diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index cf33fba..090c54e 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -530,11 +530,12 @@ install_python_deps() {
   progress "Installing Python dependencies"
 
   info "Installing core packages..."
-  $PIP install --quiet "flask>=3.0.0" "flask-wtf>=1.2.0" "flask-compress>=1.15" \
+  $PIP install "flask>=3.0.0" "flask-wtf>=1.2.0" "flask-compress>=1.15" \
     "flask-limiter>=2.5.4" "requests>=2.28.0" \
-    "Werkzeug>=3.1.5" "pyserial>=3.5" 2>/dev/null || true
+    "Werkzeug>=3.1.5" "pyserial>=3.5" || true
 
-  $PY -c "import flask; import requests; from flask_limiter import Limiter; import flask_compress; import flask_wtf" 2>/dev/null || {
+  # Verify core packages are importable from the venv (not user site-packages)
+  $PY -s -c "import flask; import requests; from flask_limiter import Limiter; import flask_compress; import flask_wtf" 2>/dev/null || {
     fail "Critical Python packages (flask, requests, flask-limiter, flask-compress, flask-wtf) not installed"
     echo "Try: venv/bin/pip install flask requests flask-limiter flask-compress flask-wtf"
     exit 1
@@ -2013,8 +2014,8 @@ do_health_check() {
     ok "Python venv exists"
     ((pass++)) || true
 
-    if venv/bin/python -c "import flask; import requests" 2>/dev/null; then
-      ok "Critical Python packages (flask, requests) — OK"
+    if venv/bin/python -s -c "import flask; import requests; import flask_compress; import flask_wtf" 2>/dev/null; then
+      ok "Critical Python packages (flask, requests, flask-compress, flask-wtf) — OK"
       ((pass++)) || true
     else
       fail "Critical Python packages missing in venv"