diff --git a/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/src/retention.ts b/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/src/retention.ts
index 68841ad2bf3..6b7342096a2 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/src/retention.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/src/retention.ts
@@ -240,6 +240,10 @@ async function clearOrphan(db: D1Database, kind: string, id: string) {
   await db.prepare('DELETE FROM provider_orphans WHERE kind = ? AND provider_id = ? AND deleted_at IS NULL').bind(kind, id).run()
 }
 
+async function isPooledVm(db: D1Database, providerName: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  return (await db.prepare('SELECT 1 AS hit FROM sandbox_pool WHERE provider_name = ?').bind(providerName).first<{ hit: number }>()) !== null
+}
+
 async function sweepOrphans(deps: LifecycleDeps, summary: HousekeepingSummary): Promise<void> {
   const now = deps.now()
   const grace = retention(deps).orphanGraceMs
@@ -251,6 +255,11 @@ async function sweepOrphans(deps: LifecycleDeps, summary: HousekeepingSummary):
     if (box.tags.orcaEnv !== env || !box.tags.orcaSandbox) {
       continue
     }
+    // A warm-pool VM has no sandboxes row until it is claimed; its record is the pool row.
+    if (box.tags.orcaPool && (await isPooledVm(deps.db, box.name))) {
+      await clearOrphan(deps.db, 'sandbox', box.name)
+      continue
+    }
     const row = await getSandboxByProviderName(deps.db, box.name)
     if (row && row.status !== 'destroyed') {
       await clearOrphan(deps.db, 'sandbox', box.name)
diff --git a/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/test/retention.test.ts b/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/test/retention.test.ts
index 1120711eafe..9ffcf6ec923 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/test/retention.test.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/sandbox-control/test/retention.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,30 @@ async function setup() {
 }
 
 describe('orphan sweep', () => {
+  it('never stops a warm-pool VM: its record is the pool row, not a sandboxes row', async () => {
+    const { h, deps, sweep } = await setup()
+    const name = 'orca-test-sbx_pooled'
+    await h.vercel.createSandbox({
+      name,
+      snapshotId: GOLDEN,
+      vcpus: 4,
+      region: 'iad1',
+      timeoutMs: 30 * 60_000,
+      ports: [],
+      networkPolicy: { allow: {} },
+      tags: { orcaSandbox: 'sbx_pooled', orcaEnv: 'test', orcaPool: '1' },
+      snapshotExpirationMs: 0
+    })
+    await deps.db
+      .prepare(
+        `INSERT INTO sandbox_pool (id, provider_name, machine_size, region, snapshot_id, status, created_at, updated_at) VALUES ('sbx_pooled', ?, 'standard', 'iad1', ?, 'ready', 1, 1)`
+      )
+      .bind(name, GOLDEN)
+      .run()
+    expect((await sweep()).orphanSandboxesSuspended).toBe(0)
+    expect(h.vercel.boxes.get(name)!.status).toBe('running')
+  })
+
   it('suspends a provider sandbox with no live D1 row, deletes it after the grace period, leaves tracked ones alone', async () => {
     const { h, sweep } = await setup()
     const tracked = await h.call('POST', '/v1/sandboxes', create('ws-1'))