diff --git a/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh b/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
index 8b77cc20b1..709af11d20 100755
--- a/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
+++ b/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,24 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# Phonemis is a git submodule whose sources the podspec compiles directly
+# (see third-party/common/phonemis/src in react-native-executorch.podspec).
+# Init it explicitly so the files are present in the packed tarball.
+# Run from repo root so the submodule path resolves regardless of cwd.
+git -C "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" submodule update --init --recursive \
+  packages/react-native-executorch/third-party/common/phonemis
+
+# Trim phonemis to what consumers need at build time. Done here (not via
+# package.json "files") because the submodule's own .gitignore has
+# `!scripts/build*` which npm-packlist honors and re-includes those files
+# despite our exclusion rules. Restore on exit so the working tree stays clean.
+PHONEMIS_DIR="third-party/common/phonemis"
+restore_phonemis() {
+  git -C "$PHONEMIS_DIR" checkout -- data test scripts requirements.txt 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+trap restore_phonemis EXIT
+rm -rf "$PHONEMIS_DIR/data" "$PHONEMIS_DIR/test" "$PHONEMIS_DIR/scripts"
+rm -f "$PHONEMIS_DIR/requirements.txt"
+
 yarn install --immutable
 
 if [ $# -ge 1 ] && [ "$1" = "generate_nightly_version" ]; then