diff --git a/scripts/e2e/parallels/macos-smoke.ts b/scripts/e2e/parallels/macos-smoke.ts
index 075e2d2b35a5..062d45e0936d 100755
--- a/scripts/e2e/parallels/macos-smoke.ts
+++ b/scripts/e2e/parallels/macos-smoke.ts
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ config.update = { ...(config.update || {}), channel: "dev" };
 fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(configPath), { recursive: true });
 fs.writeFileSync(configPath, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2) + "\\n");
 JS
-/usr/bin/env NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1 OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1${devTargetEnv} ${guestOpenClawEntryRunner} update --channel dev --yes --json --no-restart --timeout ${this.updateDevTimeoutSeconds}
+/usr/bin/env NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1${devTargetEnv} ${guestOpenClawEntryRunner} update --channel dev --yes --json --no-restart --timeout ${this.updateDevTimeoutSeconds}
 ${guestOpenClawEntryRunner} --version
 ${guestOpenClawEntryRunner} update status --json`,
       {},
diff --git a/scripts/e2e/parallels/npm-update-scripts.ts b/scripts/e2e/parallels/npm-update-scripts.ts
index 788396fb3185..e5e0ba9aad01 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/parallels/npm-update-scripts.ts
+++ b/scripts/e2e/parallels/npm-update-scripts.ts
@@ -142,12 +142,12 @@ if [ "$agent_ok" != true ]; then
 fi`;
 }
 
-function windowsUpdateWithBundledPluginsDisabled(input: NpmUpdateScriptInput): string {
+function windowsUpdateWithScopedEnv(input: NpmUpdateScriptInput): string {
   const registryEntry = input.npmRegistry
     ? `; NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY = ${psSingleQuote(input.npmRegistry)}`
     : "";
   return `$script:OpenClawUpdateExit = 0
-$updateOutput = Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS = '1'; OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS = '1'${registryEntry} } {
+$updateOutput = Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS = '1'${registryEntry} } {
   Invoke-OpenClaw update --tag ${psSingleQuote(input.updateTarget)} --yes --json --no-restart 2>&1
   $script:OpenClawUpdateExit = $LASTEXITCODE
 }
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ wait_for_gateway() {
 }
 scrub_future_plugin_entries
 stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
-${posixNpmRegistryEnv(input.npmRegistry)}OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1 OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 "$OPENCLAW_BIN" update --tag ${shellQuote(input.updateTarget)} --yes --json --no-restart
+${posixNpmRegistryEnv(input.npmRegistry)}OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1 "$OPENCLAW_BIN" update --tag ${shellQuote(input.updateTarget)} --yes --json --no-restart
 ${posixVersionCheck(macosOpenClawCommand, input.expectedNeedle)}
 start_openclaw_gateway
 wait_for_gateway
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ function Stop-OpenClawGatewayProcesses {
 }
 Remove-FuturePluginEntries
 Stop-OpenClawGatewayProcesses
-${windowsUpdateWithBundledPluginsDisabled(input)}
+${windowsUpdateWithScopedEnv(input)}
 if ($updateExit -ne 0) {
   $updateText = $updateOutput | Out-String
   $stalePostSwapImport = $updateText -match 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND' -and $updateText -match ${psSingleQuote(windowsStalePostSwapImportRegex)}
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ wait_for_gateway() {
 }
 scrub_future_plugin_entries
 stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
-${posixNpmRegistryEnv(input.npmRegistry)}OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1 OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 openclaw update --tag ${shellQuote(input.updateTarget)} --yes --json --no-restart
+${posixNpmRegistryEnv(input.npmRegistry)}OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS=1 openclaw update --tag ${shellQuote(input.updateTarget)} --yes --json --no-restart
 ${posixVersionCheck("openclaw", input.expectedNeedle)}
 start_openclaw_gateway
 wait_for_gateway
diff --git a/scripts/e2e/parallels/windows-smoke.ts b/scripts/e2e/parallels/windows-smoke.ts
index 8340d3bddad3..a74fe7afe0a2 100755
--- a/scripts/e2e/parallels/windows-smoke.ts
+++ b/scripts/e2e/parallels/windows-smoke.ts
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ $config.update | Add-Member -Force -MemberType NoteProperty -Name channel -Value
 $config | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 100 | Set-Content -Path $configPath -Encoding utf8
 ${windowsScopedEnvFunction}
 $script:OpenClawUpdateExit = 0
-Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS = '1'; OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS = '1'${devTargetEntry} } {
+Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS = '1'${devTargetEntry} } {
   Invoke-OpenClaw update --channel dev --yes --json --no-restart --timeout ${this.updateTimeoutSeconds}
   $script:OpenClawUpdateExit = $LASTEXITCODE
 }
diff --git a/test/scripts/parallels-npm-update-smoke.test.ts b/test/scripts/parallels-npm-update-smoke.test.ts
index cee6f2a7a7bf..f08549a7bd53 100644
--- a/test/scripts/parallels-npm-update-smoke.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/parallels-npm-update-smoke.test.ts
@@ -1177,23 +1177,40 @@ exit 7
     );
     expect(windowsScript).toContain("Remove-FuturePluginEntries\nStop-OpenClawGatewayProcesses");
     expect(script).toContain("scrub_future_plugin_entries\nstop_openclaw_gateway_processes");
-    expect(script).toContain("Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS = '1'");
     expect(macosScript).toContain('OPENCLAW_BIN="$(resolve_required_command openclaw)"');
     expect(macosScript).toContain("/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin");
-    expect(macosScript).toContain(
-      'OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 "$OPENCLAW_BIN" update --tag',
-    );
     expect(macosScript).not.toContain("/opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw");
-    expect(script).toContain("OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 openclaw update --tag");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves bundled plugin inventory during updates while isolating POSIX gateway stops", () => {
+    const input = {
+      auth: TEST_AUTH,
+      expectedNeedle: "2026.5.3-beta.2",
+      updateTarget: "2026.5.3-beta.2",
+    };
+    const windowsScript = windowsUpdateScript(input);
+    const macosScript = macosUpdateScript(input);
+    const linuxScript = linuxUpdateScript(input);
+    const updateLines = [windowsScript, macosScript, linuxScript].map((generatedScript) =>
+      generatedScript.split("\n").find((line) => line.includes(" update --tag ")),
+    );
+
+    expect(updateLines).not.toContain(undefined);
+    for (const updateLine of updateLines) {
+      expect(updateLine).not.toContain("OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS");
+    }
+    expect(windowsScript).toContain(
+      "Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS = '1'",
+    );
     expect(macosScript).toContain(
       'OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 "$OPENCLAW_BIN" gateway stop',
     );
-    expect(script).toContain(
+    expect(linuxScript).toContain(
       "OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 OPENCLAW_ALLOW_ROOT=1 openclaw gateway stop",
     );
   });
 
-  it("reenables bundled plugins before Windows post-update verification", () => {
+  it("limits the Windows update environment to the update invocation", () => {
     const script = windowsUpdateScript({
       auth: TEST_AUTH,
       expectedNeedle: "2026.5.3-beta.2",
@@ -1201,7 +1218,9 @@ exit 7
     });
 
     const updateIndex = script.indexOf("Invoke-OpenClaw update --tag");
-    const scopedIndex = script.indexOf("Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS");
+    const scopedIndex = script.indexOf(
+      "Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS",
+    );
     const versionIndex = script.indexOf("Invoke-OpenClaw --version", scopedIndex);
     const restartIndex = script.indexOf("Invoke-OpenClaw gateway restart");
     const agentIndex = script.indexOf("Invoke-OpenClaw agent --local");
@@ -1212,7 +1231,7 @@ exit 7
     expect(versionIndex).toBeGreaterThan(updateIndex);
     expect(restartIndex).toBeGreaterThan(updateIndex);
     expect(agentIndex).toBeGreaterThan(updateIndex);
-    expect(script).not.toContain("$env:OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS = '1'");
+    expect(script).not.toContain("OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS");
   });
 
   it("generates a .NET-safe Windows stale import regex in the update-failure guard", () => {
diff --git a/test/scripts/parallels-smoke-model.test.ts b/test/scripts/parallels-smoke-model.test.ts
index da0cc150e7db..3fe701d5dfc5 100644
--- a/test/scripts/parallels-smoke-model.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/parallels-smoke-model.test.ts
@@ -2153,7 +2153,15 @@ kill -TERM "$$"`,
     expect(transports).toContain("launch retry");
   });
 
-  it("keeps Windows update-only env flags scoped before verification", () => {
+  it("preserves bundled plugin inventory during dev updates", () => {
+    const devUpdateLines = [macos, windows].map((script) =>
+      script.split("\n").find((line) => line.includes("update --channel dev")),
+    );
+
+    expect(devUpdateLines).not.toContain(undefined);
+    for (const updateLine of devUpdateLines) {
+      expect(updateLine).not.toContain("OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS");
+    }
     expect(powershell).toContain("windowsScopedEnvFunction");
     expect(windows).toContain(
       "Invoke-WithScopedEnv @{ OPENCLAW_ALLOW_OLDER_BINARY_DESTRUCTIVE_ACTIONS",