diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.test.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6bcdfd45a1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+// @vitest-environment happy-dom
+
+import { act } from 'react'
+import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { SshTargetCard } from './SshTargetCard'
+import { TooltipProvider } from '../ui/tooltip'
+import type { SshConnectionState, SshTarget } from '../../../../shared/ssh-types'
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  document.body.innerHTML = ''
+})
+
+const target: SshTarget = {
+  id: 'target-1',
+  label: 'build-01',
+  host: 'build-01.internal',
+  port: 22,
+  username: 'deploy'
+}
+
+/** The real thing a host key mismatch produces: the remedy is the last clause. */
+const HOST_KEY_ERROR =
+  'Host key verification failed for build-01.internal. The key does not match the entry in your known_hosts file. ssh and git will refuse this host too. Run: ssh-keygen -R build-01.internal'
+
+async function renderCard(state: SshConnectionState | undefined): Promise<HTMLElement> {
+  const container = document.createElement('div')
+  document.body.appendChild(container)
+  await act(async () => {
+    createRoot(container).render(
+      <TooltipProvider>
+        <SshTargetCard
+          target={target}
+          state={state}
+          testing={false}
+          onConnect={vi.fn()}
+          onDisconnect={vi.fn()}
+          onTerminateSessions={vi.fn()}
+          onResetRelay={vi.fn()}
+          onTest={vi.fn()}
+          onEdit={vi.fn()}
+          onRemove={vi.fn()}
+        />
+      </TooltipProvider>
+    )
+  })
+  return container
+}
+
+const errorState = (error: string): SshConnectionState => ({
+  targetId: 'target-1',
+  status: 'error',
+  error,
+  reconnectAttempt: 0,
+  supportsFolderDownload: false
+})
+
+describe('the connection error on an SSH target card', () => {
+  it('shows the whole message, remedy included', async () => {
+    const container = await renderCard(errorState(HOST_KEY_ERROR))
+
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain('ssh-keygen -R build-01.internal')
+  })
+
+  // This is the regression that made the careful wording pointless: `truncate` clamps to one line
+  // with an ellipsis and there is no title attribute, so the remedy was unreachable even on hover.
+  it('does not clamp it to a single line', async () => {
+    const container = await renderCard(errorState(HOST_KEY_ERROR))
+    const paragraph = [...container.querySelectorAll('p')].find((node) =>
+      node.textContent?.includes('ssh-keygen')
+    )
+
+    expect(paragraph).toBeDefined()
+    expect(paragraph?.className).not.toContain('truncate')
+    // A long hostname has no break opportunity, so wrapping alone would still overflow the column.
+    expect(paragraph?.className).toContain('[overflow-wrap:anywhere]')
+  })
+
+  it('renders nothing when there is no error', async () => {
+    const container = await renderCard(undefined)
+
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain('Host key verification failed')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.tsx
index 6a99f0fe648..bf9043b68ec 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/SshTargetCard.tsx
@@ -301,8 +301,10 @@ export function SshTargetCard({
           {target.identityFile ? ` \u2022 ${target.identityFile}` : ''}
           {` \u2022 ${terminalPersistence}`}
         </p>
+        {/* Why not truncate: host key failures put the remedy (`ssh-keygen -R <host>`) at the end,
+            and a one-line clamp with no tooltip made it unreachable even on hover. */}
         {state?.error ? (
-          <p className="mt-0.5 truncate text-xs text-red-400">{state.error}</p>
+          <p className="mt-0.5 text-xs text-red-400 [overflow-wrap:anywhere]">{state.error}</p>
         ) : null}
       </div>