diff --git a/apps/cli/src/__tests__/helpers/fake-npm.ts b/apps/cli/src/__tests__/helpers/fake-npm.ts
index af5cfba1e..e773a79df 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/__tests__/helpers/fake-npm.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/__tests__/helpers/fake-npm.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,13 @@ if (args[0] === "view") {
   process.exit(0);
 }
 
+if (process.env.BB_TEST_NPM_INSTALL === "fail") {
+  process.stderr.write(
+    "npm error code EPERM\\nnpm error syscall open\\nnpm error Your cache folder contains root-owned files\\n",
+  );
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
 // npm treats NODE_ENV=production as omit=dev; a command-line --include=dev
 // outranks it. BB_TEST_NPM_ALWAYS_OMIT_DEV forces the omission to stand in for
 // an install that silently drops packages.
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/__tests__/plugin-new.test.ts b/apps/cli/src/__tests__/plugin-new.test.ts
index d2a9e2a32..33ada3493 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/__tests__/plugin-new.test.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/__tests__/plugin-new.test.ts
@@ -201,6 +201,17 @@ describe.sequential("bb plugin new dependency install", () => {
     expect(warned.join("\n")).not.toContain("was not found on npm");
   });
 
+  it("issue 2548: shows npm's reason when scaffold installation fails", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("BB_TEST_NPM_INSTALL", "fail");
+
+    await runPluginNew(["npm-broken"]);
+
+    const warnings = warned.join("\n");
+    expect(warnings).toContain("Could not run npm install");
+    expect(warnings).toContain("npm error code EPERM");
+    expect(warnings).toContain("Your cache folder contains root-owned files");
+  });
+
   it("falls back to the manual step when npm is not on PATH", async () => {
     vi.stubEnv("PATH", join(workDir, "empty-bin"));