diff --git a/src/container-runner.ts b/src/container-runner.ts
index 71e2064..8815b11 100644
--- a/src/container-runner.ts
+++ b/src/container-runner.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import {
   type ProviderContainerContribution,
   type VolumeMount,
 } from './providers/provider-container-registry.js';
-import { markContainerRunning, markContainerStopped, sessionDir, writeSessionRouting } from './session-manager.js';
+import { heartbeatPath, markContainerRunning, markContainerStopped, sessionDir, writeSessionRouting } from './session-manager.js';
 import type { AgentGroup, Session } from './types.js';
 
 const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL, apiKey: ONECLI_API_KEY });
@@ -131,6 +131,12 @@ async function spawnContainer(session: Session): Promise<void> {
 
   log.info('Spawning container', { sessionId: session.id, agentGroup: agentGroup.name, containerName });
 
+  // Clear any orphan heartbeat from a previous container instance — the
+  // sweep's ceiling check treats a missing file as "fresh spawn, give grace"
+  // (host-sweep.ts line 87). Without this, the stale mtime can trigger an
+  // immediate kill before the new container touches the file itself.
+  fs.rmSync(heartbeatPath(agentGroup.id, session.id), { force: true });
+
   const container = spawn(CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN, args, { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] });
 
   activeContainers.set(session.id, { process: container, containerName });