diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-publish-atomicity.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-publish-atomicity.test.ts
index 086f5432ed2..b6316da1ac1 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-publish-atomicity.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-publish-atomicity.test.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,28 @@ describe('publishDaemonPidFile atomicity', () => {
     expect(entries).toEqual([])
   })
 
+  it('stays silent when the degraded write itself loses the ownership race', () => {
+    // Same catch arm as the degrade, but nothing was published: announcing lost
+    // torn-write protection for a record that was never written is a false alarm.
+    const entries: string[] = []
+    publishDaemonPidFile(pidPath, { pid: 1, startedAtMs: 5, launchNonce: 'other' })
+    fsFaults.linkError = Object.assign(new Error('injected ENOTSUP'), { code: 'ENOTSUP' })
+
+    expect(() =>
+      publishDaemonPidFile(pidPath, RECORD, { log: (event) => entries.push(event) })
+    ).toThrow(/EEXIST/)
+    expect(warnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(entries).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('names the errno even when the link error carries none', () => {
+    fsFaults.linkError = new Error('injected link failure with no code')
+
+    publishDaemonPidFile(pidPath, RECORD)
+
+    expect(warnSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('no errno'))
+  })
+
   it('keeps exclusive-create semantics on the degraded path too', () => {
     publishDaemonPidFile(pidPath, { pid: 1, startedAtMs: 5, launchNonce: 'other' })
     fsFaults.linkError = Object.assign(new Error('injected ENOTSUP'), { code: 'ENOTSUP' })
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-spawner.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-spawner.ts
index 4892e758b38..6212f1d46c2 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-spawner.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-spawner.ts
@@ -204,6 +204,10 @@ export function publishDaemonPidFile(
       // instead of trading a torn-write window for no pid record at all. Warn because the
       // degrade is otherwise invisible: an operator on such a volume (network mount,
       // container overlay) should be able to tell the atomic path is not in use.
+      writeFileSync(pidPath, serializeDaemonPidFile(pidFile), { mode: 0o600, flag: 'wx' })
+      // Announced only once the degraded write has actually landed: this same arm is
+      // reached by a lost ownership race, where the write throws EEXIST and nothing
+      // was published — claiming torn-write exposure for that would be a lie.
       // Both channels, matching daemon-endpoint-lifecycle.ts: inside the detached
       // daemon stdio is 'ignore' and its startup stderr pipe is destroyed once it is
       // up, so console alone reaches nobody on the path this warning exists for.
@@ -212,7 +216,6 @@ export function publishDaemonPidFile(
         `[daemon] pid-record hard-link publish failed (${describeErrnoCode(error)}); ` +
           'degrading to the non-atomic exclusive write — torn-write protection is off for this record'
       )
-      writeFileSync(pidPath, serializeDaemonPidFile(pidFile), { mode: 0o600, flag: 'wx' })
     }
   } finally {
     try {