' => 'committed per-arch split-compilation helper units (#15889)',
         ];
-        $manifest['core_fingerprint'] = HelperRuntimeCache::coreFingerprint();
-        $manifest['llvm_identity_token'] = HelperRuntimeCache::llvmIdentityToken();
+        // Preserve arch-level fields written by --prelink (unit_count, total_bytes, …).
+        // Only refresh common.o metadata; do not rewrite core_fingerprint here (#36246).
         $manifest['common_object_sha256'] = hash_file('sha256', $objectPath) ?: '';
         $manifest['common_object_bytes'] = is_file($objectPath) ? filesize($objectPath) : 0;
         $manifest['common_bitcode_bytes'] = is_file($bitcodePath) ? filesize($bitcodePath) : 0;
diff --git a/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.bc b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.bc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c070bd8ccb6
Binary files /dev/null and b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.bc differ
diff --git a/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.o b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.o
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d121dd677fb
Binary files /dev/null and b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/common.o differ
diff --git a/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/manifest.json b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/manifest.json
index f7834f38fbf..8b6ae8efc72 100644
--- a/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/manifest.json
+++ b/prelinked/helper-runtime/x86_64-linux/manifest.json
@@ -9,5 +9,9 @@
     "published_fresh": 1,
     "kept_live_unpublished": 0,
     "total_bytes": 829020666,
-    "refresh": "php script/publish-helper-units-prelink.php (targeted dom refresh #32122)"
+    "refresh": "php script/publish-helper-units-prelink.php (targeted dom refresh #32122)",
+    "common_object_sha256": "460cc7680f59db5030b3c900629ac91fe8b927a468491c50d634e80a8cc6459c",
+    "common_object_bytes": 1649928,
+    "common_bitcode_bytes": 1116,
+    "common_emitted_at": "2026-09-02T22:19:24+00:00"
 }
diff --git a/script/check-helper-runtime-prelink.php b/script/check-helper-runtime-prelink.php
index 31f37b919cb..5f1f6bfde15 100644
--- a/script/check-helper-runtime-prelink.php
+++ b/script/check-helper-runtime-prelink.php
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  */
 
 use PHPCompiler\AOT\HelperRuntimeCache;
+use PHPCompiler\AOT\HelperRuntimeCommon;
 
 $root = dirname(__DIR__);
 require $root.'/vendor/autoload.php';
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
     exit($strict ? 1 : 0);
 }
 
+$commonBroken = false;
 if (is_file($archManifestPath)) {
     $archManifest = json_decode((string) file_get_contents($archManifestPath), true);
     $committedCore = \is_array($archManifest) ? (string) ($archManifest['core_fingerprint'] ?? '') : '';
@@ -47,6 +49,17 @@
             exit(1);
         }
     }
+    $expectedCommonSha = \is_array($archManifest) ? (string) ($archManifest['common_object_sha256'] ?? '') : '';
+    if ('' !== $expectedCommonSha) {
+        $commonPath = HelperRuntimeCommon::commonObjectPath();
+        if (!is_file($commonPath)) {
+            ++$commonBroken;
+            fwrite(STDOUT, "  BROKEN common.o (manifest expects shared runtime prologue)\n");
+        } elseif (!HelperRuntimeCommon::commonObjectIsLinkable()) {
+            ++$commonBroken;
+            fwrite(STDOUT, "  STALE  common.o (sha256 or core_fingerprint mismatch)\n");
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 $fresh = 0;
@@ -84,12 +97,16 @@
     ++$fresh;
 }
 
+$commonNote = HelperRuntimeCommon::commonObjectIsLinkable()
+    ? ', common.o fresh'
+    : (is_file(HelperRuntimeCommon::commonObjectPath()) ? ', common.o stale' : ', common.o absent');
 fwrite(STDOUT, sprintf(
-    "check-helper-runtime-prelink: %s — %d fresh, %d stale, %d broken%s\n",
+    "check-helper-runtime-prelink: %s — %d fresh, %d stale, %d broken%s%s\n",
     $arch,
     $fresh,
     $stale,
     $broken,
-    ($stale + $broken) > 0 ? ' — refresh: php script/emit-helper-runtime-object.php --prelink' : ''
+    $commonBroken > 0 ? ', common broken' : $commonNote,
+    ($stale + $broken + $commonBroken) > 0 ? ' — refresh: php script/emit-helper-runtime-object.php --prelink; common: php script/emit-helper-runtime-common.php --from-prelinked' : ''
 ));
-exit($strict && ($stale + $broken) > 0 ? 1 : 0);
+exit($strict && ($stale + $broken + $commonBroken) > 0 ? 1 : 0);