diff --git a/src/main/daemon/client.ts b/src/main/daemon/client.ts
index 5c980308..bb60f03c 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/client.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/client.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ export class DaemonClient {
   private streamSocket: Socket | null = null
   private connected = false
   private disconnectArmed = false
+  // Why: after a disconnect + reconnect (daemon respawn), a stale 'close'
+  // event from the old sockets can fire. Without a generation check, that
+  // event would tear down the fresh connection. Each doConnect() increments
+  // the generation; handleDisconnect ignores events from old generations.
+  private connectionGeneration = 0
   // Why: multiple concurrent spawn() calls from simultaneous pane mounts
   // all call ensureConnected(). Without a lock, each starts a separate
   // connection attempt, overwriting sockets and triggering "Connection lost".
@@ -78,9 +83,10 @@ export class DaemonClient {
 
       this.connected = true
       this.disconnectArmed = true
+      this.connectionGeneration++
 
-      // Handle socket close
-      const handleClose = () => this.handleDisconnect()
+      const gen = this.connectionGeneration
+      const handleClose = () => this.handleDisconnect(gen)
       this.controlSocket.on('close', handleClose)
       this.controlSocket.on('error', handleClose)
       this.streamSocket.on('close', handleClose)
@@ -270,8 +276,8 @@ export class DaemonClient {
     this.streamSocket.on('data', (chunk) => parser.feed(chunk.toString()))
   }
 
-  private handleDisconnect(): void {
-    if (!this.disconnectArmed) {
+  private handleDisconnect(generation: number): void {
+    if (!this.disconnectArmed || generation !== this.connectionGeneration) {
       return
     }
     this.disconnectArmed = false
diff --git a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter.ts b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter.ts
index e207c5f5..f11c88be 100644
--- a/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter.ts
+++ b/src/main/daemon/daemon-pty-adapter.ts
@@ -448,18 +448,18 @@ export class DaemonPtyAdapter implements IPtyProvider {
   }
 }
 
-// Why: ENOENT means the socket file was deleted (daemon crashed and cleaned
-// up, or was killed). ECONNREFUSED means the file exists but nothing is
-// listening (rare race). "Connection lost" / "Not connected" mean the daemon
-// died while we had an active or stale connection — the client detected the
-// socket close but we still tried to use it. All indicate the daemon is
-// gone and a respawn should be attempted.
+// Why: ENOENT/ECONNREFUSED with syscall 'connect' mean the socket is
+// unreachable (daemon died). Checking syscall avoids false positives from
+// token-file ENOENT (readFileSync), which has no syscall or syscall='open'.
+// "Connection lost" / "Not connected" mean the daemon died while we had an
+// active or stale connection. All indicate the daemon is gone and a respawn
+// should be attempted.
 function isDaemonGoneError(err: unknown): boolean {
   if (!(err instanceof Error)) {
     return false
   }
-  const code = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code
-  if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ECONNREFUSED') {
+  const errno = err as NodeJS.ErrnoException
+  if ((errno.code === 'ENOENT' || errno.code === 'ECONNREFUSED') && errno.syscall === 'connect') {
     return true
   }
   const msg = err.message