diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save-operations.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save-operations.ts
index c8623d4af61..b12874d0036 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save-operations.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save-operations.ts
@@ -236,30 +236,28 @@ export async function createAutomationOnDestination(
 
 export async function saveExistingAutomation(
   context: AutomationSaveContext,
+  automationId: string,
   currentAutomation: Automation | null,
   updates: AutomationUpdateInput,
   destination: AutomationDestination | undefined,
   fallbackTarget: AutomationHostTarget | null,
   rowKey: string | null
 ): Promise<AutomationDispatchResult<Automation>> {
-  if (!currentAutomation) {
-    return {
-      ok: false,
-      notice: {
-        message: translate(
-          'auto.components.automations.AutomationsPage.ownerChanged',
-          'This automation changed hosts. Refresh and try again.'
-        ),
-        recovery: 'retry',
-        severity: 'owner'
-      }
-    }
-  }
   return await dispatchAutomationUpdate(
     context.destination.automationDispatchContext,
-    { rowKey: rowKey ?? '', automationId: currentAutomation.id },
+    { rowKey: rowKey ?? '', automationId },
     updates,
-    () => updateAutomationForTarget(currentAutomation, updates, fallbackTarget),
+    () => {
+      if (!currentAutomation) {
+        throw new Error(
+          translate(
+            'auto.components.automations.AutomationsPage.ownerChanged',
+            'This automation changed hosts. Refresh and try again.'
+          )
+        )
+      }
+      return updateAutomationForTarget(currentAutomation, updates, fallbackTarget)
+    },
     'save',
     destination
   )
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save.ts
index f556412b27c..8459aaf0659 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/automation-orca-save.ts
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ export async function saveOrcaAutomation(
   } else if (editingAutomationId !== null) {
     saved = await saveExistingAutomation(
       context,
+      editingAutomationId,
       currentAutomation,
       updates,
       editDestination,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/use-automations-page-destination-form.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/use-automations-page-destination-form.ts
index a7b7072f5a0..c9f91cb2f37 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/automations/use-automations-page-destination-form.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/automations/use-automations-page-destination-form.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ export function useAutomationsPageDestinationForm({
     settings
   } = store
   const {
+    createOpen,
     createTarget,
     editingAutomationId,
     editingRowKey,
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ export function useAutomationsPageDestinationForm({
     setEditingHostStableKey,
     setEditingDestination,
     setDraft,
+    draft,
     draftRef
   } = local
   const { visibleRows, hostCatalog, capturedAutomationOwners } = list
@@ -162,9 +164,23 @@ export function useAutomationsPageDestinationForm({
       ? editHostProjects
       : editorProjects
     : getAutomationCreateRepos(repos, { kind: 'local' })
+
+  // A destination change can strand the chosen project on another host; clear
+  // it so the draft/default-target effect can select a project the host owns.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!createOpen || editingAutomationId !== null || createTarget !== 'orca') {
+      return
+    }
+    setDraft((current) =>
+      !current.projectId || editorProjects.some((project) => project.id === current.projectId)
+        ? current
+        : { ...current, projectId: '', workspaceId: '', baseBranch: '' }
+    )
+  }, [createOpen, createTarget, editingAutomationId, editorProjects, setDraft])
+
   const dialogWorktrees = useMemo(() => {
-    const candidates = worktreesByRepo[draftRef.current.projectId] ?? []
-    const project = dialogRepos.find((repo) => repo.id === draftRef.current.projectId)
+    const candidates = worktreesByRepo[draft.projectId] ?? []
+    const project = dialogRepos.find((repo) => repo.id === draft.projectId)
     if (!project) {
       return candidates
     }
@@ -179,7 +195,7 @@ export function useAutomationsPageDestinationForm({
         worktree.runtimeOwnerEnvironmentId === parsedHost.environmentId
       )
     })
-  }, [dialogRepos, draftRef, worktreesByRepo])
+  }, [dialogRepos, draft.projectId, worktreesByRepo])
   const destinationForProject = useCallback(
     (projectId: string, hostStableKey?: string | null): AutomationCreateDestination | null => {
       const selectedEntry = hostStableKey