diff --git a/src/main/git/remote.test.ts b/src/main/git/remote.test.ts
index 32231d7cc36..61b95d0e50d 100644
--- a/src/main/git/remote.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/remote.test.ts
@@ -402,6 +402,51 @@ describe('git remote operations', () => {
     expect(gitExecFileAsyncMock.mock.calls).toHaveLength(3)
   })
 
+  it('retries a divergent pushTarget pull as a merge when no strategy is configured', async () => {
+    const divergentError = new Error(
+      'Command failed: git pull\n' + 'fatal: Need to specify how to reconcile divergent branches.'
+    )
+    gitExecFileAsyncMock
+      // First attempt: validate the target, then the plain pull rejects.
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: '', stderr: '' })
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(divergentError)
+      // Fallback attempt: re-validate, then pull --no-rebase (merge) succeeds.
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: '', stderr: '' })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: '', stderr: '' })
+
+    await gitPull('/repo', { remoteName: 'fork', branchName: 'feature/fix' })
+
+    // The merge flag is spliced ahead of the positional remote/branch args.
+    expect(gitExecFileAsyncMock.mock.calls).toEqual([
+      [['check-ref-format', '--branch', 'feature/fix'], { cwd: '/repo' }],
+      [['pull', 'fork', 'feature/fix'], { cwd: '/repo' }],
+      [['check-ref-format', '--branch', 'feature/fix'], { cwd: '/repo' }],
+      [['pull', '--no-rebase', 'fork', 'feature/fix'], { cwd: '/repo' }]
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces a normalized error and does not loop when the merge fallback itself fails', async () => {
+    const divergentError = new Error(
+      'Command failed: git pull\n' + 'fatal: Need to specify how to reconcile divergent branches.'
+    )
+    const mergeConflictError = new Error(
+      'Command failed: git pull --no-rebase\nCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in file.txt'
+    )
+    gitExecFileAsyncMock
+      // First attempt fails with the reconciliation error.
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'feature\n', stderr: '' })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'origin/feature\n', stderr: '' })
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(divergentError)
+      // The single merge fallback then fails on a real conflict.
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'feature\n', stderr: '' })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'origin/feature\n', stderr: '' })
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(mergeConflictError)
+
+    await expect(gitPull('/repo')).rejects.toThrow()
+    // At-most-once retry: probe+pull, then probe+fallback-pull — no further attempts.
+    expect(gitExecFileAsyncMock.mock.calls).toHaveLength(6)
+  })
+
   it('pulls the same-name origin branch for legacy base-tracking worktrees', async () => {
     gitExecFileAsyncMock
       .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'feature\n', stderr: '' })
diff --git a/src/main/git/remote.ts b/src/main/git/remote.ts
index bbb5d479505..5c3f40cafe0 100644
--- a/src/main/git/remote.ts
+++ b/src/main/git/remote.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 import {
-  MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS,
-  isDivergentPullReconciliationError,
   normalizeGitErrorMessage,
-  pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation
+  runPullWithDivergenceFallback
 } from '../../shared/git-remote-error'
 import { resolveEffectiveGitUpstream } from '../../shared/git-effective-upstream'
 import { gitRefTargetsBranchOnRemote } from '../../shared/git-remote-branch-name'
@@ -245,19 +243,7 @@ async function gitPullWithArgs(
   }
 
   try {
-    try {
-      await runPull(pullArgs)
-    } catch (error) {
-      // Why: on hosts with no pull.rebase/pull.ff policy, Git 2.27+ refuses to
-      // reconcile divergent branches. Retry as a merge (Git's historical
-      // default) so pulls succeed out of the box; callers that already forced a
-      // strategy — or users who configured rebase — never reach this fallback.
-      if (!pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation(pullArgs) && isDivergentPullReconciliationError(error)) {
-        await runPull([...MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS, ...pullArgs])
-        return
-      }
-      throw error
-    }
+    await runPullWithDivergenceFallback(pullArgs, runPull)
   } catch (error) {
     throw new Error(normalizeGitErrorMessage(error, 'pull'))
   }
diff --git a/src/relay/git-handler.ts b/src/relay/git-handler.ts
index bb353258af6..510dd60f84b 100644
--- a/src/relay/git-handler.ts
+++ b/src/relay/git-handler.ts
@@ -45,11 +45,9 @@ import { detectConflictOperation, getStatusOp } from './git-handler-status-ops'
 import { checkIgnoredPathsOp } from './git-handler-check-ignore'
 import { resolveRelayPushTarget } from './git-handler-push-target'
 import {
-  MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS,
-  isDivergentPullReconciliationError,
   isNoUpstreamError,
   normalizeGitErrorMessage,
-  pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation
+  runPullWithDivergenceFallback
 } from '../shared/git-remote-error'
 import { upstreamOnlyCommitsArePatchEquivalent } from '../shared/git-upstream-status'
 import { assertGitPushTargetShape } from '../shared/git-push-target-validation'
@@ -1053,22 +1051,7 @@ export class GitHandler {
 
     try {
       try {
-        try {
-          await runPull(pullArgs)
-        } catch (error) {
-          // Why: on hosts with no pull.rebase/pull.ff policy, Git 2.27+ refuses
-          // to reconcile divergent branches. Retry as a merge (Git's historical
-          // default) so SSH pulls succeed out of the box; forced strategies and
-          // rebase-configured users never reach this fallback.
-          if (
-            !pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation(pullArgs) &&
-            isDivergentPullReconciliationError(error)
-          ) {
-            await runPull([...MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS, ...pullArgs])
-            return
-          }
-          throw error
-        }
+        await runPullWithDivergenceFallback(pullArgs, runPull)
       } catch (error) {
         // Why: mirror the local gitPull normalization so SSH users see the same
         // actionable messages instead of raw git stderr.
diff --git a/src/shared/git-remote-error.test.ts b/src/shared/git-remote-error.test.ts
index 7dc83f941ce..0a1e6be56e6 100644
--- a/src/shared/git-remote-error.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/git-remote-error.test.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ import {
   formatSubmodulePushFailureDetail,
   isDivergentPullReconciliationError,
   isNoUpstreamError,
+  MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS,
   normalizeGitErrorMessage,
-  pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation
+  pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation,
+  runPullWithDivergenceFallback
 } from './git-remote-error'
 
 afterEach(() => {
@@ -188,3 +190,46 @@ describe('pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation', () => {
     expect(pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation(['-r'])).toBe(true)
   })
 })
+
+describe('runPullWithDivergenceFallback', () => {
+  const divergentError = new Error(
+    'Command failed: git pull\n' +
+      'hint: You have divergent branches and need to specify how to reconcile them.\n' +
+      'fatal: Need to specify how to reconcile divergent branches.'
+  )
+
+  it('retries with merge reconciliation args on a policy error', async () => {
+    const calls: string[][] = []
+    const runPull = vi.fn(async (effectiveArgs: string[]) => {
+      calls.push(effectiveArgs)
+      if (effectiveArgs.length === 0) {
+        throw divergentError
+      }
+    })
+
+    await runPullWithDivergenceFallback([], runPull)
+
+    expect(calls).toEqual([[], [...MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS]])
+    expect(runPull).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  })
+
+  it('does not retry when pull args already specify reconciliation', async () => {
+    const runPull = vi.fn(async () => {
+      throw divergentError
+    })
+
+    await expect(runPullWithDivergenceFallback(['--ff-only'], runPull)).rejects.toBe(divergentError)
+    expect(runPull).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(runPull).toHaveBeenCalledWith(['--ff-only'])
+  })
+
+  it('rethrows non-divergence errors without retrying', async () => {
+    const otherError = new Error('fatal: Not possible to fast-forward, aborting.')
+    const runPull = vi.fn(async () => {
+      throw otherError
+    })
+
+    await expect(runPullWithDivergenceFallback([], runPull)).rejects.toBe(otherError)
+    expect(runPull).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/git-remote-error.ts b/src/shared/git-remote-error.ts
index c48ba34c8af..d2171f8a6a2 100644
--- a/src/shared/git-remote-error.ts
+++ b/src/shared/git-remote-error.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,28 @@ export function pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation(pullArgs: string[]): boolean {
   return pullArgs.some((arg) => RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARG_PATTERN.test(arg))
 }
 
+// Why: on hosts with no pull.rebase/pull.ff policy, Git 2.27+ refuses to
+// reconcile divergent branches. Retry as a merge (Git's historical default) so
+// pulls succeed out of the box; callers that already forced a strategy — or
+// users who configured rebase — never reach this fallback.
+// Not routed through GitCapabilityCache: this is per-repo config/branch state,
+// not a stable host capability, and only fires on an actual divergence error,
+// so there is nothing host-scoped to cache.
+export async function runPullWithDivergenceFallback(
+  pullArgs: string[],
+  runPull: (effectiveArgs: string[]) => Promise<void>
+): Promise<void> {
+  try {
+    await runPull(pullArgs)
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (!pullArgsSpecifyReconciliation(pullArgs) && isDivergentPullReconciliationError(error)) {
+      await runPull([...MERGE_RECONCILIATION_PULL_ARGS, ...pullArgs])
+      return
+    }
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
 export type GitRemoteOperation = 'push' | 'pull' | 'fetch' | 'upstream'
 
 export function normalizeGitErrorMessage(error: unknown, operation?: GitRemoteOperation): string {