Background <p>Bootleg innovation differs from traditional innovation in that it involves actions that either contravene established organizational rules and procedures or are conducted autonomously and covertly by individuals, with the aim of benefiting the organization. While prior research has highlighted a strong link between moral factors and bootleg innovation, there remains a paucity of studies exploring the moral foundations underlying such innovation. Drawing on moral licensing theory, this study examines the dual nature of bootleg innovation to elucidate the mechanism through which perceived organizational status influences employee engagement in bootleg innovation.</p> Methods <p>This study constructs and verifies a moderated mediating model of organizational status perception and bootleg innovation, using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis based on 394 survey responses.</p> Results <p>The findings indicate that: (1) Perceived organizational status has a significant positive effect on employee bootleg innovation behavior. (2) Both dimensions of moral licensing (moral credits and moral credentials) mediate the relationship between perceived organizational status and bootleg innovation behavior. (3) Intrinsic motivation positively moderates the impact of perceived organizational status on moral credits and moral credentials.</p> Conclusion <p>This study offers a unique perspective on the moral dilemmas employees face in bootleg innovation, thereby providing a novel lens for understanding their bootleg innovation behavior.</p>