diff --git a/internal/cmd/handoff.go b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
index 3d8cd839..f6b29a80 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/handoff.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/handoff.go
@@ -204,25 +204,17 @@ func runHandoff(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		_ = os.WriteFile(markerPath, []byte(currentSession), 0644)
 	}
 
-	// Set remain-on-exit so the pane survives process death during handoff.
-	// Without this, killing processes causes tmux to destroy the pane before
-	// we can respawn it. This is essential for tmux session reuse.
-	if err := t.SetRemainOnExit(pane, true); err != nil {
-		style.PrintWarning("could not set remain-on-exit: %v", err)
-	}
+	// NOTE: We intentionally do NOT kill pane processes before respawning (hq-bv7ef).
+	// Previous approach (KillPaneProcessesExcluding) killed the pane's main process,
+	// which caused the pane to close (remain-on-exit is off by default), making
+	// RespawnPane fail because the target pane no longer exists.
+	//
+	// The respawn-pane -k flag handles killing atomically - it kills the old process
+	// and starts the new one in a single operation without closing the pane.
+	// If orphan processes remain (e.g., Claude ignoring SIGHUP), they will be cleaned
+	// up when the new session starts or when the Witness runs periodic cleanup.
 
-	// Kill all processes in the pane before respawning to prevent orphan leaks
-	// RespawnPane's -k flag only sends SIGHUP which Claude/Node may ignore
-	// IMPORTANT: Exclude our own process to avoid race condition where we get killed
-	// before RespawnPane executes, causing the pane to close prematurely (gt-85qd)
-	myPID := fmt.Sprintf("%d", os.Getpid())
-	if err := t.KillPaneProcessesExcluding(pane, []string{myPID}); err != nil {
-		// Non-fatal but log the warning
-		style.PrintWarning("could not kill pane processes: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Use exec to respawn the pane - this kills us and restarts
-	// Note: respawn-pane automatically resets remain-on-exit to off
+	// Use respawn-pane to atomically kill old process and start new one
 	return t.RespawnPane(pane, restartCmd)
 }
 
@@ -578,19 +570,10 @@ func handoffRemoteSession(t *tmux.Tmux, targetSession, restartCmd string) error
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	// Set remain-on-exit so the pane survives process death during handoff.
-	// Without this, killing processes causes tmux to destroy the pane before
-	// we can respawn it. This is essential for tmux session reuse.
-	if err := t.SetRemainOnExit(targetPane, true); err != nil {
-		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(targetPane); err != nil {
-		// Non-fatal but log the warning
-		style.PrintWarning("could not kill pane processes: %v", err)
-	}
+	// NOTE: We intentionally do NOT kill pane processes before respawning (hq-bv7ef).
+	// Previous approach (KillPaneProcesses) killed the pane's main process, which caused
+	// the pane to close (remain-on-exit is off by default), making RespawnPane fail.
+	// The respawn-pane -k flag handles killing atomically without closing the pane.
 
 	// Clear scrollback history before respawn (resets copy-mode from [0/N] to [0/0])
 	if err := t.ClearHistory(targetPane); err != nil {
@@ -598,8 +581,7 @@ func handoffRemoteSession(t *tmux.Tmux, targetSession, restartCmd string) error
 		style.PrintWarning("could not clear history: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Respawn the remote session's pane
-	// Note: respawn-pane automatically resets remain-on-exit to off
+	// Respawn the remote session's pane - -k flag atomically kills old process and starts new one
 	if err := t.RespawnPane(targetPane, restartCmd); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("respawning pane: %w", err)
 	}