diff --git a/cli/release_package.php b/cli/release_package.php
index 15bbe87..0da277e 100644
--- a/cli/release_package.php
+++ b/cli/release_package.php
@@ -413,6 +413,12 @@ if ($isJoomlaPackage) {
         }
     }
 
+    // Copy language directory (package-level language files referenced in manifest)
+    if (is_dir("{$sourceDir}/language")) {
+        addDirToZip($zip, "{$sourceDir}/language", 'language', $excludePatterns);
+        echo "  Language files added from language/\n";
+    }
+
     $zip->close();
     echo "ZIP created: {$zipFile}\n";
 } else {