diff --git a/internal/cmd/handoff.go b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
index 2313c390..c51cdcbc 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/handoff.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
@@ -211,14 +211,17 @@ func runHandoff(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		style.PrintWarning("could not set remain-on-exit: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Kill all processes in the pane before respawning to prevent orphan leaks
-	// RespawnPane's -k flag only sends SIGHUP which Claude/Node may ignore
-	if err := t.KillPaneProcesses(pane); err != nil {
-		// Non-fatal but log the warning
-		style.PrintWarning("could not kill pane processes: %v", err)
-	}
+	// NOTE: For self-handoff, we do NOT call KillPaneProcesses here.
+	// That would kill the gt handoff process itself before it can call RespawnPane,
+	// leaving the pane dead with no respawn. RespawnPane's -k flag handles killing
+	// atomically - tmux kills the old process and spawns the new one together.
+	// See: https://github.com/steveyegge/gastown/issues/859 (pane is dead bug)
+	//
+	// For orphan prevention, we rely on respawn-pane -k which sends SIGHUP/SIGTERM.
+	// If orphans still occur, the solution is to adjust the restart command to
+	// kill orphans at startup, not to kill ourselves before respawning.
 
-	// Use exec to respawn the pane - this kills us and restarts
+	// Use respawn-pane -k to atomically kill current process and start new one
 	// Note: respawn-pane automatically resets remain-on-exit to off
 	return t.RespawnPane(pane, restartCmd)
 }