diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/OpenClawConfigFile.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/OpenClawConfigFile.swift
index d4b01a2b19de..0733f0db245c 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/OpenClawConfigFile.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/OpenClawConfigFile.swift
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import OpenClawProtocol
 enum OpenClawConfigFile {
     private static let logger = Logger(subsystem: "ai.openclaw", category: "config")
     private static let configAuditFileName = "config-audit.jsonl"
-    private static let configHealthFileName = "config-health.json"
     private static let fileLock = NSRecursiveLock()
+    private nonisolated(unsafe) static var configHealthState: [String: Any] = [:]
 
     private static func withFileLock<T>(_ body: () throws -> T) rethrows -> T {
         self.fileLock.lock()
@@ -477,39 +477,6 @@ enum OpenClawConfigFile {
             .appendingPathComponent(self.configAuditFileName, isDirectory: false)
     }
 
-    private static func configHealthStateURL() -> URL {
-        self.stateDirURL()
-            .appendingPathComponent("logs", isDirectory: true)
-            .appendingPathComponent(self.configHealthFileName, isDirectory: false)
-    }
-
-    private static func readConfigHealthState() -> [String: Any] {
-        let url = self.configHealthStateURL()
-        guard let data = try? Data(contentsOf: url),
-              let root = try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data) as? [String: Any]
-        else {
-            return [:]
-        }
-        return root
-    }
-
-    private static func writeConfigHealthState(_ root: [String: Any]) {
-        guard JSONSerialization.isValidJSONObject(root),
-              let data = try? JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: root, options: [.prettyPrinted, .sortedKeys])
-        else {
-            return
-        }
-        let url = self.configHealthStateURL()
-        do {
-            try FileManager().createDirectory(
-                at: url.deletingLastPathComponent(),
-                withIntermediateDirectories: true)
-            try data.write(to: url, options: [.atomic])
-        } catch {
-            // best-effort
-        }
-    }
-
     private static func configHealthEntry(state: [String: Any], configPath: String) -> [String: Any] {
         let entries = state["entries"] as? [String: Any]
         return entries?[configPath] as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
@@ -672,7 +639,7 @@ enum OpenClawConfigFile {
     private static func observeConfigRead(data: Data, root: [String: Any]?, configURL: URL, valid: Bool) {
         let observedAt = ISO8601DateFormatter().string(from: Date())
         let current = self.configFingerprint(data: data, root: root, configURL: configURL, observedAt: observedAt)
-        var state = self.readConfigHealthState()
+        var state = self.configHealthState
         let entry = self.configHealthEntry(state: state, configPath: configURL.path)
         let lastKnownGood = entry["lastKnownGood"] as? [String: Any]
         let suspicious = self.observeSuspiciousReasons(
@@ -688,7 +655,7 @@ enum OpenClawConfigFile {
             ]
             if !self.sameFingerprint(lastKnownGood, current) || entry["lastObservedSuspiciousSignature"] != nil {
                 state = self.setConfigHealthEntry(state: state, configPath: configURL.path, entry: nextEntry)
-                self.writeConfigHealthState(state)
+                self.configHealthState = state
             }
             return
         }
@@ -750,7 +717,7 @@ enum OpenClawConfigFile {
         var nextEntry = entry
         nextEntry["lastObservedSuspiciousSignature"] = signature
         state = self.setConfigHealthEntry(state: state, configPath: configURL.path, entry: nextEntry)
-        self.writeConfigHealthState(state)
+        self.configHealthState = state
     }
 
     private static func appendConfigWriteAudit(_ fields: [String: Any]) {
diff --git a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/OpenClawConfigFileTests.swift b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/OpenClawConfigFileTests.swift
index 1b384b37954a..600d8ed545a5 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/OpenClawConfigFileTests.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/OpenClawConfigFileTests.swift
@@ -266,6 +266,58 @@ struct OpenClawConfigFileTests {
         }
     }
 
+    @MainActor
+    @Test
+    func `load dict ignores legacy config health sidecar`() async throws {
+        let stateDir = FileManager().temporaryDirectory
+            .appendingPathComponent("openclaw-state-\(UUID().uuidString)", isDirectory: true)
+        let configPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("openclaw.json")
+        let auditPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("logs/config-audit.jsonl")
+        let configHealthPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("logs/config-health.json")
+
+        defer { try? FileManager().removeItem(at: stateDir) }
+
+        try FileManager().createDirectory(
+            at: configHealthPath.deletingLastPathComponent(),
+            withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+        let legacyHealth = """
+        {
+          "entries": {
+            "\(configPath.path)": {
+              "lastKnownGood": {
+                "bytes": 4096,
+                "gatewayMode": "local",
+                "hasMeta": true
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+        """
+        try legacyHealth.write(to: configHealthPath, atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+        let updateOnlyConfig = """
+        {
+          "update": {
+            "channel": "beta"
+          }
+        }
+        """
+        try updateOnlyConfig.write(to: configPath, atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+
+        try await TestIsolation.withEnvValues([
+            "OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR": stateDir.path,
+            "OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH": configPath.path,
+        ]) {
+            try OpenClawConfigFile.withTestingFileLock {
+                let loaded = OpenClawConfigFile.loadDict()
+                let update = loaded["update"] as? [String: Any]
+                #expect(update?["channel"] as? String == "beta")
+                #expect(!FileManager().fileExists(atPath: auditPath.path))
+                let persistedHealth = try String(contentsOf: configHealthPath, encoding: .utf8)
+                #expect(persistedHealth == legacyHealth)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     @MainActor
     @Test
     func `load dict audits suspicious out-of-band clobbers`() async throws {
@@ -273,6 +325,7 @@ struct OpenClawConfigFileTests {
             .appendingPathComponent("openclaw-state-\(UUID().uuidString)", isDirectory: true)
         let configPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("openclaw.json")
         let auditPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("logs/config-audit.jsonl")
+        let configHealthPath = stateDir.appendingPathComponent("logs/config-health.json")
 
         defer { try? FileManager().removeItem(at: stateDir) }
 
@@ -293,6 +346,7 @@ struct OpenClawConfigFileTests {
                     ],
                 ])
                 _ = OpenClawConfigFile.loadDict()
+                #expect(!FileManager().fileExists(atPath: configHealthPath.path))
 
                 let clobbered = """
                 {
@@ -305,6 +359,7 @@ struct OpenClawConfigFileTests {
 
                 let loaded = OpenClawConfigFile.loadDict()
                 #expect((loaded["gateway"] as? [String: Any]) == nil)
+                #expect(!FileManager().fileExists(atPath: configHealthPath.path))
 
                 let rawAudit = try String(contentsOf: auditPath, encoding: .utf8)
                 let lines = rawAudit