diff --git a/cli/release_package.php b/cli/release_package.php
index 15bbe87..55203cf 100644
--- a/cli/release_package.php
+++ b/cli/release_package.php
@@ -413,6 +413,17 @@ if ($isJoomlaPackage) {
         }
     }
 
+    // Include top-level directories (e.g. language/) that aren't packages/
+    $topLevelDirs = glob("{$sourceDir}/*", GLOB_ONLYDIR) ?: [];
+    foreach ($topLevelDirs as $tlDir) {
+        $dirName = basename($tlDir);
+        if ($dirName === 'packages') {
+            continue;
+        }
+        addDirToZip($zip, $tlDir, $dirName, $excludePatterns);
+        echo "  Included dir: {$dirName}/\n";
+    }
+
     $zip->close();
     echo "ZIP created: {$zipFile}\n";
 } else {