diff --git a/dist/web_stubs.c b/dist/web_stubs.c
index a5f70ec..a78c371 100644
--- a/dist/web_stubs.c
+++ b/dist/web_stubs.c
@@ -6,6 +6,31 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include "el_runtime.h"
 
+/* Pre-register the El HTTP handler so it is found by http_lookup_active()
+ * regardless of whether the binary was linked with -rdynamic.
+ *
+ * el_runtime's http_set_handler resolves handler names via:
+ *   dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "handle_request")
+ * but dlsym only searches the dynamic symbol table, which only contains
+ * user-defined symbols when the executable is linked with -rdynamic.
+ * elb does not add -rdynamic, so dlsym returns NULL and routes return
+ * "el-runtime: no http handler registered" even though http_serve is called.
+ *
+ * The fix: forward-declare handle_request here and register it directly
+ * via el_runtime_register_handler before main() runs. This populates the
+ * handler registry so http_lookup_active() finds it without needing dlsym.
+ */
+extern el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
+/* el_runtime_register_handler is intentionally not declared in el_runtime.h
+ * ("extern lookup works since C symbols are global" — runtime comment). */
+extern void el_runtime_register_handler(const char* name,
+                                        el_val_t (*fn)(el_val_t, el_val_t, el_val_t));
+
+__attribute__((constructor))
+static void pre_register_http_handlers(void) {
+    el_runtime_register_handler("handle_request", handle_request);
+}
+
 el_val_t http_get_auth(el_val_t url, el_val_t tok) {
     char bearer[2048]; snprintf(bearer, sizeof(bearer), "Bearer %s", EL_CSTR(tok));
     el_val_t hdr_val = EL_STR(bearer);