diff --git a/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.test.ts b/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..347664d5bb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst,
+  type GpuFallbackEngagement,
+  type GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers
+} from './gpu-fallback-engagement'
+import type { GpuFallbackRestartDecision } from './gpu-fallback-restart-prompt'
+
+const ENGAGEMENT: GpuFallbackEngagement = {
+  reason: 'crashed',
+  // 0x80000003 STATUS_BREAKPOINT — the production Windows signature.
+  exitCode: -2147483645,
+  crashesInWindow: 3,
+  engagedAt: 1_700_000_000_000
+}
+
+function createHandlers(
+  overrides: Partial<GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers> = {}
+): { handlers: GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers; order: string[] } {
+  const order: string[] = []
+  const handlers: GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers = {
+    isQuitting: () => false,
+    persistMarker: vi.fn(() => {
+      order.push('persistMarker')
+      return true
+    }),
+    clearMarker: vi.fn(() => order.push('clearMarker')),
+    promptForRestart: vi.fn(async () => {
+      order.push('prompt')
+      return 'restart' as GpuFallbackRestartDecision
+    }),
+    onPromptFailed: vi.fn(),
+    onEngaged: vi.fn(),
+    onRestartDeferred: vi.fn(() => order.push('restartDeferred')),
+    restartIntoSafeGraphics: vi.fn(() => order.push('restart')),
+    ...overrides
+  }
+  return { handlers, order }
+}
+
+describe('engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst', () => {
+  // Repro for the Windows startup GPU cluster (v1.4.190, exit -2147483645).
+  // Measured on Windows 11 26200 / Electron 43.1.0: Chromium's own ladder aborts
+  // the whole browser ("GPU process isn't usable. Goodbye.") on the 6th GPU
+  // crash, 1.285s after the 3rd — the crash that trips this threshold. If the
+  // marker is only written after the user answers the modal, the app dies first
+  // and the next launch retries hardware acceleration, looping forever.
+  it('persists the safe-graphics marker before the restart prompt is answered', async () => {
+    let resolvePrompt: ((decision: GpuFallbackRestartDecision) => void) | undefined
+    const { handlers } = createHandlers({
+      promptForRestart: vi.fn(
+        () =>
+          new Promise<GpuFallbackRestartDecision>((resolve) => {
+            resolvePrompt = resolve
+          })
+      )
+    })
+
+    const engaging = engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    await Promise.resolve()
+
+    // Chromium kills the process here; whatever is on disk now is all the next launch gets.
+    expect(handlers.persistMarker).toHaveBeenCalledWith(ENGAGEMENT)
+
+    resolvePrompt?.('restart')
+    await engaging
+  })
+
+  it('relaunches into safe graphics when the user accepts', async () => {
+    const { handlers, order } = createHandlers()
+    await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    expect(order).toEqual(['persistMarker', 'prompt', 'restart'])
+    expect(handlers.clearMarker).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('undoes the marker when the user chooses Keep Running', async () => {
+    const { handlers, order } = createHandlers({
+      promptForRestart: vi.fn(async () => 'continue' as GpuFallbackRestartDecision)
+    })
+    await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    expect(order).toEqual(['persistMarker', 'clearMarker', 'restartDeferred'])
+    expect(handlers.restartIntoSafeGraphics).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the marker when the prompt itself fails, so the next launch is still safe', async () => {
+    const error = new Error('no display')
+    const { handlers } = createHandlers({
+      promptForRestart: vi.fn(async () => {
+        throw error
+      })
+    })
+    await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    expect(handlers.persistMarker).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(handlers.clearMarker).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(handlers.onPromptFailed).toHaveBeenCalledWith(error)
+  })
+
+  it('does not relaunch when a quit began while the prompt was open', async () => {
+    const { handlers } = createHandlers({ isQuitting: () => true })
+    await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    expect(handlers.restartIntoSafeGraphics).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    // The marker stays: a quit is not the user declining safe graphics.
+    expect(handlers.clearMarker).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('does not claim a restart when the marker could not be written', async () => {
+    const { handlers } = createHandlers({ persistMarker: vi.fn(() => false) })
+    await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(ENGAGEMENT, handlers)
+    expect(handlers.restartIntoSafeGraphics).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.ts b/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c8a4b4498b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import type { GpuFallbackRestartDecision } from './gpu-fallback-restart-prompt'
+
+/** The GPU-crash burst that tripped the software-rendering fallback. */
+export type GpuFallbackEngagement = {
+  reason: string
+  exitCode: number | null
+  crashesInWindow: number
+  /** Wall-clock ms stamped into the persisted marker. */
+  engagedAt: number
+}
+
+export type GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers = {
+  isQuitting: () => boolean
+  /** Writes the build-scoped safe-graphics marker; false when it could not be persisted. */
+  persistMarker: (engagement: GpuFallbackEngagement) => boolean
+  clearMarker: () => void
+  promptForRestart: () => Promise<GpuFallbackRestartDecision>
+  onPromptFailed: (error: unknown) => void
+  onEngaged: (engagement: GpuFallbackEngagement) => void
+  onRestartDeferred: (engagement: GpuFallbackEngagement) => void
+  restartIntoSafeGraphics: (engagement: GpuFallbackEngagement) => void
+}
+
+/**
+ * Drives the safe-graphics handover once a GPU crash burst trips the threshold.
+ *
+ * Why the marker is written before the prompt: measured on Windows 11 26200 /
+ * Electron 43.1.0, Chromium's own GPU ladder aborts the whole browser process
+ * (`FATAL gpu_data_manager_impl_private.cc: GPU process isn't usable. Goodbye.`)
+ * on the 6th GPU crash — 1.285s after the 3rd, which is the crash that trips
+ * this threshold. Persisting only after the user answers a modal means the app
+ * dies first, no marker survives, and the next launch retries hardware
+ * acceleration: the crash loop never ends. An explicit "Keep Running" undoes it.
+ */
+export async function engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(
+  engagement: GpuFallbackEngagement,
+  handlers: GpuFallbackEngagementHandlers
+): Promise<void> {
+  handlers.onEngaged(engagement)
+  const persisted = handlers.persistMarker(engagement)
+  let decision: GpuFallbackRestartDecision
+  try {
+    decision = await handlers.promptForRestart()
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Marker stays: the next launch is safe even though the user was never asked.
+    handlers.onPromptFailed(error)
+    return
+  }
+  if (handlers.isQuitting()) {
+    return
+  }
+  if (decision !== 'restart') {
+    if (persisted) {
+      handlers.clearMarker()
+    }
+    handlers.onRestartDeferred(engagement)
+    return
+  }
+  if (!persisted) {
+    return
+  }
+  handlers.restartIntoSafeGraphics(engagement)
+}
diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index c21adc53642..8e9dc8c142b 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ import { enableRendererHeapHeadroom } from './startup/renderer-heap-headroom'
 import { argvRequestsServeMode, normalizeServeModeArgv } from './startup/serve-mode-argv'
 import { ensureVirtualDisplayForHeadlessServe } from './startup/ensure-virtual-display'
 import {
+  clearGpuFallbackMarker,
   readActiveGpuFallbackMarker,
   writeGpuFallbackMarker,
   type GpuFallbackEnvironment,
@@ -181,10 +182,8 @@ import {
   GpuCrashFallbackTracker,
   isGpuFallbackCrashCandidate
 } from './crash-reporting/gpu-crash-fallback-decision'
-import {
-  promptForGpuFallbackRestart,
-  type GpuFallbackRestartDecision
-} from './crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-restart-prompt'
+import { promptForGpuFallbackRestart } from './crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-restart-prompt'
+import { engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst } from './crash-reporting/gpu-fallback-engagement'
 import {
   shouldSuppressDevEducation,
   suppressDevEducationForStore
@@ -1874,54 +1873,57 @@ async function handleGpuChildCrash(reason: string, exitCode: number | null): Pro
   if (!result.shouldEngageFallback) {
     return
   }
-  recordCrashBreadcrumb('gpu_fallback_engaged', {
-    reason,
-    exitCode,
-    crashesInWindow: result.crashesInWindow
-  })
-  const engagedAt = Date.now()
-  const window = mainWindow && !mainWindow.isDestroyed() ? mainWindow : undefined
-  let restartDecision: GpuFallbackRestartDecision
-  try {
-    restartDecision = await promptForGpuFallbackRestart(window)
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.warn('[gpu-fallback] failed to show restart prompt:', error)
-    return
-  }
   const fallbackData = {
     processReason: reason,
     exitCode,
     crashesInWindow: result.crashesInWindow
   }
-  if (isQuitting) {
-    return
-  }
-  if (restartDecision !== 'restart') {
-    recordDurableCrashBreadcrumb('gpu_fallback_restart_deferred', fallbackData)
-    return
-  }
-  const environment = getWindowsGpuFallbackEnvironment()
-  if (!environment) {
-    return
-  }
-  try {
-    writeGpuFallbackMarker(
-      app.getPath('userData'),
-      {
-        engagedAt,
-        crashesInWindow: result.crashesInWindow
+  const userDataPath = app.getPath('userData')
+  await engageGpuFallbackAfterCrashBurst(
+    { reason, exitCode, crashesInWindow: result.crashesInWindow, engagedAt: Date.now() },
+    {
+      isQuitting: () => isQuitting,
+      onEngaged: (engagement) =>
+        recordCrashBreadcrumb('gpu_fallback_engaged', {
+          reason: engagement.reason,
+          exitCode: engagement.exitCode,
+          crashesInWindow: engagement.crashesInWindow
+        }),
+      persistMarker: (engagement) => {
+        const environment = getWindowsGpuFallbackEnvironment()
+        if (!environment) {
+          return false
+        }
+        try {
+          writeGpuFallbackMarker(
+            userDataPath,
+            { engagedAt: engagement.engagedAt, crashesInWindow: engagement.crashesInWindow },
+            environment
+          )
+          return true
+        } catch (error) {
+          console.warn('[gpu-fallback] failed to persist marker:', error)
+          return false
+        }
       },
-      environment
-    )
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.warn('[gpu-fallback] failed to persist marker:', error)
-    return
-  }
-  isQuitting = true
-  relaunchApp('gpu-fallback', fallbackData)
-  // Why: app.exit(0) skips before-quit, so destroy the Windows tray manually to avoid a stale icon.
-  destroySystemTray()
-  app.exit(0)
+      clearMarker: () => clearGpuFallbackMarker(userDataPath),
+      promptForRestart: () =>
+        promptForGpuFallbackRestart(
+          mainWindow && !mainWindow.isDestroyed() ? mainWindow : undefined
+        ),
+      onPromptFailed: (error) =>
+        console.warn('[gpu-fallback] failed to show restart prompt:', error),
+      onRestartDeferred: () =>
+        recordDurableCrashBreadcrumb('gpu_fallback_restart_deferred', fallbackData),
+      restartIntoSafeGraphics: () => {
+        isQuitting = true
+        relaunchApp('gpu-fallback', fallbackData)
+        // Why: app.exit(0) skips before-quit, so destroy the Windows tray manually to avoid a stale icon.
+        destroySystemTray()
+        app.exit(0)
+      }
+    }
+  )
 }
 
 function recordProcessGoneCrash(