diff --git a/browse/src/meta-commands.ts b/browse/src/meta-commands.ts
index 4bd0faae7..4cd296492 100644
--- a/browse/src/meta-commands.ts
+++ b/browse/src/meta-commands.ts
@@ -421,14 +421,17 @@ export async function handleMetaCommand(
     }
 
     case 'stop': {
-      await shutdown();
+      // Return the acknowledgement before closing the listener. Shutting down
+      // inline resets the CLI's fetch, which it reasonably interprets as a
+      // crash and then restarts the daemon it was asked to stop.
+      setTimeout(() => { void shutdown(); }, 25).unref?.();
       return 'Server stopped';
     }
 
     case 'restart': {
       // Signal that we want a restart — the CLI will detect exit and restart
       console.log('[browse] Restart requested. Exiting for CLI to restart.');
-      await shutdown();
+      setTimeout(() => { void shutdown(); }, 25).unref?.();
       return 'Restarting...';
     }
 
diff --git a/browse/test/stop-ack-before-shutdown.test.ts b/browse/test/stop-ack-before-shutdown.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05c761675
--- /dev/null
+++ b/browse/test/stop-ack-before-shutdown.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { handleMetaCommand } from '../src/meta-commands';
+
+describe('server control acknowledgement ordering', () => {
+  for (const [command, acknowledgement] of [
+    ['stop', 'Server stopped'],
+    ['restart', 'Restarting...'],
+  ] as const) {
+    test(`${command} acknowledges before closing the listener`, async () => {
+      let shutdownCalls = 0;
+      const manager = { getActiveSession: () => ({}) } as any;
+
+      const result = await handleMetaCommand(command, [], manager, async () => {
+        shutdownCalls += 1;
+      });
+
+      expect(result).toBe(acknowledgement);
+      expect(shutdownCalls).toBe(0);
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 50));
+      expect(shutdownCalls).toBe(1);
+    });
+  }
+});