diff --git a/.changeset/podfile-patch-preserve-args.md b/.changeset/podfile-patch-preserve-args.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c7e330eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/podfile-patch-preserve-args.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'create-rock': patch
+---
+
+fix(create-app): preserve existing arg list when patching Podfile
diff --git a/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/__tests__/initInExistingProject.test.ts b/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/__tests__/initInExistingProject.test.ts
index 8c3660113..d13291d64 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/__tests__/initInExistingProject.test.ts
+++ b/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/__tests__/initInExistingProject.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { cleanup, getTempDirectory, writeFiles } from '@rock-js/test-helpers';
 import * as tools from '@rock-js/tools';
-import { updateAndroidBuildGradle } from '../initInExistingProject.js';
+import { updateAndroidBuildGradle, updatePodfile } from '../initInExistingProject.js';
 
 const directory = getTempDirectory('test_updateAndroidBuildGradle');
 
@@ -120,3 +120,73 @@ describe('updateAndroidBuildGradle', () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+describe('updatePodfile', () => {
+  it('replaces a bare `use_native_modules!` call (Community-CLI template)', () => {
+    const content = `
+target 'App' do
+  config = use_native_modules!
+
+  use_react_native!(:path => config[:reactNativePath])
+end
+`;
+    const expected = `
+target 'App' do
+  config = use_native_modules!(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])
+
+  use_react_native!(:path => config[:reactNativePath])
+end
+`;
+    writeFiles(directory, { 'ios/Podfile': content });
+    updatePodfile(directory, 'ios');
+
+    expect(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(directory, 'ios/Podfile'), 'utf8'),
+    ).toStrictEqual(expected);
+  });
+
+  it('replaces a `use_native_modules!(config_command)` call (Expo prebuild template, regression test for #702)', () => {
+    const content = `
+target 'App' do
+  config_command = ['node', '--no-warnings', '--eval', "require('expo/bin/autolinking')"]
+  config = use_native_modules!(config_command)
+
+  use_react_native!(:path => config[:reactNativePath])
+end
+`;
+    const expected = `
+target 'App' do
+  config_command = ['node', '--no-warnings', '--eval', "require('expo/bin/autolinking')"]
+  config = use_native_modules!(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])
+
+  use_react_native!(:path => config[:reactNativePath])
+end
+`;
+    writeFiles(directory, { 'ios/Podfile': content });
+    updatePodfile(directory, 'ios');
+
+    expect(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(directory, 'ios/Podfile'), 'utf8'),
+    ).toStrictEqual(expected);
+  });
+
+  it('is idempotent — running on an already-patched Podfile is a no-op', () => {
+    const content = `
+target 'App' do
+  config = use_native_modules!(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])
+end
+`;
+    writeFiles(directory, { 'ios/Podfile': content });
+    updatePodfile(directory, 'ios');
+
+    expect(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(directory, 'ios/Podfile'), 'utf8'),
+    ).toStrictEqual(content);
+  });
+
+  it('does nothing when there is no Podfile', () => {
+    // No Podfile written; updatePodfile should return without throwing.
+    expect(() => updatePodfile(directory, 'ios')).not.toThrow();
+  });
+});
+
diff --git a/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/initInExistingProject.ts b/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/initInExistingProject.ts
index 572d2771a..93d461af0 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/initInExistingProject.ts
+++ b/packages/create-app/src/lib/utils/initInExistingProject.ts
@@ -271,15 +271,21 @@ Please update the "Bundle React Native code and images" build phase manually wit
   );
 }
 
-function updatePodfile(projectRoot: string, sourceDir: string) {
+export function updatePodfile(projectRoot: string, sourceDir: string) {
   const filePath = path.join(projectRoot, sourceDir, 'Podfile');
   if (!fs.existsSync(filePath)) {
     return;
   }
   const content = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+  // Replace `config = use_native_modules!` together with any existing
+  // argument list. The Community-CLI Podfile template calls it with no
+  // arguments (`use_native_modules!`), but the Expo prebuild template
+  // passes its own autolinking command in (`use_native_modules!(config_command)`).
+  // Without consuming that argument the previous regex left it dangling
+  // on the line and produced invalid Ruby — see issue #702.
   const replaced = content.replace(
-    /(config\s*=\s*use_native_modules!)(\s*)/g,
-    "$1(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])$2",
+    /(config\s*=\s*use_native_modules!)(\s*\([^)]*\))?/g,
+    "$1(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])",
   );
   if (
     !content.includes(`(['npx', 'rock', 'config', '-p', 'ios'])`) &&