diff --git a/news/changelog-1.9.md b/news/changelog-1.9.md
index fddba772d99..0e18e2b0d10 100644
--- a/news/changelog-1.9.md
+++ b/news/changelog-1.9.md
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ All changes included in 1.9:
 - ([#13661](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/13661)): Fix LaTeX compilation errors when using `mermaid-format: svg` with PDF/LaTeX output. SVG diagrams are now written directly without HTML script tags. Note: `mermaid-format: png` is recommended for best compatibility. SVG format requires `rsvg-convert` (or Inkscape with `use-rsvg-convert: false`) in PATH for conversion to PDF, and may experience text clipping in diagrams with multi-line labels.
 - ([rstudio/tinytex-releases#49](https://github.com/rstudio/tinytex-releases/issues/49)): Fix detection of LuaTeX-ja missing file errors by matching both "File" and "file" in error messages.
 - ([#13667](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/13667)): Fix LaTeX compilation error with Python error output containing caret characters.
+- ([#13730](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/13730)): Fix TinyTeX detection when `~/.TinyTeX/` directory exists without binaries. Quarto now verifies that the bin directory and tlmgr binary exist before reporting TinyTeX as available, allowing proper fallback to system PATH installations.
 
 ## Projects
 
diff --git a/src/tools/impl/tinytex-info.ts b/src/tools/impl/tinytex-info.ts
index b0b9f6d487e..826d4e32318 100644
--- a/src/tools/impl/tinytex-info.ts
+++ b/src/tools/impl/tinytex-info.ts
@@ -12,12 +12,15 @@ import { existsSync } from "../../deno_ral/fs.ts";
 import { os as platformOs } from "../../deno_ral/platform.ts";
 
 export function hasTinyTex(): boolean {
-  const installDir = tinyTexInstallDir();
-  if (installDir && existsSync(installDir)) {
-    return true;
-  } else {
-    return false;
+  const binDir = tinyTexBinDir();
+  if (!binDir) {
+    return false;  // No bin directory found
   }
+
+  // Check for tlmgr binary (critical package manager)
+  const tlmgrBinary = platformOs === "windows" ? "tlmgr.bat" : "tlmgr";
+  const tlmgrPath = join(binDir, tlmgrBinary);
+  return safeExistsSync(tlmgrPath);
 }
 
 export function tinyTexInstallDir(): string | undefined {
@@ -49,10 +52,16 @@ export function tinyTexBinDir(): string | undefined {
         if (safeExistsSync(winPath)) return winPath;
         return join(basePath, "bin\\windows\\");
       }
-      case "linux":
-        return join(basePath, `bin/${Deno.build.arch}-linux`);
-      case "darwin":
-        return join(basePath, "bin/universal-darwin");
+      case "linux": {
+        const linuxPath = join(basePath, `bin/${Deno.build.arch}-linux`);
+        if (safeExistsSync(linuxPath)) return linuxPath;
+        return undefined;
+      }
+      case "darwin": {
+        const darwinPath = join(basePath, "bin/universal-darwin");
+        if (safeExistsSync(darwinPath)) return darwinPath;
+        return undefined;
+      }
       default:
         return undefined;
     }