diff --git a/src/codex/app-server-restart-service.ts b/src/codex/app-server-restart-service.ts
index 50c272a1d1..9faa833a73 100644
--- a/src/codex/app-server-restart-service.ts
+++ b/src/codex/app-server-restart-service.ts
@@ -127,18 +127,22 @@ async function runCodexRestart(io: CodexRestartServiceIo): Promise<CodexRestartR
     code: before.state === "unknown" ? "enumeration_unavailable" : "nothing_running",
   });
 
-  // `unknown` is not only the empty enumeration-failure case: the classifier also
-  // returns it WITH processes when the catalog mtime or a start time is unreadable.
-  // In that state it has not established that any server predates the catalog, so
-  // signalling would kill a possibly-current app-server on a guess.
-  if (before.state === "unknown" || before.processes.length === 0) return nothingToDo();
+  // Only a stale verdict establishes that any server predates the catalog.
+  // `unknown` can include processes with unreadable timestamps, while `fresh`
+  // explicitly establishes that none should be interrupted.
+  const catalogMtimeMs = before.catalogMtimeMs;
+  if (before.state !== "stale" || catalogMtimeMs === null || before.processes.length === 0) {
+    return nothingToDo();
+  }
 
   // The classifier carries { pid, startedAtMs } and no command line, but
   // restartCodexAppServers needs the full identity so it can refuse to signal a
   // recycled pid. Re-list and intersect on pid rather than reconstructing an
   // identity we never verified.
   const classifiedStarts = new Map(
-    before.processes.map(entry => [entry.pid, entry.startedAtMs] as const),
+    before.processes
+      .filter(entry => entry.startedAtMs !== null && entry.startedAtMs <= catalogMtimeMs)
+      .map(entry => [entry.pid, entry.startedAtMs] as const),
   );
   const live = (io.listProcesses ?? listCodexAppServerProcesses)(io.processIo ?? {});
   const candidates = live.filter(process => classifiedStarts.has(process.pid));
diff --git a/tests/codex-app-server-restart-service.test.ts b/tests/codex-app-server-restart-service.test.ts
index c93978c21e..9c1e7cc210 100644
--- a/tests/codex-app-server-restart-service.test.ts
+++ b/tests/codex-app-server-restart-service.test.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,46 @@ describe("performCodexRestart", () => {
     expect(result.requested).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  test("a fresh classifier reading signals nothing", async () => {
+    let restarted = false;
+    const result = await performCodexRestart(baseIo({
+      collectState: () => ({
+        state: "fresh",
+        processes: [{ pid: 100, startedAtMs: 20 }],
+        catalogMtimeMs: 10,
+      }),
+      listProcesses: () => [proc(100)],
+      restart: () => {
+        restarted = true;
+        return { requested: [100], stopped: [100], surviving: [], failed: [] };
+      },
+    }));
+
+    expect(restarted).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.code).toBe("nothing_running");
+    expect(result.stateBefore).toBe("fresh");
+    expect(result.requested).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test("a mixed stale and fresh reading signals only stale app-servers", async () => {
+    let received: CodexAppServerProcess[] = [];
+    await performCodexRestart(baseIo({
+      collectState: () => ({
+        state: "stale",
+        processes: [{ pid: 100, startedAtMs: 5 }, { pid: 200, startedAtMs: 20 }],
+        catalogMtimeMs: 10,
+      }),
+      listProcesses: () => [proc(100), proc(200)],
+      readStartMs: () => new Map([[100, 5], [200, 20]]),
+      restart: targets => {
+        received = [...targets];
+        return { requested: [100], stopped: [100], surviving: [], failed: [] };
+      },
+    }));
+
+    expect(received.map(entry => entry.pid)).toEqual([100]);
+  });
+
   test("a survivor makes the result partially_stopped and unsuccessful", async () => {
     const result = await performCodexRestart(baseIo({
       collectState: () => ({
@@ -556,4 +596,4 @@ describe("last-moment identity gate (through the real restart helper)", () => {
     expect(serialized).not.toContain("CodexAppServerIdentityChanged");
     expect(result.failed).toEqual([4242]);
   });
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});