diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.test.ts
index 7d32949117f..1abe0f0715e 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.test.ts
@@ -9951,6 +9951,52 @@ describe('connectPanePty', () => {
     expect(spawnOptions[0]).not.toHaveProperty('launchConfig')
   })
 
+  // The pane's durable binding still names the old shell while the card is up — deliberately, so a
+  // failed replacement can put the card back. Main resolves a stable pane's owner from that binding,
+  // so if the shell answers again between the failed reattach and this click, the spawn ADOPTS it
+  // and hands back its id. Nothing was replaced. Clearing the binding then would unbind a live
+  // shell that is attached to this very pane, leaving it with no durable record of what it owns.
+  it('keeps the binding when the new-terminal spawn adopts the old shell instead of replacing it', async () => {
+    const { connectPanePty } = await import('./pty-connection')
+    mockStoreState = {
+      ...mockStoreState,
+      repos: [{ id: 'repo1', connectionId: 'target-a', displayName: 'orca' }]
+    } as StoreState
+    const transport = createMockTransport('tab-pty')
+    transport.connect.mockImplementation(async (options: { sessionId?: string }) => {
+      if (options.sessionId) {
+        throw new Error('PTY "tab-pty" not found')
+      }
+      // Main adopted the pane's existing owner: same id back, no new shell.
+      return { id: 'tab-pty', isReattach: true }
+    })
+    transportFactoryQueue.push(transport)
+
+    const pane = createPane(1)
+    const manager = createManager(1)
+    const onPtyRecoveryState = vi.fn<(paneId: number, state: RecoveryStateProbe) => void>()
+    const deps = createDeps({
+      restoredLeafId: LEAF_1,
+      restoredPtyIdByLeafId: { [LEAF_1]: 'tab-pty' },
+      onPtyRecoveryStateRef: { current: onPtyRecoveryState }
+    })
+
+    connectPanePty(pane as never, manager as never, deps as never)
+    await flushAsyncTicks(30)
+
+    const published = onPtyRecoveryState.mock.calls.find(
+      ([paneId, state]) => paneId === pane.id && state?.phase === 'disconnected'
+    )?.[1]?.unreachablePane
+    // Producer pin: without the card there is no action to invoke and the clauses below are vacuous.
+    expect(published).toBeDefined()
+
+    published!.onStartNewTerminal()
+    await flushAsyncTicks(30)
+
+    expect(deps.clearTabPtyId).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(deps.clearExitedPanePtyLayoutBinding).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   it('keeps ?25h in the live agent reattach reset when the snapshot leaves the cursor visible', async () => {
     const { connectPanePty } = await import('./pty-connection')
     const transport = createMockTransport('tab-pty')
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
index cc70743a110..4528cb2e6ef 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
@@ -5200,6 +5200,13 @@ export function connectPanePty(
                 divertToUnreachableCard(sessionId)
                 return
               }
+              if (freshPtyId === sessionId) {
+                // Nothing was replaced: the pane's durable binding still named this shell, and it
+                // answered again between the failed reattach and this click, so the spawn adopted
+                // it instead of creating one. Clearing below would unbind a shell that is live and
+                // now attached here — the pane would run with no durable record of what it owns.
+                return
+              }
               deps.clearExitedPanePtyLayoutBinding(pane.id, sessionId)
               deps.clearTabPtyId(deps.tabId, sessionId)
             })