diff --git a/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.test.ts b/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.test.ts
index 5aa042b041..552ec84c8e 100644
--- a/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.test.ts
@@ -207,6 +207,36 @@ describe("successful run handoff decision", () => {
     expect(instruction).not.toMatch(/[\u0000-\u0008\u000B-\u001F\u007F]/);
   });
 
+  it("does not queue for a run woken by source_scoped_recovery_action", () => {
+    expect(
+      decide({
+        run: {
+          ...run,
+          contextSnapshot: {
+            issueId: "issue-1",
+            wakeReason: "source_scoped_recovery_action",
+          },
+        } as any,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      kind: "skip",
+      reason: "recovery action run owns its own follow-up path",
+    });
+    // the recoveryActionId marker alone is also enough (payloads carry it even
+    // when wakeReason is rewritten downstream)
+    expect(
+      decide({
+        run: {
+          ...run,
+          contextSnapshot: { issueId: "issue-1", recoveryActionId: "recovery-action-1" },
+        } as any,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      kind: "skip",
+      reason: "recovery action run owns its own follow-up path",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("does not queue when the issue already has a valid disposition", () => {
     expect(decide({ issue: { ...issue, status: "done" } as any })).toEqual({
       kind: "skip",
diff --git a/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.ts b/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.ts
index e6a3533586..fa8bc04a1f 100644
--- a/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/recovery/successful-run-handoff.ts
@@ -304,6 +304,19 @@ function isCorrectiveHandoffRun(run: HeartbeatRunRow) {
     readString(context.wakeReason) === FINISH_SUCCESSFUL_RUN_HANDOFF_REASON;
 }
 
+// A run woken by source_scoped_recovery_action must not become the source of another
+// successful-run handoff. The handoff idempotency key includes sourceRunId, so every
+// succeeding recovery run mints a fresh handoff wake: recovery run → handoff wake →
+// corrective run → new recovery action → recovery run → …, an unbounded ping-pong that
+// never reaches the handoff-exhausted escalation. Recovery runs own their own follow-up
+// path; if the disposition is still missing, the stranded-issue escalation (blocked +
+// exhausted notice) is the designed exit, not another handoff.
+function isRecoveryActionDrivenRun(run: HeartbeatRunRow) {
+  const context = readRecord(run.contextSnapshot);
+  return readString(context.wakeReason) === "source_scoped_recovery_action" ||
+    readString(context.recoveryActionId) !== null;
+}
+
 function isIssueMonitorMaintenanceRun(run: HeartbeatRunRow) {
   const context = readRecord(run.contextSnapshot);
   const wakeReason = readString(context.wakeReason);
@@ -423,6 +436,7 @@ export function decideSuccessfulRunHandoff(input: {
 
   if (run.status !== "succeeded") return { kind: "skip", reason: "source run did not succeed" };
   if (isCorrectiveHandoffRun(run)) return { kind: "skip", reason: "source run is already a corrective handoff run" };
+  if (isRecoveryActionDrivenRun(run)) return { kind: "skip", reason: "recovery action run owns its own follow-up path" };
   if (isIssueMonitorMaintenanceRun(run)) return { kind: "skip", reason: "issue monitor run owns its own recovery path" };
   if (isCommentDrivenWake(run)) return { kind: "skip", reason: "comment-driven wake already owns the next action" };
   if (run.issueCommentStatus === "retry_queued" || run.issueCommentStatus === "retry_exhausted") {