diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
index b9a94ad2dfa..331f288ded4 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
@@ -7300,10 +7300,18 @@ export function connectPanePty(
               snapshot.alternateScreen === true &&
               snapshot.frameRestoreAnsi !== undefined &&
               shouldSkipAltFrameForWidthMismatch(snapshot.cols, readProposedTerminalCols(pane))
-            for (const replayChunk of buildMainModelSnapshotReplayWrites(snapshot, {
-              skipAltFrame: skippedAltFrame
-            })) {
-              writeReplayData(replayChunk)
+            // Why: a success frame with no image is the host having nothing to say, not
+            // proof the pane is empty. The normal-buffer branch opens with
+            // \x1b[2J\x1b[3J\x1b[H, so applying it would wipe screen AND scrollback and
+            // leave exactly the blank pane this restore exists to repair.
+            const snapshotCarriesNoImage =
+              snapshot.alternateScreen !== true && snapshot.data === '' && !snapshot.scrollbackAnsi
+            if (!snapshotCarriesNoImage) {
+              for (const replayChunk of buildMainModelSnapshotReplayWrites(snapshot, {
+                skipAltFrame: skippedAltFrame
+              })) {
+                writeReplayData(replayChunk)
+              }
             }
             // Why: live agents own ?25l/?1004h; a forced ?1004l here would silence focus events until restart (agents enable focus reporting only at startup).
             writeReplayData(
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-hidden-output-restore-outcomes.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-hidden-output-restore-outcomes.test.ts
index 0c9b286703c..eca5cd6bf0d 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-hidden-output-restore-outcomes.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/remote-hidden-output-restore-outcomes.test.ts
@@ -638,6 +638,23 @@ describe('remote hidden-output restore outcomes', () => {
     drive.disposable.dispose()
   })
 
+  it('[modern] leaves the painted frame alone when the empty snapshot carries no image', async () => {
+    const serializeBuffer = vi.fn()
+    const serializeBufferOutcome = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      availability: { kind: 'snapshot' },
+      snapshot: { ...HOST_SNAPSHOT, data: '' }
+    })
+    const drive = await connectHiddenRemoteAgentPane(serializeBuffer, serializeBufferOutcome)
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    driveHiddenBacklogThenReveal(drive)
+    await flushAsyncTicks(20)
+
+    // \x1b[3J wipes xterm scrollback; a host answer with nothing in it must never
+    // cost the user the frame they can still see.
+    expect(drive.writtenChunks().join('')).not.toContain('\x1b[3J')
+    drive.disposable.dispose()
+  })
+
   it('[modern] waits for a reported outcome instead of applying the old elapsed-time deadline', async () => {
     const pendingOutcome = createDeferred<{
       availability: { kind: 'snapshot' }