diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.test.ts
index e5f7b1dceb0..0d2323fd449 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   readFileSync,
   readdirSync,
   rmSync,
+  utimesSync,
   writeFileSync
 } from 'node:fs'
 import os from 'node:os'
@@ -267,6 +268,13 @@ describe('getRelocatedDaemonHost', () => {
   })
 })
 
+// Why: quarantine refuses records written in the last minute, because an in-flight publish is
+// indistinguishable from a torn one. Age a record so it stands for a settled corrupt record.
+function ageRecordPastQuarantineFloor(recordPath: string): void {
+  const aged = new Date(Date.now() - 5 * 60_000)
+  utimesSync(recordPath, aged, aged)
+}
+
 describe('pruneOldDaemonHosts', () => {
   it('removes unpinned non-current version dirs, keeping current and pinned', () => {
     const root = join(localAppDataDir, 'Orca', 'daemon-host')
@@ -437,6 +445,7 @@ describe('pruneOldDaemonHosts', () => {
     // writer of a mid-digits tear died mid-write, so quarantine must not consult any probe.
     const pidPath = join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid')
     writeFileSync(pidPath, '{"pid":123')
+    ageRecordPastQuarantineFloor(pidPath)
     const killSpy = vi.spyOn(process, 'kill').mockImplementation(() => {
       throw Object.assign(new Error('no such process'), { code: 'ESRCH' })
     })
@@ -464,6 +473,7 @@ describe('pruneOldDaemonHosts', () => {
     // Trusting it would re-create for this one record the eternal veto pruning must not have.
     const pidPath = join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid')
     writeFileSync(pidPath, '{"pid":4')
+    ageRecordPastQuarantineFloor(pidPath)
     const killSpy = vi.spyOn(process, 'kill').mockImplementation(() => {
       throw Object.assign(new Error('access denied'), { code: 'EPERM' })
     })
@@ -485,6 +495,57 @@ describe('pruneOldDaemonHosts', () => {
     killSpy.mockRestore()
   })
 
+  it('never quarantines a corrupt record that was just written', () => {
+    // A live daemon's record is created before it is written (writeFileSync 'wx'), so a
+    // concurrent launch can read it as empty. Quarantining it would strand the running daemon's
+    // record and let the NEXT launch reclaim its host image.
+    const root = join(localAppDataDir, 'Orca', 'daemon-host')
+    const runtimeDir = join(userDataDir, 'daemon')
+    mkdirSync(join(root, '1.0.0'), { recursive: true })
+    mkdirSync(runtimeDir, { recursive: true })
+    const pidPath = join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid')
+    writeFileSync(pidPath, '')
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+    const evidence = collectPinnedDaemonVersions(runtimeDir)
+
+    expect(evidence).toEqual({
+      status: 'unverifiable',
+      reason:
+        'the daemon pid file could not be parsed and was written too recently to quarantine: daemon-v7.pid'
+    })
+    expect(existsSync(pidPath)).toBe(true)
+    expect(existsSync(join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid.corrupt'))).toBe(false)
+    pruneOldDaemonHosts(evidence)
+    expect(existsSync(join(root, '1.0.0'))).toBe(true)
+    warnSpy.mockRestore()
+  })
+
+  it('never treats a settled empty record as a valid pre-relocation daemon', () => {
+    // Number('') === 0, so the parser's legacy bare-integer fallback accepts an empty record as
+    // pid 0 with appVersion null. Skipping it as "pins no host dir" would leave the version
+    // unpinned and let the prune below reclaim a live daemon's host image. Aged past the
+    // quarantine floor so this pins the pid guard rather than the freshness guard.
+    const root = join(localAppDataDir, 'Orca', 'daemon-host')
+    const runtimeDir = join(userDataDir, 'daemon')
+    mkdirSync(join(root, '1.0.0'), { recursive: true })
+    mkdirSync(runtimeDir, { recursive: true })
+    const pidPath = join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid')
+    writeFileSync(pidPath, '   ')
+    ageRecordPastQuarantineFloor(pidPath)
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+    const evidence = collectPinnedDaemonVersions(runtimeDir)
+
+    expect(evidence).toEqual({
+      status: 'unverifiable',
+      reason: 'the daemon pid file could not be parsed and was quarantined: daemon-v7.pid'
+    })
+    pruneOldDaemonHosts(evidence)
+    expect(existsSync(join(root, '1.0.0'))).toBe(true)
+    warnSpy.mockRestore()
+  })
+
   it('vetoes pruning while a pid salvaged from a corrupt record still answers', () => {
     const root = join(localAppDataDir, 'Orca', 'daemon-host')
     const runtimeDir = join(userDataDir, 'daemon')
@@ -518,6 +579,7 @@ describe('pruneOldDaemonHosts', () => {
     mkdirSync(runtimeDir, { recursive: true })
     const pidPath = join(runtimeDir, 'daemon-v7.pid')
     writeFileSync(pidPath, 'not a daemon record')
+    ageRecordPastQuarantineFloor(pidPath)
     const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
 
     // Launch with the corrupt record: prune skips once, and the record is quarantined in place
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.ts
index 2846f16016e..a7e8f2b6db2 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-host-relocation.ts
@@ -326,7 +326,15 @@ export function collectPinnedDaemonVersions(runtimeDir: string): PinnedDaemonVer
       }
     }
     const parsed = parseDaemonPidFile(contents)
-    if (!parsed) {
+    // Why not just `!parsed`: the parser's legacy bare-integer fallback coerces an empty or
+    // whitespace-only record to pid 0 (Number('') === 0), which is the exact shape a concurrent
+    // read sees while a live daemon publishes its record — writeFileSync 'wx' creates the file
+    // before writing it. Such a record would otherwise pass as a valid pre-relocation daemon,
+    // skip on appVersion === null, and leave its version unpinned, so the prune below would
+    // reclaim a running daemon's host image. A pid that is not a positive integer names no
+    // process — process.kill(0, 0) probes the caller's own process group, never a daemon — so
+    // it is not liveness evidence and must veto rather than be skipped.
+    if (!parsed || !Number.isInteger(parsed.pid) || parsed.pid <= 0) {
       return {
         status: 'unverifiable',
         reason: quarantineCorruptDaemonPidRecord(runtimeDir, entry.name, contents)
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-record-quarantine.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-record-quarantine.ts
index b4bbbfdafa0..577e56578d2 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-record-quarantine.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pid-record-quarantine.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
-import { renameSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { renameSync, statSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { salvagePidFromCorruptDaemonRecord } from './daemon-pid-file-parse'
 import { inspectProcessLiveness } from './daemon-process-inspection'
 
+/**
+ * A record that was just written is never quarantined: publishDaemonPidFile creates the record
+ * before writing it (writeFileSync with flag 'wx'), so a concurrent launch can read a LIVE
+ * daemon's record as empty or torn. Renaming it aside would strand that daemon's record, and the
+ * next launch — seeing a complete listing with no record for its version — would reclaim the
+ * running daemon's host image. An in-flight publish is by definition fresh; a record left corrupt
+ * by a dead writer ages past this floor and is quarantined on a later launch.
+ */
+const QUARANTINE_MIN_RECORD_AGE_MS = 60_000
+
 /**
  * A pid record that parses to nothing would otherwise veto daemon-host pruning on every future
  * launch: nothing ever rewrites a retired protocol version's pid file, so the veto never expires.
@@ -23,8 +33,23 @@ export function quarantineCorruptDaemonPidRecord(
     console.warn(`[daemon] Keeping corrupt daemon pid record: ${reason}`)
     return reason
   }
+  const recordPath = join(runtimeDir, name)
+  let modifiedAtMs: number
   try {
-    renameSync(join(runtimeDir, name), join(runtimeDir, `${name}.corrupt`))
+    modifiedAtMs = statSync(recordPath).mtimeMs
+  } catch {
+    const reason = `the daemon pid file could not be parsed or aged: ${name}`
+    console.warn(`[daemon] ${reason}`)
+    return reason
+  }
+  // A future mtime (clock adjustment) reads as negative age and is treated as fresh.
+  if (Date.now() - modifiedAtMs < QUARANTINE_MIN_RECORD_AGE_MS) {
+    const reason = `the daemon pid file could not be parsed and was written too recently to quarantine: ${name}`
+    console.warn(`[daemon] Keeping corrupt daemon pid record: ${reason}`)
+    return reason
+  }
+  try {
+    renameSync(recordPath, join(runtimeDir, `${name}.corrupt`))
   } catch {
     const reason = `the daemon pid file could not be parsed or quarantined: ${name}`
     console.warn(`[daemon] ${reason}`)