diff --git a/src/main/persistence.ts b/src/main/persistence.ts
index e167bfa6107..eba5a989068 100644
--- a/src/main/persistence.ts
+++ b/src/main/persistence.ts
@@ -2859,8 +2859,12 @@ export type PtyBindingSourceExpectation = {
  * `mayCreate: false`, so the binding is refused and rolled back — for every pane the upgrading
  * user had open. Local always wins; the partition only supplies panes local does not already know.
  */
-export function hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession(state: PersistedState): boolean {
-  const partitions = state.workspaceSessionsByHostId
+export function hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession(
+  state: PersistedState,
+  /** Passed explicitly: pane-identity normalization prunes partitions before this runs. */
+  sourcePartitions?: PersistedState['workspaceSessionsByHostId']
+): boolean {
+  const partitions = sourcePartitions ?? state.workspaceSessionsByHostId
   if (!partitions) {
     return false
   }
@@ -2943,6 +2947,8 @@ export class Store {
   private readonly sshRemotePtyLeaseMutationVersions = new WeakMap<SshRemotePtyLease, number>()
   private readonly protectedSecrets = new ProtectedSecretPersistence()
   private loadNeedsSave = false
+  /** SSH host partitions as they were on disk, before pruning. Used once, by the hoist migration. */
+  private sshPartitionsAtLoad: PersistedState['workspaceSessionsByHostId'] | undefined
   private settingsChangeListeners = new Set<
     (
       updates: Partial<GlobalSettings>,
@@ -2971,6 +2977,13 @@ export class Store {
     const loaded = this.load()
     const normalized = normalizePersistedPaneIdentityState(loaded)
     this.state = normalized.state
+    // Why: earlier builds wrote SSH pane membership into `ssh:<target>` partitions; this build's
+    // binding writer is local-only and its reattach refuses to create, so an unhoisted partition
+    // means every pane is refused and the user's tabs are discarded. Runs after pane-identity
+    // normalization, which rebuilds the session and would otherwise drop the hoisted panes.
+    if (hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession(this.state, this.sshPartitionsAtLoad)) {
+      this.loadNeedsSave = true
+    }
     // Why: activeView is a frequent, tiny preference; keeping it beside the
     // profile avoids serializing the multi-MB recovery store on navigation.
     this.activeViewPreference = new ActiveViewPreference(this.dataFile, this.state.ui?.activeView)
@@ -3984,6 +3997,10 @@ export class Store {
       this.loadNeedsSave = true
     }
 
+    // Captured here because later load steps and pane-identity normalization prune host
+    // partitions; the SSH hoist below still needs the panes they held.
+    this.sshPartitionsAtLoad = result.workspaceSessionsByHostId
+
     const migrated = this.migrateTabSwitchKeybindings(
       this.migrateTelemetry(result, fileExistedOnLoad),
       fileExistedOnLoad
@@ -4002,14 +4019,6 @@ export class Store {
       migrated.githubCache = readGithubCacheSnapshot(this.dataFile) ?? migrated.githubCache
     }
 
-    // Why: earlier builds wrote SSH pane membership into `ssh:<target>` partitions; this build's
-    // binding writer is local-only and its reattach refuses to create, so an unhoisted partition
-    // means every pane is refused and the user's tabs are discarded. Runs on the final state so a
-    // later migration cannot replace the session object out from under it.
-    if (hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession(migrated)) {
-      this.loadNeedsSave = true
-    }
-
     logPersistenceStartupMilestone('persistence-load-done', {
       repos: migrated.repos.length,
       workspaceSessionBytes: Buffer.byteLength(JSON.stringify(migrated.workspaceSession))
diff --git a/src/main/ssh-partition-upgrade-tab-loss.test.ts b/src/main/ssh-partition-upgrade-tab-loss.test.ts
index 521e7bcb025..cabb7774a73 100644
--- a/src/main/ssh-partition-upgrade-tab-loss.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ssh-partition-upgrade-tab-loss.test.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ describe('an SSH pane whose membership was persisted into the ssh partition', ()
 
     // The upgrade launch.
     const store = await reopenStore()
+    // The migration must have folded the pane into the plane the binder actually reads.
+    expect(
+      store.getWorkspaceSession().tabsByWorktree?.[WORKTREE] ?? [],
+      'the migration did not hoist the pane into the local session'
+    ).toHaveLength(1)
 
     // The reattach bind: no hostId, refuses to create.
     const bound = store.persistPtyBinding({
@@ -126,4 +131,19 @@ describe('an SSH pane whose membership was persisted into the ssh partition', ()
 
     expect(bound, 'the pre-mayCreate path did not keep the pane either').toBe(true)
   })
+
+  // Isolates the migration from its wiring: does the function itself hoist?
+  it('hoists the partition when called directly', async () => {
+    await createStore()
+    const { hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession } = await import('./persistence')
+    const state = {
+      workspaceSession: { ...getDefaultWorkspaceSession() },
+      workspaceSessionsByHostId: { [SSH_PARTITION]: paneSession() }
+    } as never as Parameters<typeof hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession>[0]
+
+    const changed = hoistSshPartitionsIntoLocalSession(state)
+
+    expect(changed, 'the function reported no change').toBe(true)
+    expect(state.workspaceSession?.tabsByWorktree?.[WORKTREE] ?? []).toHaveLength(1)
+  })
 })