diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-polling.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-polling.ts
index c3414430ca8..ed0043b3c5b 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-polling.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-polling.ts
@@ -143,9 +143,17 @@ async function snapshotGitCommon(
     entryPaths = entries
       .filter((entry) => entry.isDirectory())
       .map((entry) => join(worktreesDir, entry.name))
-  } catch {
-    // Missing worktrees dir is normal for repos without linked worktrees.
-    entryPaths = []
+  } catch (error) {
+    if ((error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'ENOENT') {
+      // Dir genuinely absent (no linked worktrees, or all removed) → authoritative empty listing.
+      entryPaths = []
+    } else {
+      // Why: a TRANSIENT readdir failure (EIO/ESTALE/EMFILE, network/SSH hiccup) must not masquerade as
+      // "every worktree removed" — that would emit false delete events (and false creates next tick).
+      // Reuse the known entries so per-entry stats still run; a real removal surfaces as that entry's own
+      // stat miss (handled in snapshotGitCommonEntry), and the next successful readdir catches any add.
+      entryPaths = previous ? [...previous.entries.keys()] : []
+    }
   }
 
   const entries = new Map<string, GitCommonEntrySnapshot>()
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-watch.test.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-watch.test.ts
index f37fe816827..e4c508e45ff 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-watch.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktree-git-common-watch.test.ts
@@ -337,6 +337,10 @@ describe('worktree git-common polling gate (non-darwin)', () => {
     await vi.waitFor(() => {
       expect(received.flat()).toContainEqual({ type: 'create', path: entry })
     })
+    // The add is caught by the every-tick listing, NOT the 15-tick index backstop: detection lands well
+    // before a backstop could fire, so onFullScan must not have run. (On the old gated impl a coarse-FS
+    // signature collision would have deferred this to the backstop.)
+    expect(fullScans).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
 
     await rm(entry, { recursive: true })
     await vi.waitFor(() => {
@@ -344,6 +348,28 @@ describe('worktree git-common polling gate (non-darwin)', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  it('does not fabricate worktree deletions when the readdir fails non-ENOENT (transient)', async () => {
+    // Why: a transient readdir failure (EIO/ESTALE/EMFILE/ENOTDIR, network/SSH hiccup) must not be read
+    // as "every linked worktree removed". Simulate a non-ENOENT failure by replacing the worktrees dir
+    // with a file so readdir throws ENOTDIR; the known entry must NOT be reported deleted. On the old
+    // catch-all (entryPaths = []) this emitted a false delete for every entry.
+    const commonDir = await makePollingCommonDir()
+    const entry = join(commonDir, 'worktrees', 'keep')
+    await mkdir(entry)
+    await writeFile(join(entry, 'HEAD'), 'ref: refs/heads/main')
+    const received: WorktreeBasePollEvent[][] = []
+    await startPollingWatch(commonDir, received)
+
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, POLL_MS * 2))
+    const worktreesDir = join(commonDir, 'worktrees')
+    await rm(worktreesDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    await writeFile(worktreesDir, 'not-a-dir')
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, POLL_MS * 4))
+
+    expect(received.flat()).not.toContainEqual({ type: 'delete', path: entry })
+    await rm(worktreesDir, { force: true })
+  })
+
   it('detects an in-place structural (HEAD) write on a known entry every tick, without the index backstop', async () => {
     // Why: a raw HEAD/gitdir/config.worktree rewrite does not bump the entry-dir mtime, so the
     // structural leaves are re-stat'd every tick (never gated) — the change surfaces within one tick