diff --git a/cloud/dev/scripts/relay-staging-c4-refresh-workflow.test.mjs b/cloud/dev/scripts/relay-staging-c4-refresh-workflow.test.mjs
index 67225f4d869..71e5e7aa921 100644
--- a/cloud/dev/scripts/relay-staging-c4-refresh-workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/cloud/dev/scripts/relay-staging-c4-refresh-workflow.test.mjs
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ const asiaCells = ['production-gce-c27', 'production-gce-c28', 'production-gce-c
 const c30Digest = '4158d8a2e18e9caec439d257f0c1e45d92ffea8c0262f057b2f08c76a134bcf0'
 // C31 launches on the digest the director served when it was declared.
 const c31Digest = 'f30b5cb1ec52b6b6145efecfa1b8be9e3d309403beffd8abcc64197a2087e269'
+// Staging C4 runs the step-5 image D for the staging e2e.
+const stagingC4Digest = 'ac2ab357d3ed9f104ed3d5c440ef3d1ad493d9661e86d1c404d8dfc6b7c59c02'
 
 function cellBlock(tfvars, cellId) {
   const start = tfvars.indexOf(`"${cellId}"`)
@@ -52,8 +54,8 @@ function cellBlock(tfvars, cellId) {
 const productionCell = (cellId) => cellBlock(productionTfvars, cellId)
 
 // Scoped to C4 by name: staging C3 serves this digest too since its 2026-09-03 re-pin.
-test('pins staging C4 and the launch Asia cells to one image, and C30/C31 to director images', () => {
-  assert.match(cellBlock(stagingTfvars, 'staging-gce-c4'), new RegExp(`relay@sha256:${launchDigest}"`))
+test('pins staging C4 to the step-5 image, the launch Asia cells to one image, and C30/C31 to director images', () => {
+  assert.match(cellBlock(stagingTfvars, 'staging-gce-c4'), new RegExp(`relay@sha256:${stagingC4Digest}"`))
   for (const cellId of asiaCells) {
     assert.match(productionCell(cellId), new RegExp(`relay@sha256:${launchDigest}"`), cellId)
   }
diff --git a/cloud/infra/terraform/environments/staging.tfvars b/cloud/infra/terraform/environments/staging.tfvars
index 8c095bcb9ce..d26a0ee23f5 100644
--- a/cloud/infra/terraform/environments/staging.tfvars
+++ b/cloud/infra/terraform/environments/staging.tfvars
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ relay_gce_cells = {
     boot_disk_gb      = 30
     boot_image        = "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/images/cos-stable-121-18867-528-7"
     capacity_requests = 4000
-    # c2's image: the legacy 2d0f6e6 cannot report capped telemetry, so a cap needs this one.
-    image = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:1239830d0946dc92ded3c9edde1c0b827f584a7a2be5c177beed900056d76f69"
+    # Step-5 image D (#27049-#27107). Never 2d0f6e6: it cannot report capped telemetry.
+    image = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:ac2ab357d3ed9f104ed3d5c440ef3d1ad493d9661e86d1c404d8dfc6b7c59c02"
     # Step-5 staging e2e: c1 is the second US reserve cell, so it needs a cap and rehome trust.
     connection_hard_cap         = 600
     connection_unobserved_bound = 60
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ relay_gce_cells = {
     boot_disk_gb                = 30
     boot_image                  = "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/images/cos-stable-121-18867-528-7"
     capacity_requests           = 4000
-    image                       = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:1239830d0946dc92ded3c9edde1c0b827f584a7a2be5c177beed900056d76f69"
+    image                       = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:ac2ab357d3ed9f104ed3d5c440ef3d1ad493d9661e86d1c404d8dfc6b7c59c02"
     connection_hard_cap         = 600
     connection_unobserved_bound = 60
   }
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ relay_gce_cells = {
     boot_image                  = "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/cos-cloud/global/images/cos-stable-121-18867-528-21"
     capacity_requests           = 6000
     database_pool_max           = 10
-    image                       = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:5aedbca5c86de24c8b4d4bf7e3b444b76c712f281ede916cb9d90f70cad1e563"
+    image                       = "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/onorca-cloud-staging/orca-cloud/relay@sha256:ac2ab357d3ed9f104ed3d5c440ef3d1ad493d9661e86d1c404d8dfc6b7c59c02"
     initially_enabled           = false
     connection_hard_cap         = 3000
     connection_unobserved_bound = 60