diff --git a/validate/deps.sh b/validate/deps.sh
index 43bde26..91bd8db 100755
--- a/validate/deps.sh
+++ b/validate/deps.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,14 @@ if [ -n "$has_python" ]; then
   if [ -n "$has_uvlock" ]; then
     printf "   source: %s (uv project)\n" "$has_uvlock"
     pyproject_dir=$(dirname "$has_uvlock")
-    audit_cmd="uv run --directory $pyproject_dir pip-audit"
+    # Audit the lockfile directly: export uv.lock as a flat
+    # requirements list and feed it into pip-audit. Avoids
+    # `uv run pip-audit` (which audits pip-audit's own bundled venv,
+    # not the project's) AND avoids PIPAPI_PYTHON_LOCATION (which needs
+    # pip installed in the project venv — uv venvs don't ship pip).
+    # --disable-pip + --no-deps tells pip-audit not to invoke pip as
+    # an installer; the exported list is already resolved.
+    audit_cmd="( cd $pyproject_dir && uv export --no-hashes --format requirements-txt ) | pip-audit -r /dev/stdin --disable-pip --no-deps"
   elif [ -n "$has_reqtxt" ]; then
     printf "   source: %s (requirements file)\n" "$has_reqtxt"
     audit_cmd="pip-audit -r $has_reqtxt"
@@ -41,7 +48,10 @@ if [ -n "$has_python" ]; then
     audit_cmd="pip-audit"
   fi
 
-  if $audit_cmd 2>/dev/null; then
+  # Run via eval so audit_cmd can carry shell metacharacters (e.g. the
+  # pipeline used by the uv branch). The other branches' audit_cmd
+  # strings are simple commands that eval handles transparently.
+  if eval "$audit_cmd" 2>/dev/null; then
     printf "${GREEN}✓${NC} No known vulnerabilities in Python dependencies\n"
   else
     printf "${RED}✗${NC} Vulnerable Python dependencies found\n"