diff --git a/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery-wsl.test.ts b/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery-wsl.test.ts
index fc63e4b949e..fbc90f48663 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery-wsl.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery-wsl.test.ts
@@ -52,27 +52,18 @@ describe('retirement discovery on WSL', () => {
       resolveWslHome: async () => '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada'
     })
 
-    // Every UNC read is admitted, at the scan priority that leaves the exact-probe permit free.
-    // Neither directory exists here, so each listing is followed by the parent probe that tells a
-    // genuinely absent directory apart from an unreachable 9P route.
-    expect(runWslTranscriptFsTaskMock.mock.calls.map(([options]) => options)).toEqual([
-      expect.objectContaining({ operation: 'readdir', path: DISTRO_ROOT, priority: 'scan' }),
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        operation: 'readdir',
-        path: '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada\\orca',
-        priority: 'scan'
-      }),
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        operation: 'readdir',
-        path: join('\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada', '.claude', 'projects'),
-        priority: 'scan'
-      }),
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        operation: 'readdir',
-        path: join('\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada', '.claude'),
-        priority: 'scan'
-      })
-    ])
+    // Both UNC reads — the workspace root and the distro's bucket directory — are admitted, and
+    // every listing goes at the scan priority that leaves the exact-probe permit free. Nothing
+    // exists under this fixture, so each is followed by the ancestor walk that tells a genuinely
+    // absent directory apart from an unreachable 9P route; those are gated too.
+    const calls = runWslTranscriptFsTaskMock.mock.calls.map(([options]) => options)
+    expect(calls.every((options) => options.priority === 'scan')).toBe(true)
+    expect(calls.map((options) => options.path)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining([
+        DISTRO_ROOT,
+        join('\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada', '.claude', 'projects')
+      ])
+    )
   })
 
   it('leaves no listing ungated when the workspace root is on the Windows side', async () => {
@@ -126,8 +117,15 @@ describe('retirement discovery on WSL', () => {
     // one-time seed into a 60s rescan loop for the life of the process.
     const enoent = Object.assign(new Error('ENOENT'), { code: 'ENOENT' })
     const distroHome = '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada'
-    // Only the two leaves are missing; every parent lists, which is what a live distro looks like.
-    const missing = new Set([DISTRO_ROOT, join(distroHome, '.claude', 'projects')])
+    // A distro where Claude never ran has no `~/.claude` at all, and a repo with no workspaces yet
+    // has neither the workspace root nor its parent — so the whole chain up to the home is absent.
+    // Only the home itself lists, which is what proves the route is up.
+    const missing = new Set([
+      DISTRO_ROOT,
+      '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\ada\\orca',
+      join(distroHome, '.claude', 'projects'),
+      join(distroHome, '.claude')
+    ])
     runWslTranscriptFsTaskMock.mockImplementation((options: { path: string }) =>
       missing.has(options.path) ? Promise.reject(enoent) : Promise.resolve([])
     )
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery.ts b/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery.ts
index 30cd87b440d..d438d65c73d 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-retirement-discovery.ts
@@ -72,27 +72,40 @@ async function readDirectoryNames(path: string): Promise<{ names: string[]; refu
     if (code !== 'ENOENT' && code !== 'ENOTDIR') {
       return { names: [], refused: true }
     }
-    return { names: [], refused: isWslUncPath(path) && !(await uncParentLists(path)) }
+    return { names: [], refused: isWslUncPath(path) && !(await uncRouteIsReachable(path)) }
   }
 }
 
 /** Windows reports an unreachable 9P route as ENOENT, so a shut-down distro is indistinguishable
  *  from one that simply never held buckets — `wsl.ts` refuses to trust a UNC ENOENT for the same
- *  reason. The parent settles it: if it lists, the child really is absent and the answer is
- *  complete; if it does not, the route is down and the scan has to stay retryable. Trusting ENOENT
- *  outright memoized the STA-4472 hole after `wsl --shutdown`; distrusting it outright made every
- *  distro without `~/.claude/projects` rescan on a 60s loop for the life of the process. */
-async function uncParentLists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
-  const parent = path.replace(/[/\\]+[^/\\]+[/\\]*$/, '')
-  if (!parent || parent === path || !isWslUncPath(parent)) {
-    return false
-  }
-  try {
-    await wslGatedReaddir(parent, 'scan')
-    return true
-  } catch {
-    return false
+ *  reason. One reachable ancestor settles it: the route is up, so the ENOENT below it is real
+ *  absence and the answer is complete.
+ *
+ *  Walking rather than checking one level, because the ancestors are usually missing too: a distro
+ *  where Claude never ran has no `~/.claude` either, and a repo with no workspaces yet has neither
+ *  the workspace root nor its parent. Stopping at the first level called those complete-looking
+ *  cases unreachable, which is the 60s rescan loop this exists to avoid. */
+async function uncRouteIsReachable(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  let current = path
+  // Bounded so a pathological path cannot spend the gate's scan slot indefinitely; the distro root
+  // is only a few levels above anything discovery lists.
+  for (let depth = 0; depth < 8; depth += 1) {
+    const parent = current.replace(/[/\\]+[^/\\]+[/\\]*$/, '')
+    if (!parent || parent === current || !isWslUncPath(parent)) {
+      return false
+    }
+    try {
+      await wslGatedReaddir(parent, 'scan')
+      return true
+    } catch (error) {
+      const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException | null)?.code
+      if (code !== 'ENOENT' && code !== 'ENOTDIR') {
+        return false
+      }
+      current = parent
+    }
   }
+  return false
 }
 
 /** Claude buckets its per-conversation state under a directory derived from the workspace cwd. A