diff --git a/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.test.ts b/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.test.ts
index 52323c4442e0..2c2b66921d5d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.test.ts
@@ -373,4 +373,17 @@ describe("resolvePluginVersionDriftUpdateCommand", () => {
       }),
     ).toBe("openclaw plugins update brave");
   });
+
+  it("keeps plugin-id updates when the gateway version is not a registry version", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolvePluginVersionDriftUpdateCommand({
+        pluginId: "brave",
+        installedVersion: "2026.6.9",
+        gatewayVersion: "unknown",
+        source: "npm",
+        packageName: "@openclaw/brave-plugin",
+        spec: "@openclaw/brave-plugin@2026.6.9",
+      }),
+    ).toBe("openclaw plugins update brave");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.ts b/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.ts
index 32c04da9f3a0..747c96fa0dd2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/plugin-version-drift.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ function resolveExactNpmPinPackageName(entry: PluginVersionDriftEntry): string |
 export function resolvePluginVersionDriftUpdateCommand(entry: PluginVersionDriftEntry): string {
   const exactNpmPackageName = resolveExactNpmPinPackageName(entry);
   if (exactNpmPackageName) {
-    return `openclaw plugins update ${exactNpmPackageName}@${entry.gatewayVersion}`;
+    const exactNpmTarget = `${exactNpmPackageName}@${entry.gatewayVersion}`;
+    if (parseRegistryNpmSpec(exactNpmTarget)?.selectorKind === "exact-version") {
+      return `openclaw plugins update ${exactNpmTarget}`;
+    }
   }
   return `openclaw plugins update ${entry.pluginId}`;
 }