diff --git a/scripts/packextras.py b/scripts/packextras.py
index eeb534a2..a8223fc1 100644
--- a/scripts/packextras.py
+++ b/scripts/packextras.py
@@ -686,6 +686,10 @@ def _collect_emulator_extras(
             # file; the archive itself is placed by the passes above.
             if f.get("archive"):
                 continue
+            # No path: the core reads it from nowhere a pack reaches
+            # (Dolphin's codehandler.bin ships in its Sys tree).
+            if "path" in f and f["path"] is None:
+                continue
             file_mode = f.get("mode")
             if file_mode == "standalone" and not is_standalone:
                 continue
diff --git a/tests/test_path_null_copies.py b/tests/test_path_null_copies.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eb2a405e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_path_null_copies.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"""An entry with `path: null` is never copied to the root of a pack.
+
+The pass that copies a file covered elsewhere to each destination a core
+reads skipped neither: Dolphin's codehandler.bin, which ships in its Sys
+tree, landed at system/codehandler.bin in RetroArch, Lakka and RetroPie.
+Reads the repository: skips when the database is absent.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import sys
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+sys.path.insert(0, str(REPO_ROOT / "scripts"))
+
+
+class NoPathNoCopy(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_codehandler_stays_out(self):
+        if not (REPO_ROOT / "database.json").exists():
+            self.skipTest("database.json is not built")
+        previous = os.getcwd()
+        os.chdir(REPO_ROOT)
+        self.addCleanup(os.chdir, previous)
+        from common import load_database, load_emulator_profiles, load_platform_config
+        from packextras import _collect_emulator_extras
+
+        profiles = load_emulator_profiles("emulators")
+        nameless = {
+            (p.get("emulator", n), f["name"])
+            for n, p in profiles.items() for f in p.get("files", [])
+            if isinstance(f, dict) and "path" in f and f["path"] is None
+        }
+        config = load_platform_config("retroarch")
+        extras = _collect_emulator_extras(
+            config, "emulators", load_database("database.json"), set(),
+            config.get("base_destination", ""), profiles,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            [e["destination"] for e in extras
+             if (e.get("source_emulator"), e["name"]) in nameless],
+            [],
+        )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()