diff --git a/src/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon/Services/ProcessTree.cs b/src/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon/Services/ProcessTree.cs
index 015cfba618..659aa3a724 100644
--- a/src/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon/Services/ProcessTree.cs
+++ b/src/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon/Services/ProcessTree.cs
@@ -50,13 +50,46 @@ public static void Kill(int pid) {
         if (ProcessIdentity.Capture(pid) is { } identity) KillSubtree(pid, identity);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Kills only while <paramref name="pid"/> still carries <paramref name="identity"/>. Use
+    /// when the caller captured the identity itself — otherwise the bare <see cref="Kill(int)"/> would
+    /// take a FRESH identity, and a pid recycled between the caller's capture and here would let it
+    /// signal the replacement process. A mismatch is a no-op, not a failure.</summary>
+    public static void Kill(int pid, string identity) {
+        if (pid <= 0) return;
+
+        if (OperatingSystem.IsWindows()) {
+            try {
+                // Open FIRST, then derive the token from the SAME handle we are about to kill —
+                // checking a pid-based token before opening would let a recycled pid slip through.
+                using var process = Process.GetProcessById(pid);
+                // Force the Process to retain its long-term SafeHandle: StartTime and Kill each
+                // otherwise open their OWN short-term handle, letting the pid be reused between
+                // them. Reading Handle pins one handle for both.
+                _ = process.Handle;
+                if ($"tk:{process.StartTime.ToUniversalTime().Ticks}" != identity) return;
+                Kill(process);
+            } catch (ArgumentException) { /* already gone */ }
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (ProcessIdentity.Matches(pid, identity)) KillSubtree(pid, identity);
+    }
+
     static void KillSubtree(int pid, string identity) {
         var seen = new HashSet<int>();
 
         for (var rescan = 0; rescan <= MaxRescans; rescan++) {
             var fresh = false;
 
-            foreach (var child in Children(pid)) {
+            // The listing is trusted only when bracketed: the root must be the captured incarnation just
+            // before it and not proven a different one just after. A root that exited in between leaves
+            // its listed children to be killed, not orphaned; a pid proven reused leaves them alone. What
+            // remains is a reuse, plus the replacement spawning and exiting, inside one listing.
+            if (!ProcessIdentity.Matches(pid, identity)) break;
+            var children = Children(pid).ToList();
+            if (ProcessIdentity.MatchesTri(pid, identity) == false) return;
+
+            foreach (var child in children) {
                 if (!seen.Add(child)) continue; // handled on an earlier pass; a zombie stays listed until its parent dies
 
                 fresh = true;
diff --git a/test/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon.Tests.Unit/DaemonRunnerVersionProbeTests.cs b/test/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon.Tests.Unit/DaemonRunnerVersionProbeTests.cs
index 04e3cfbb68..8c5c8ae8ae 100644
--- a/test/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon.Tests.Unit/DaemonRunnerVersionProbeTests.cs
+++ b/test/Capacitor.Cli.Daemon.Tests.Unit/DaemonRunnerVersionProbeTests.cs
@@ -99,18 +99,74 @@ public async Task A_descendant_holding_the_pipe_open_is_bounded_and_still_reads_
         using var tmp = new TempDir();
         // Prints the version, then leaves a child holding the inherited stdout open after the CLI
         // itself exits — the shape that made ProbeCliVersionOnce block on a drain that never saw EOF.
+        // The stub records the descendant's pid so the test can reap it: once reparented it is no
+        // longer the test's child to wait on, and left alone it outlives the test host into teardown. The marker
+        // in its command line is what proves a pid is still that descendant when the test reaps it.
+        // (`; :` keeps the shell from exec-ing sleep, which would drop the marker.)
+        var pidFile = tmp.PathTo("faketool.pid");
+        var marker  = $"kcap-probe-descendant-{Guid.NewGuid():N}";
         var cli = tmp.CreateExecutable(
-            "faketool", "#!/bin/sh\necho 'faketool 9.9.9'\nsleep 20 &\nexit 0\n");
+            "faketool", $"#!/bin/sh\necho 'faketool 9.9.9'\nsh -c 'sleep 20; :' {marker} &\necho $! > {ShellQuote(pidFile)}\nexit 0\n");
 
         var sw = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();
-        var version = await Task.Run(() => DaemonRunner.ProbeCliVersionForLaunch(cli));
-        sw.Stop();
-
-        // Bounded: a return well under the descendant's 20s lifetime proves the drain was not blocked
-        // to an EOF that never comes.
-        await Assert.That(sw.Elapsed).IsLessThan(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(12));
-        // Recovered: the version printed ahead of the block survives, so registration advertises it
-        // rather than an unknown version that would reject a launch.
-        await Assert.That(version).IsEqualTo("9.9.9");
+        string? version = null;
+        try {
+            version = await Task.Run(() => DaemonRunner.ProbeCliVersionForLaunch(cli));
+            sw.Stop();
+
+            // Bounded: a return well under the descendant's 20s lifetime proves the drain was not
+            // blocked to an EOF that never comes.
+            await Assert.That(sw.Elapsed).IsLessThan(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(12));
+            // Recovered: the version printed ahead of the block survives, so registration advertises
+            // it rather than an unknown version that would reject a launch.
+            await Assert.That(version).IsEqualTo("9.9.9");
+        } finally {
+            // In a finally so a failing probe or assertion still reaps — otherwise the same leaked
+            // descendant turns a useful assertion failure into an exit-139 teardown failure.
+            await ReapDescendantAsync(pidFile, marker);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Kills the reparented descendant so it cannot linger past this test into the host's
+    /// teardown. A pid is killed only when its captured incarnation still carries this test's marker:
+    /// a descendant that already exited may have had its pid reused, and that process is left alone.</summary>
+    static async Task ReapDescendantAsync(string pidFile, string marker) {
+        int pid = 0;
+        for (var i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
+            if (File.Exists(pidFile) && int.TryParse((await File.ReadAllTextAsync(pidFile)).Trim(), out pid)) break;
+            await Task.Delay(20);
+        }
+        if (pid <= 0) return;
+
+        // Capture throws both when the pid is gone AND when a live process's identity is unreadable,
+        // so a bare catch is not proof of absence.
+        string identity;
+        try { identity = Capacitor.Tests.Helpers.PidIdentity.Capture(pid); }
+        catch {
+            try {
+                using var process = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcessById(pid);
+                if (process.HasExited) return;
+            } catch (ArgumentException) { return; } // genuinely gone
+            throw; // present but identity unreadable — do not assume it is gone
+        }
+
+        // The marker is read after the capture and the identity checked again after the read, so the
+        // command line that carried the marker belongs to the captured incarnation.
+        if (!(await CommandLineAsync(pid)).Contains(marker, StringComparison.Ordinal)) return;
+        if (Capacitor.Tests.Helpers.PidIdentity.IsGone(pid, identity)) return;
+
+        Capacitor.Cli.Daemon.Services.ProcessTree.Kill(pid, identity);
+        await Capacitor.Tests.Helpers.PidIdentity.WaitUntilGoneAsync(pid, identity, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5));
+    }
+
+    static string ShellQuote(string value) => "'" + value.Replace("'", "'\\''", StringComparison.Ordinal) + "'";
+
+    static async Task<string> CommandLineAsync(int pid) {
+        using var ps = System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo("ps", ["-o", "args=", "-p", pid.ToString(System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)]) {
+            RedirectStandardOutput = true, UseShellExecute = false,
+        })!;
+        var output = await ps.StandardOutput.ReadToEndAsync();
+        await ps.WaitForExitAsync();
+        return output;
     }
 }