diff --git a/tests/e2e/renderer-crash-recovery-terminal-input.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/renderer-crash-recovery-terminal-input.spec.ts
index 6e4fc04b4e1..2b857402211 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/renderer-crash-recovery-terminal-input.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/renderer-crash-recovery-terminal-input.spec.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 import type { ElectronApplication } from '@stablyai/playwright-test'
 import { test, expect } from './helpers/orca-app'
+import { retryTransientMainEvaluate } from './helpers/electron-main-evaluate-retry'
 import { ensureTerminalVisible, waitForActiveWorktree, waitForSessionReady } from './helpers/store'
 import {
   discoverActivePtyId,
@@ -59,23 +60,27 @@ declare global {
  * a previous arm write only to their own superseded probe object.
  */
 async function armMainProcessCrashProbe(electronApp: ElectronApplication): Promise<void> {
-  await electronApp.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) => {
-    const probe: CrashProbe = { processGone: null, recoveredLoads: 0 }
-    globalThis.__crashProbe = probe
-    for (const win of BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()) {
-      win.webContents.on('render-process-gone', (_event, details) => {
-        probe.processGone = { reason: details.reason, exitCode: details.exitCode ?? -1 }
-      })
-      win.webContents.on('did-finish-load', () => {
-        probe.recoveredLoads += 1
-      })
-    }
-  })
+  // Safe to repeat: re-arming supersedes the probe a collected attempt may have installed.
+  await retryTransientMainEvaluate(() =>
+    electronApp.evaluate(({ BrowserWindow }) => {
+      const probe: CrashProbe = { processGone: null, recoveredLoads: 0 }
+      globalThis.__crashProbe = probe
+      for (const win of BrowserWindow.getAllWindows()) {
+        win.webContents.on('render-process-gone', (_event, details) => {
+          probe.processGone = { reason: details.reason, exitCode: details.exitCode ?? -1 }
+        })
+        win.webContents.on('did-finish-load', () => {
+          probe.recoveredLoads += 1
+        })
+      }
+    })
+  )
 }
 
 async function readMainProcessCrashProbe(electronApp: ElectronApplication): Promise<CrashProbe> {
-  return electronApp.evaluate(
-    () => globalThis.__crashProbe ?? { processGone: null, recoveredLoads: 0 }
+  // Why: expect.poll does not retry a thrown read, and Electron's main evaluate can be collected spuriously.
+  return retryTransientMainEvaluate(() =>
+    electronApp.evaluate(() => globalThis.__crashProbe ?? { processGone: null, recoveredLoads: 0 })
   )
 }