diff --git a/changes/issue-6441-kill-old-desktop-when-installing b/changes/issue-6441-kill-old-desktop-when-installing
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5a5e5eeb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/issue-6441-kill-old-desktop-when-installing
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Stop the old version of Fleet desktop before starting a new version.
diff --git a/orbit/pkg/packaging/macos_templates.go b/orbit/pkg/packaging/macos_templates.go
index 8d219d6770..a8d64644c3 100644
--- a/orbit/pkg/packaging/macos_templates.go
+++ b/orbit/pkg/packaging/macos_templates.go
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ ln -sf /opt/orbit /var/lib/orbit
 DAEMON_LABEL="com.fleetdm.orbit"
 DAEMON_PLIST="/Library/LaunchDaemons/${DAEMON_LABEL}.plist"
 
+# Stop the previous desktop agent
+pkill fleet-desktop || true
 # Remove any pre-existing version of the config
 launchctl bootout "system/${DAEMON_LABEL}"
 # Add the daemon to the launchd system