QuesI’m getting PrismaClientInitializationError: Prisma Client could not locate the Query Engine for runtime “rhel-openssl-3.0.x” on Vercel runtime. Build succeeds, runtime fails.
Stack:
Next.js 14.2.13 (App Router, standalone output via outputFileTracingRoot)
Prisma 5.22.0
pnpm 9.9.0 workspaces + Turborepo 2.8.17
Node 24.x (Vercel default)
Vercel Root Directory: apps/web
Monorepo structure:
apps/web ← Next.js app (Vercel Root Directory)
packages/db ← Prisma schema + generated client
packages/shared
packages/ui
Current configuration:
packages/db/prisma/schema.prisma:
prismagenerator client {
provider = “prisma-client-js”
previewFeatures = [“multiSchema”]
binaryTargets = [“native”, “rhel-openssl-3.0.x”]
}
packages/db/package.json:
json"scripts": {
“postinstall”: “prisma generate”
}
packages/db/src/index.ts:
tsimport { PrismaClient } from “@prisma/client”;
apps/web/next.config.mjs:
jsexperimental: {
outputFileTracingRoot: path.join(__dirname, ‘../../’),
serverComponentsExternalPackages: [‘@prisma/client’, ‘prisma’],
outputFileTracingIncludes: {
‘//': [
'../../node_modules/.pnpm/@prisma+client/node_modules/@prisma/client//',
'../../node_modules/.pnpm/@prisma+engines/node_modules/@prisma/engines/**/*’
],
},
}
apps/web/package.json:
json"build": “next build”
Build log shows success:
packages/db postinstall: 
Generated Prisma Client (v5.22.0) to
./../../node_modules/.pnpm/@prisma+client@5.22.0_prisma@5.22.0/node_modules/@prisma/client in 574ms
Runtime error:
Prisma Client could not locate the Query Engine for runtime “rhel-openssl-3.0.x”
Searched locations:
/var/task/node_modules/.pnpm/@prisma+client@5.22.0_prisma@5.22.0/node_modules/.prisma/client
/var/task/apps/web/.next/server
/vercel/path0/node_modules/.pnpm/@prisma+client@5.22.0_prisma@5.22.0/node_modules/@prisma/client
/var/task/apps/web/.prisma/client
/tmp/prisma-engines
What I’ve tried:
Setting output to ../../apps/web/generated/prisma — broke bundling
Setting PRISMA_QUERY_ENGINE_LIBRARY env var — broke install phase
Current setup with serverComponentsExternalPackages — build succeeds but engine not found at runtime
Various combinations of outputFileTracingIncludes glob patterns
The .so.node file is generated during build (confirmed in logs), but Next.js standalone output doesn’t include it in the function bundle at /var/task/.
What’s the correct configuration for Prisma to work in a pnpm Turborepo monorepo on Vercel with Next.js 14 standalone output?tions that get answered the fastest are the ones with relevant info included in the original post. Be sure to include all detail needed to let others see and understand the problem! →