diff --git a/constructor/briefcase/run_installation.bat b/constructor/briefcase/run_installation.bat
index 1abdc7066..8519fb8ee 100644
--- a/constructor/briefcase/run_installation.bat
+++ b/constructor/briefcase/run_installation.bat
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ rem Set CONDA_QUIET primarily to disable the spinners
 set CONDA_QUIET={{ 0 if add_debug else 1 }}
 
 rem Get the name of the install directory
-for %%I in ("%INSTDIR%") do set "APPNAME=%%~nxI"
+for %%I in ("%INSTDIR%") do set "DISTRIBUTION_NAME=%%~nxI"
+set MENUINST_DISTRIBUTION_NAME=%DISTRIBUTION_NAME%
 set "LOG=%INSTDIR%\install.log"
 
 {%- if script_env_variables %}
@@ -128,6 +129,16 @@ if "%ALLUSERS%"=="0" (
     if errorlevel 1 ( exit /b %errorlevel% )
 )
 
+rem Persist distribution_name to menuinst.toml before installing packages.
+rem This ensures the value is captured even if no packages have shortcuts.
+rem At this point %BASE_PATH%\Menu has no .json files (packages not installed yet),
+rem so menuinst only writes distribution_name - no shortcuts are created here.
+"%CONDA_EXE%" menuinst --install -p "%BASE_PATH%" --root-prefix "%BASE_PATH%"
+if errorlevel 1 ( exit /b %errorlevel% )
+if not exist "%BASE_PATH%\Menu\menuinst.toml" (
+  {{ error_block('Failed to initialize shortcut configuration', 14) }}
+)
+
 {%- if has_pre_install %}
 rem Run user-supplied pre-install script
 {%- if has_pre_install_desc %}
diff --git a/tests/test_examples.py b/tests/test_examples.py
index 9deca5361..f7628b0c7 100644
--- a/tests/test_examples.py
+++ b/tests/test_examples.py
@@ -997,28 +997,35 @@ def test_example_scripts(tmp_path, request):
 def test_example_shortcuts(tmp_path, request):
     input_path = _example_path("shortcuts")
     for installer, install_dir in create_installer(input_path, tmp_path):
+        # console_shortcut package uses hardcoded "Anaconda3" in its menu definition
+        distribution_name = "Anaconda3"
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            # Verify shortcuts don't exist before installation (not leftover from previous run (since EXE/MSI run in a loop))
+            for key in ("ProgramData", "AppData"):
+                start_menu = Path(os.environ[key]) / "Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs"
+                package_1 = start_menu / "Package 1"
+                if package_1.is_dir():
+                    assert not (package_1 / "A.lnk").is_file(), "A.lnk exists before installation"
+                    assert not (package_1 / "B.lnk").is_file(), "B.lnk exists before installation"
+
         _run_installer(input_path, installer, install_dir, request=request, uninstall=False)
         # check that the shortcuts are created
         if sys.platform == "win32":
-            # MSI shortcut verification expected to fail due to menuinst bug
-            # https://github.com/conda/menuinst/issues/453
-            if installer.suffix == ".msi":
-                pytest.xfail("MSI shortcut verification fails due to menuinst#453")
             for key in ("ProgramData", "AppData"):
                 start_menu = Path(os.environ[key]) / "Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs"
                 package_1 = start_menu / "Package 1"
-                anaconda = start_menu / "Anaconda3 (64-bit)"
-                if package_1.is_dir() and anaconda.is_dir():
+                console_shortcut_dir = start_menu / f"{distribution_name} (64-bit)"
+                if package_1.is_dir() and console_shortcut_dir.is_dir():
                     assert (package_1 / "A.lnk").is_file()
                     assert (package_1 / "B.lnk").is_file()
                     # The shortcut created from the 'base' env
                     # should not exist because we filtered it out in the YAML
                     # We do expect one shortcut from 'another_env'
-                    assert not (anaconda / "Anaconda Prompt.lnk").is_file()
-                    assert (anaconda / "Anaconda Prompt (another_env).lnk").is_file()
+                    assert not (console_shortcut_dir / "Anaconda Prompt.lnk").is_file()
+                    assert (console_shortcut_dir / "Anaconda Prompt (another_env).lnk").is_file()
                     break
             else:
-                raise AssertionError("No shortcuts found!")
+                raise AssertionError(f"No shortcuts found! Expected '{distribution_name} (64-bit)'")
             if installer.suffix == ".msi":
                 _run_uninstaller_msi(installer, install_dir)
             else: