diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/yt/yt-dlp/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/yt/yt-dlp/package.nix
index d87ae42abe57..340d5d0e7a36 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/yt/yt-dlp/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/yt/yt-dlp/package.nix
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
     substituteInPlace yt_dlp/networking/_curlcffi.py \
       --replace-fail "if curl_cffi_version != (0, 5, 10) and not (0, 10) <= curl_cffi_version < (0, 14)" \
       "if curl_cffi_version != (0, 5, 10) and not (0, 10) <= curl_cffi_version"
+    ${lib.optionalString javascriptSupport ''
+      # deno is required for full YouTube support (since 2025.11.12).
+      # This makes yt-dlp find deno even if it is used as a python dependency, i.e. in kodiPackages.sendtokodi.
+      # Crafted so people can replace deno with one of the other JS runtimes.
+      substituteInPlace yt_dlp/utils/_jsruntime.py \
+        --replace-fail "path = _determine_runtime_path(self._path, '${deno.meta.mainProgram}')" "path = '${lib.getExe deno}'"
+    ''}
   '';
 
   build-system = with python3Packages; [ hatchling ];
@@ -87,7 +94,6 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
 
   # Ensure these utilities are available in $PATH:
   # - ffmpeg: post-processing & transcoding support
-  # - deno: required for full YouTube support (since 2025.11.12)
   # - rtmpdump: download files over RTMP
   # - atomicparsley: embedding thumbnails
   makeWrapperArgs =
@@ -95,7 +101,6 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
       packagesToBinPath =
         lib.optional atomicparsleySupport atomicparsley
         ++ lib.optional ffmpegSupport ffmpeg-headless
-        ++ lib.optional javascriptSupport deno
         ++ lib.optional rtmpSupport rtmpdump;
     in
     lib.optionals (packagesToBinPath != [ ]) [