diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.test.ts
index 908ef9a68b2..421b3d969dc 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.test.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ const {
   spawnMock,
   isPwshAvailableMock,
   validateWorkingDirectoryMock,
+  resolveUnixShellPathMock,
   resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock
 } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   spawnMock: vi.fn(),
   isPwshAvailableMock: vi.fn(),
+  resolveUnixShellPathMock: vi.fn((shellPath: string) => shellPath),
   resolveAgentForegroundProcessMock: vi.fn(),
   validateWorkingDirectoryMock: vi.fn((cwd: string) => {
     if (cwd.includes('definitely-missing')) {
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ vi.mock('../providers/local-pty-utils', async (importOriginal) => {
   const actual = await importOriginal<typeof LocalPtyUtils>()
   return {
     ...actual,
+    resolveUnixShellPath: resolveUnixShellPathMock,
     validateWorkingDirectory: validateWorkingDirectoryMock
   }
 })
@@ -116,6 +119,8 @@ describe('createPtySubprocess', () => {
       async (_pid: number, fallbackProcess: string | null) => fallbackProcess
     )
     validateWorkingDirectoryMock.mockClear()
+    resolveUnixShellPathMock.mockReset()
+    resolveUnixShellPathMock.mockImplementation((shellPath: string) => shellPath)
     isPwshAvailableMock.mockReturnValue(false)
     previousUserDataPath = process.env.ORCA_USER_DATA_PATH
     previousPowerlevelWizardDisable = process.env[POWERLEVEL10K_WIZARD_DISABLE_ENV]
@@ -181,6 +186,41 @@ describe('createPtySubprocess', () => {
     )
   })
 
+  it('resolves a missing Unix default before spawning node-pty', () => {
+    const proc = mockPtyProcess()
+    spawnMock.mockReturnValue(proc)
+    resolveUnixShellPathMock.mockReturnValue('/bin/sh')
+    const platform = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, 'platform')
+    const previousShell = process.env.SHELL
+    const warn = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', { configurable: true, value: 'linux' })
+    delete process.env.SHELL
+
+    try {
+      createPtySubprocess({ sessionId: 'test', cols: 80, rows: 24, env: {} })
+
+      expect(resolveUnixShellPathMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/bin/zsh')
+      expect(spawnMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        '/bin/sh',
+        ['-l'],
+        expect.objectContaining({ env: expect.objectContaining({ SHELL: '/bin/sh' }) })
+      )
+      expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        '[daemon/pty] Preferred shell "/bin/zsh" is unavailable, fell back to "/bin/sh"'
+      )
+    } finally {
+      warn.mockRestore()
+      if (platform) {
+        Object.defineProperty(process, 'platform', platform)
+      }
+      if (previousShell === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.SHELL
+      } else {
+        process.env.SHELL = previousShell
+      }
+    }
+  })
+
   it('uses bundled ConPTY for native Windows daemon terminals', () => {
     const proc = mockPtyProcess()
     spawnMock.mockReturnValue(proc)
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.ts b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.ts
index 5d36ebe9d69..d748bc273b8 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/pty-subprocess.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { isValidPtySize, normalizePtySize } from './daemon-pty-size'
 import {
   ensureNodePtySpawnHelperExecutable,
   getNodePtySpawnHelperCandidates,
+  resolveUnixShellPath,
   validateWorkingDirectory
 } from '../providers/local-pty-utils'
 import { wrapShellSpawnForMacosTccAttribution } from '../providers/macos-tcc-login-shell'
@@ -728,6 +729,14 @@ export function createPtySubprocess(opts: PtySubprocessOptions): SubprocessHandl
       addOrcaWslInteropEnv(env)
     }
   } else {
+    const preferredShellPath = shellPath
+    shellPath = resolveUnixShellPath(shellPath)
+    if (shellPath !== preferredShellPath) {
+      env.SHELL = shellPath
+      console.warn(
+        `[daemon/pty] Preferred shell "${preferredShellPath}" is unavailable, fell back to "${shellPath}"`
+      )
+    }
     // Why: relay-side launch modes can ask for host defaults to stay scrubbed
     // even after environment normalization above.
     for (const key of opts.envToDelete ?? []) {
diff --git a/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.test.ts b/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.test.ts
index 66fde349ded..d5904daab7e 100644
--- a/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.test.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ vi.mock('./macos-tcc-login-shell', () => ({
   wrapShellSpawnForMacosTccAttribution: wrapSpawnMock
 }))
 
-import { spawnShellWithFallback, validateWorkingDirectory } from './local-pty-utils'
+import {
+  resolveUnixShellPath,
+  spawnShellWithFallback,
+  validateWorkingDirectory
+} from './local-pty-utils'
 
 const WSL_UNC_DIR = '\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\jin\\repo'
 const NATIVE_DIR = 'C:\\Users\\jin\\repo'
@@ -102,6 +106,40 @@ describe('validateWorkingDirectory', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('resolveUnixShellPath', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    existsSyncMock.mockReset()
+    accessSyncMock.mockReset()
+  })
+
+  it('preserves non-absolute shells for execvp PATH and cwd resolution', () => {
+    expect(resolveUnixShellPath('bash')).toBe('bash')
+    expect(resolveUnixShellPath('./bin/custom-shell')).toBe('./bin/custom-shell')
+    expect(existsSyncMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('selects an executable fallback before node-pty can fork a missing shell', () => {
+    existsSyncMock.mockImplementation((path) => path === '/bin/sh')
+    accessSyncMock.mockReturnValue(undefined)
+
+    expect(resolveUnixShellPath('/missing/zsh')).toBe('/bin/sh')
+    expect(existsSyncMock.mock.calls.map(([path]) => path)).toEqual([
+      '/missing/zsh',
+      '/bin/zsh',
+      '/bin/bash',
+      '/bin/sh'
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('reports every attempted shell when no executable candidate exists', () => {
+    existsSyncMock.mockReturnValue(false)
+
+    expect(() => resolveUnixShellPath('/missing/zsh')).toThrow(
+      'No executable Unix shell found (tried: /missing/zsh, /bin/zsh, /bin/bash, /bin/sh)'
+    )
+  })
+})
+
 describe('spawnShellWithFallback macOS TCC login wrapping', () => {
   let origPlatform: PropertyDescriptor | undefined
 
diff --git a/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.ts b/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.ts
index 53d016d312f..3e21095d535 100644
--- a/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.ts
+++ b/src/main/providers/local-pty-utils.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { basename, join } from 'node:path'
+import { basename, isAbsolute, join } from 'node:path'
 import { existsSync, accessSync, statSync, chmodSync, constants as fsConstants } from 'node:fs'
 import type * as pty from 'node-pty'
 import { isWslUncPath } from '../../shared/wsl-paths'
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import { wrapShellSpawnForMacosTccAttribution } from './macos-tcc-login-shell'
 
 let didEnsureSpawnHelperExecutable = false
 
+const UNIX_SHELL_FALLBACKS = ['/bin/zsh', '/bin/bash', '/bin/sh'] as const
+
 function toUnpackedAsarPath(candidate: string): string {
   return candidate
     .replace(/app\.asar([/\\])/, 'app.asar.unpacked$1')
@@ -46,6 +48,25 @@ export function getShellValidationError(shellPath: string): string | null {
   return null
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolves an absolute Unix shell before node-pty forks. Bare commands and
+ * relative paths stay untouched so execvp can resolve them against PATH or cwd.
+ */
+export function resolveUnixShellPath(shellPath: string): string {
+  if (!isAbsolute(shellPath)) {
+    return shellPath
+  }
+  const candidates = [
+    shellPath,
+    ...UNIX_SHELL_FALLBACKS.filter((candidate) => candidate !== shellPath)
+  ]
+  const resolved = candidates.find((candidate) => getShellValidationError(candidate) === null)
+  if (resolved) {
+    return resolved
+  }
+  throw new Error(`No executable Unix shell found (tried: ${candidates.join(', ')})`)
+}
+
 /**
  * Ensure the node-pty spawn-helper binary has the executable bit set.
  *
@@ -252,7 +273,7 @@ export function spawnShellWithFallback(params: ShellSpawnParams): ShellSpawnResu
 
   // Try fallback shells on Unix
   if (process.platform !== 'win32') {
-    const fallbackShells = ['/bin/zsh', '/bin/bash', '/bin/sh'].filter((s) => s !== shellPath)
+    const fallbackShells = UNIX_SHELL_FALLBACKS.filter((candidate) => candidate !== shellPath)
     for (const fallback of fallbackShells) {
       if (getShellValidationError(fallback)) {
         continue