diff --git a/cli/release_package.php b/cli/release_package.php
index 724037a..100807a 100644
--- a/cli/release_package.php
+++ b/cli/release_package.php
@@ -224,9 +224,30 @@ class ReleasePackageCli extends CliFramework
                 return 1;
             }
 
+            // Only zip sub-extensions listed in the package manifest
+            $manifestedSubs = [];
+            $pkgManifestFiles = glob("{$sourceDir}/pkg_*.xml") ?: [];
+            foreach ($pkgManifestFiles as $pmf) {
+                $pmXml = @simplexml_load_file($pmf);
+                if ($pmXml && isset($pmXml->files)) {
+                    foreach ($pmXml->files->file as $fileNode) {
+                        $zipName = pathinfo((string) $fileNode, PATHINFO_FILENAME);
+                        if (!empty($zipName)) {
+                            $manifestedSubs[$zipName] = true;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             $packageDirs = glob("{$sourceDir}/packages/*", GLOB_ONLYDIR) ?: [];
             foreach ($packageDirs as $pkgDir) {
                 $subName = basename($pkgDir);
+
+                // Skip directories not listed in the package manifest
+                if (!empty($manifestedSubs) && !isset($manifestedSubs[$subName])) {
+                    echo "  Skipping {$subName} (not in package manifest)\n";
+                    continue;
+                }
                 $subZipPath = "{$outputDir}/{$subName}.zip";
 
                 // If sub-package is a full repo checkout (e.g. git submodule),