diff --git a/scripts/pipeline.py b/scripts/pipeline.py
index 0847da15f..38d59abc6 100644
--- a/scripts/pipeline.py
+++ b/scripts/pipeline.py
@@ -1008,8 +1008,9 @@ def main() -> None:
             # Step 2 refreshed the trees once: refreshing again here let the
             # pack and the manifest describe two revisions of a moving tree.
             manifest_cmd.append("--no-refresh-data")
-        if args.target:
-            manifest_cmd.extend(["--target", args.target])
+        # No --target here: install/ holds the published lists, and every
+        # reader (site picker, release check, record) takes each file there
+        # as a whole platform. The per-target core lists are step 4c.
         ok, _ = run(manifest_cmd, STEP_LABELS["generate_manifests"])
         results["generate_manifests"] = ok
         all_ok = all_ok and ok
diff --git a/tests/test_target_names.py b/tests/test_target_names.py
index 30e5d012e..263a555d0 100644
--- a/tests/test_target_names.py
+++ b/tests/test_target_names.py
@@ -194,3 +194,25 @@ class ASingleTargetFiltersNothing(unittest.TestCase):
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
+
+
+class PublishedListsAreNotNarrowed(unittest.TestCase):
+    """pipeline --target switch wrote install/retroarch_nintendoswitch.json
+    next to the published lists; the site picker then replaced RetroArch's
+    file list with the Switch one and check_release asked for it as an asset."""
+
+    def test_pipeline_writes_install_unfiltered(self):
+        pipeline = (REPO_ROOT / "scripts" / "pipeline.py").read_text()
+        self.assertNotIn('manifest_cmd.extend(["--target"', pipeline)
+
+    def test_every_install_list_is_a_whole_platform(self):
+        import json  # noqa: PLC0415
+
+        for path in sorted((REPO_ROOT / "install").glob("*.json")):
+            data = json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            with self.subTest(path=path.name):
+                self.assertEqual(path.stem, data["platform"])
+                self.assertNotIn("target", data)
+                self.assertNotIn("no_game_data", data)
+                self.assertEqual(data["source"], "full")
+                self.assertEqual(data["regions"], [])