diff --git a/scripts/publish-to-server.ps1 b/scripts/publish-to-server.ps1
index 6866ace..cc5692f 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-to-server.ps1
+++ b/scripts/publish-to-server.ps1
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ param(
   [switch]$SkipDeploy,
   [switch]$SkipBackup,
   [switch]$AllowDirty,
+  [switch]$IncludeDownloadArtifacts,
   [switch]$DryRun
 )
 
@@ -26,7 +27,6 @@ $expectedRemoteArchive = "/tmp/equipment-management-release.tar.gz"
 $releasePaths = @(
   "backend",
   "frontend",
-  "downloads",
   "scripts/backup-equipment.sh",
   ".env.example",
   "AGENTS.md",
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ $releasePaths = @(
   "docker-compose.yml"
 )
 
+if ($IncludeDownloadArtifacts) {
+  $releasePaths += "downloads"
+}
+
 function Get-CommandPath([string]$name) {
   $cmd = Get-Command $name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
   if (-not $cmd) {
@@ -175,7 +179,11 @@ if ($files.Count -eq 0) {
   throw "No files matched the release allowlist."
 }
 
-$artifactFiles = @(Get-DownloadArtifactFiles $projectRoot)
+$artifactFiles = if ($IncludeDownloadArtifacts) {
+  @(Get-DownloadArtifactFiles $projectRoot)
+} else {
+  @()
+}
 $files = @(($files + $artifactFiles) | Sort-Object -Unique)
 
 $missingFiles = @($files | Where-Object { -not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $_ -PathType Leaf) })
@@ -197,6 +205,7 @@ Write-Host "    Git commit: $commitId"
 Write-Host "    File count: $($files.Count)"
 Write-Host "    Source size: $([math]::Round($totalBytes / 1MB, 2)) MiB"
 Write-Host "    Download artifacts: $($artifactFiles.Count)"
+Write-Host "    Include download artifacts: $([bool]$IncludeDownloadArtifacts)"
 Write-Host "    Allowlist: $($releasePaths -join ', ')"
 
 if ($DryRun) {