diff --git a/config/scripts/daemon-replacement-live-agent-pty-preservation-repro.mjs b/config/scripts/daemon-replacement-live-agent-pty-preservation-repro.mjs
index 495865be268..aa3ad99b5de 100644
--- a/config/scripts/daemon-replacement-live-agent-pty-preservation-repro.mjs
+++ b/config/scripts/daemon-replacement-live-agent-pty-preservation-repro.mjs
@@ -453,6 +453,12 @@ function teardown(staged) {
     staged.daemon.child.unref()
   }
   for (const marker of staged.markers ?? []) {
+    // Why re-verify by tag: phase 1 waits for these pids to die, and teardown runs a minute
+    // later. Signalling a remembered pid after that would be signalling whatever the OS has
+    // since recycled it onto — which is the mistake this whole script exists to study.
+    if (!isMarkerAlive(marker)) {
+      continue
+    }
     for (const pid of [marker.pid, marker.sessionPid]) {
       try {
         process.kill(pid, 'SIGKILL')
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.test.ts
index 5c3c313b142..47dcdf70433 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.test.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ function row(pid: number, ppid: number, overrides: Partial<ProcessTableRow> = {}
 
 const daemonRow = row(DAEMON_PID, 1, { command: 'daemon-entry.js' })
 
+// macOS wraps every terminal in login(1); only the wrapper is the session leader.
+const LOGIN_WRAPPER = '/usr/bin/login -flpq nwparker /bin/bash …'
+
 function windowsCandidate(pid: number): WindowsProcessCandidate {
   return { pid, ppid: DAEMON_PID, name: 'bash.exe', command: 'bash', executablePath: '', depth: 1 }
 }
@@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ describe('inspectDaemonPtyOwnership on POSIX', () => {
         readPosixProcessTable: posixTable([
           daemonRow,
           row(101, DAEMON_PID, { command: '/usr/bin/login -flpq nwparker' }),
-          row(202, 101, { command: 'claude' })
+          row(202, 101, { stat: 'S+', command: 'claude' })
         ])
       })
     ).resolves.toBe('owns-live-ptys')
@@ -87,7 +90,7 @@ describe('inspectDaemonPtyOwnership on POSIX', () => {
         readPosixProcessTable: posixTable([
           daemonRow,
           row(101, DAEMON_PID, { stat: 'Z', command: '<defunct>' }),
-          row(202, 101, { command: 'codex' })
+          row(202, 101, { stat: 'Ss', command: 'codex' })
         ])
       })
     ).resolves.toBe('owns-live-ptys')
@@ -408,13 +411,32 @@ describe('inspectDaemonPtyOwnership sampling', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe('owns-live-ptys')
   })
 
-  it('answers no-live-ptys on the first conclusive read without re-sampling', async () => {
+  it('confirms emptiness with a second read before letting it authorize a kill', async () => {
     const readPosixProcessTable = vi.fn(async () => [daemonRow])
 
     await expect(
       inspectDaemonPtyOwnership(DAEMON_PID, { platform: 'darwin', readPosixProcessTable })
     ).resolves.toBe('no-live-ptys')
-    expect(readPosixProcessTable).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(readPosixProcessTable).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  })
+
+  it('sees a terminal whose shell had not yet appeared on the first read', async () => {
+    // A terminal contributes exactly one session leader — on macOS the login wrapper — and it
+    // is childless for the moment between forkpty creating it and the shell appearing. One
+    // snapshot cannot tell that from a wrapper whose shell has gone, and guessing wrong here
+    // kills a live terminal.
+    const readPosixProcessTable = vi
+      .fn<() => Promise<ProcessTableRow[]>>()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce([daemonRow, row(101, DAEMON_PID, { command: LOGIN_WRAPPER })])
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce([
+        daemonRow,
+        row(101, DAEMON_PID, { command: LOGIN_WRAPPER }),
+        row(202, 101, { stat: 'S+', command: '/opt/homebrew/bin/bash --rcfile …' })
+      ])
+
+    await expect(
+      inspectDaemonPtyOwnership(DAEMON_PID, { platform: 'darwin', readPosixProcessTable })
+    ).resolves.toBe('owns-live-ptys')
   })
 
   it('gives up as unknown rather than guessing when every read stays blind', async () => {
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.ts
index 7ca522606ba..e242d789fce 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-live-pty-evidence.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ function programBasename(command: string): string {
   return base.endsWith('.exe') ? base.slice(0, -'.exe'.length) : base
 }
 
-function isDaemonSelfSpawnedPty(row: ProcessTableRow): boolean {
+function isDaemonSelfSpawnedPty(row: Pick<ProcessTableRow, 'command'>): boolean {
   const command = row.command.trim().toLowerCase()
   return DAEMON_SELF_SPAWNED_PTY_COMMANDS.some(({ program, args }) => {
     const suffix = ` ${args}`
@@ -176,9 +176,7 @@ async function probeOnce(
     if (descendants === null) {
       return 'unknown'
     }
-    const hosted = descendants.filter(
-      (row) => !isDaemonSelfSpawnedPty({ command: row.command } as ProcessTableRow)
-    )
+    const hosted = descendants.filter((row) => !isDaemonSelfSpawnedPty(row))
     return hosted.length > 0 ? 'owns-live-ptys' : 'no-live-ptys'
   }
   const deadlineMs = deps.posixDeadlineMs ?? POSIX_OWNERSHIP_PROBE_DEADLINE_MS
@@ -220,6 +218,7 @@ export async function inspectDaemonPtyOwnership(
   deps: DaemonPtyOwnershipDeps = {}
 ): Promise<DaemonPtyOwnership> {
   const platform = deps.platform ?? process.platform
+  let sawEmpty = false
   for (let attempt = 0; attempt < PTY_OWNERSHIP_PROBE_ATTEMPTS; attempt++) {
     let sample: DaemonPtyOwnership
     try {
@@ -227,9 +226,20 @@ export async function inspectDaemonPtyOwnership(
     } catch {
       sample = 'unknown'
     }
+    // Why a second look before accepting emptiness on POSIX: a terminal contributes exactly
+    // one session leader — on macOS the login wrapper — and it is invisible for the moment
+    // between forkpty creating it and the shell appearing beneath it. One snapshot cannot tell
+    // that from a wrapper whose shell has gone. Emptiness authorizes a kill, so it is the
+    // answer worth paying a second read for; 'owns-live-ptys' needs no confirmation.
+    if (sample === 'no-live-ptys' && platform !== 'win32' && !sawEmpty) {
+      sawEmpty = true
+      continue
+    }
     if (sample !== 'unknown') {
       return sample
     }
   }
-  return 'unknown'
+  // Only reached when every sample was blind, or when the confirming read disagreed with an
+  // emptiness it could not corroborate.
+  return sawEmpty ? 'no-live-ptys' : 'unknown'
 }
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/pty.ts b/src/main/ipc/pty.ts
index e0c5fad3442..7221d783bb3 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/pty.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/pty.ts
@@ -7444,9 +7444,15 @@ export function registerPtyHandlers(
 
   ipcMain.removeAllListeners('pty:signal')
   ipcMain.on('pty:signal', (_event, args: { id: string; signal: string }) => {
-    tryGetProviderForPty(args.id)
-      ?.sendSignal(args.id, args.signal)
-      .catch(() => {})
+    try {
+      // Why try/catch as well as .catch: routing refuses a session whose host is unreachable,
+      // and it may do so synchronously. Nothing sits above an ipcMain.on listener to catch it.
+      tryGetProviderForPty(args.id)
+        ?.sendSignal(args.id, args.signal)
+        .catch(() => {})
+    } catch {
+      /* unreachable host — the signal is undeliverable and there is no caller to tell */
+    }
   })
 
   ipcMain.removeAllListeners('pty:clearBuffer')