diff --git a/browse/src/cli.ts b/browse/src/cli.ts
index 942b56148..c5b875755 100644
--- a/browse/src/cli.ts
+++ b/browse/src/cli.ts
@@ -316,10 +316,14 @@ export async function reapRecordedChromium(state: {
   const cmd = readPidCmdline(pid).toLowerCase();
   if (!/chrom|headless_shell/.test(cmd)) return;
   safeKill(pid, 'SIGTERM');
-  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1000));
+  // Poll instead of a fixed sleep: the common case (daemon's own close is
+  // finishing concurrently) exits in ~100-200ms instead of always paying 1s.
+  const deadline = Date.now() + 1000;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline && isProcessAlive(pid)) {
+    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 100));
+  }
   if (isProcessAlive(pid)) {
     safeKill(pid, 'SIGKILL');
-    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 500));
   }
 }
 
@@ -496,7 +500,14 @@ async function startServer(extraEnv?: Record<string, string>): Promise<ServerSta
   // Bound the append-mode daemon log before the new daemon starts writing.
   rotateDaemonLogIfOversized();
 
-  // Clean up stale state file and error log
+  // Clean up stale state file and error log. Reap the previous daemon's
+  // recorded headless Chromium first — the state file is the only carrier of
+  // its identity, and the lock-less headless child is invisible to
+  // killOrphanChromium below (#2709). Identity-gated, so safe when stale.
+  {
+    const staleState = readState();
+    if (staleState) await reapRecordedChromium(staleState);
+  }
   safeUnlink(config.stateFile);
   safeUnlink(path.join(config.stateDir, 'browse-startup-error.log'));
 
@@ -1592,7 +1603,13 @@ Refs:           After 'snapshot', use @e1, @e2... as selectors:
     // Kill an orphaned Chromium still holding the profile lock (the Bun server
     // PID's Chromium child can outlive an abrupt kill/crash), then clear the
     // lock files so the launch is clean. Shared with the auto-restart path (#1781).
+    // Also reap the lock-less headless child recorded in the state file before
+    // deleting it — killOrphanChromium can't see it (#2709).
     await killOrphanChromium();
+    {
+      const staleState = readState();
+      if (staleState) await reapRecordedChromium(staleState);
+    }
     cleanChromiumProfileLocks();
 
     // Delete stale state file
@@ -1837,6 +1854,10 @@ Refs:           After 'snapshot', use @e1, @e2... as selectors:
       process.exit(0);
     }
     if (!isProcessAlive(stopState.pid) && !(await isServerHealthy(stopState.port))) {
+      // The daemon died abruptly (SIGKILL, crash) — the likeliest orphan case.
+      // Reap the recorded headless Chromium BEFORE destroying the state file,
+      // which is the only carrier of its identity (#2709).
+      await reapRecordedChromium(stopState);
       safeUnlinkQuiet(config.stateFile);
       console.log('No daemon running (cleaned stale state) — nothing to stop.');
       process.exit(0);
diff --git a/browse/src/xvfb.ts b/browse/src/xvfb.ts
index cf90b9bf6..8954589ec 100644
--- a/browse/src/xvfb.ts
+++ b/browse/src/xvfb.ts
@@ -95,12 +95,20 @@ export function pickFreeDisplay(
  */
 export function readPidStartTime(pid: number): string {
   if (!isProcessAlive(pid)) return '';
-  const result = Bun.spawnSync(['ps', '-p', String(pid), '-o', 'lstart='], {
-    windowsHide: true,
-    stdout: 'pipe', stderr: 'pipe', timeout: 2000,
-  });
-  if (result.exitCode !== 0) return '';
-  return result.stdout.toString().trim();
+  try {
+    const result = Bun.spawnSync(['ps', '-p', String(pid), '-o', 'lstart='], {
+      windowsHide: true,
+      stdout: 'pipe', stderr: 'pipe', timeout: 2000,
+    });
+    if (result.exitCode !== 0) return '';
+    return result.stdout.toString().trim();
+  } catch {
+    // Bun.spawnSync THROWS when the executable is missing (Windows shells
+    // without an MSYS `ps`). This function's contract is "empty string if
+    // ps fails" — a missing ps must not abort the caller (browser-manager
+    // now calls this on the universal launch path, #2709).
+    return '';
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -111,7 +119,20 @@ export function readPidCmdline(pid: number): string {
   try {
     return fs.readFileSync(`/proc/${pid}/cmdline`, 'utf-8').replace(/\0/g, ' ').trim();
   } catch {
-    return '';
+    // No /proc on darwin — the platform #2709's reap actually targets. Fall
+    // back to ps (same pattern as readPidStartTime above); without this the
+    // reap's cmdline identity gate always saw '' on macOS and the reap was
+    // a structural no-op exactly where the spinning-GPU orphan lives.
+    try {
+      const result = Bun.spawnSync(['ps', '-p', String(pid), '-o', 'command='], {
+        windowsHide: true,
+        stdout: 'pipe', stderr: 'pipe', timeout: 2000,
+      });
+      if (result.exitCode !== 0) return '';
+      return result.stdout.toString().trim();
+    } catch {
+      return '';
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/browse/test/headless-gpu-and-reap.test.ts b/browse/test/headless-gpu-and-reap.test.ts
index 1610f318c..d0dbbf0c0 100644
--- a/browse/test/headless-gpu-and-reap.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/headless-gpu-and-reap.test.ts
@@ -104,3 +104,96 @@ describe.skipIf(process.platform !== 'linux')('reapRecordedChromium identity gat
     await reapRecordedChromium({ chromiumPid: 999999999, chromiumStartTime: 'x' });
   });
 });
+
+// ─── Source pins: the #2709 pieces stay WIRED ────────────────────────────
+// The unit tests above prove headlessGpuArgs and reapRecordedChromium behave;
+// these pins prove the daemon persists the child's identity, the CLI reaps on
+// every stop/stale-cleanup path, and the GPU flags only ever reach a headless
+// launch. Anchored to function names and call expressions, never line numbers.
+describe('stop-reap wiring pins (#2709)', () => {
+  const fs = require('node:fs') as typeof import('node:fs');
+  const path = require('node:path') as typeof import('node:path');
+  const SRC = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, '..', 'src');
+  const read = (f: string) => fs.readFileSync(path.join(SRC, f), 'utf-8');
+
+  test('server.ts persists chromiumPid/chromiumStartTime from getChromiumProcInfo() into the state file', () => {
+    const src = read('server.ts');
+    const stateStart = src.indexOf('const state: Record<string, unknown> = {');
+    expect(stateStart, 'state-object literal not found in server.ts').toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    // The object literal ends where the daemon serializes it and renames the
+    // tmp file into place — identity must be INSIDE what gets persisted.
+    const stateEnd = src.indexOf('fs.renameSync(tmpFile, config.stateFile)', stateStart);
+    expect(stateEnd, 'state-file rename not found after the state object').toBeGreaterThan(stateStart);
+    const stateObj = src.slice(stateStart, stateEnd);
+    expect(stateObj).toContain('browserManager.getChromiumProcInfo()');
+    expect(stateObj).toContain('chromiumPid: info.pid');
+    expect(stateObj).toContain('chromiumStartTime: info.startTime');
+  });
+
+  test('cli.ts reaps on every stop + stale-state path (>=5 call sites)', () => {
+    const src = read('cli.ts');
+    // Every call site awaits; the only other occurrence is the definition.
+    expect(src).toContain('export async function reapRecordedChromium(');
+    const callSites = src.split('await reapRecordedChromium(').length - 1;
+    expect(callSites, 'a reap call site was removed — every stop/stale path must reap').toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(5);
+
+    const between = (from: string, to: string) => {
+      const a = src.indexOf(from);
+      expect(a, `anchor not found in cli.ts: ${from}`).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+      const b = src.indexOf(to, a);
+      expect(b, `anchor not found after "${from}": ${to}`).toBeGreaterThan(a);
+      return src.slice(a, b);
+    };
+
+    // 1. Dead-daemon stop branch: reap BEFORE destroying the state file — the
+    //    state file is the only carrier of the child's identity.
+    const deadDaemon = between(
+      '!isProcessAlive(stopState.pid) && !(await isServerHealthy(stopState.port))',
+      'No daemon running (cleaned stale state)',
+    );
+    expect(deadDaemon).toMatch(
+      /await reapRecordedChromium\(stopState\);[\s\S]*safeUnlinkQuiet\(config\.stateFile\);/,
+    );
+
+    // 2. Force-stop on a live daemon (stop --force-restart short-circuit).
+    const forceStop = between(
+      'isProcessAlive(stopState.pid) && globalFlags.forceRestart',
+      'Daemon stopped (forced',
+    );
+    expect(forceStop).toContain('await reapRecordedChromium(stopState);');
+
+    // 3. startServer stale-state cleanup, before safeUnlink(config.stateFile).
+    const startServer = between('async function startServer(', 'safeUnlink(config.stateFile);');
+    expect(startServer).toMatch(
+      /const staleState = readState\(\);\s*\n\s*if \(staleState\) await reapRecordedChromium\(staleState\);/,
+    );
+
+    // 4. Headed-connect stale path: reap sits between killOrphanChromium()
+    //    (which cannot see the lock-less headless child) and the unlink.
+    const connect = between("if (command === 'connect')", 'Launching headed Chromium');
+    expect(connect).toMatch(
+      /await killOrphanChromium\(\);[\s\S]*if \(staleState\) await reapRecordedChromium\(staleState\);[\s\S]*safeUnlinkQuiet\(config\.stateFile\);/,
+    );
+
+    // 5. Post-graceful-stop: the daemon closed Chromium via Playwright, but a
+    //    surviving GPU process must still be reaped after sendCommand('stop').
+    const postStop = between('await sendCommand(state, command, commandArgs);', "if (command === 'focus')");
+    expect(postStop).toMatch(
+      /if \(command === 'stop'\) \{\s*\n\s*await reapRecordedChromium\(state\);/,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('browser-manager.ts pushes headlessGpuArgs only under the headless launch guard', () => {
+    const src = read('browser-manager.ts');
+    // Exactly one call site (the exported definition aside) — a second,
+    // unguarded push would strip the GPU from headed/GBrowser sessions.
+    const calls = src.match(/headlessGpuArgs\(process\.platform, process\.env\)/g) ?? [];
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1);
+    // And that one call site is guarded by the headless flag: the extensions
+    // path above it forces useHeadless = false, so extension-loaded and headed
+    // launches never receive the GPU-disable flags.
+    expect(src).toMatch(
+      /if \(useHeadless\) \{\s*\n\s*launchArgs\.push\(\.\.\.headlessGpuArgs\(process\.platform, process\.env\)\);\s*\n\s*\}/,
+    );
+  });
+});