diff --git a/src/cli/update-cli.test.ts b/src/cli/update-cli.test.ts
index 8a212eb5311c..55d1f58f2f8d 100644
--- a/src/cli/update-cli.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/update-cli.test.ts
@@ -2912,6 +2912,40 @@ describe("update-cli", () => {
     expect(logs.join("\n")).not.toContain("Gateway: restarted and verified.");
   });
 
+  it("fails managed git restart when the stopped service cannot be restarted", async () => {
+    const serviceEntrypoint = path.join(process.cwd(), "dist", "index.js");
+    serviceReadCommand.mockResolvedValue({
+      programArguments: ["node", serviceEntrypoint, "gateway", "run"],
+      environment: {
+        OPENCLAW_SERVICE_MARKER: "openclaw",
+        OPENCLAW_SERVICE_KIND: "gateway",
+      },
+    });
+    serviceLoaded.mockResolvedValue(false);
+    serviceLoaded.mockResolvedValueOnce(true);
+    serviceReadRuntime.mockResolvedValue({
+      status: "stopped",
+      pid: null,
+      state: "stopped",
+    });
+    serviceReadRuntime.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      status: "running",
+      pid: 4242,
+      state: "running",
+    });
+    runRestartScript.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("restart unavailable"));
+    mockGitUpdateAfterMutation();
+
+    await updateCommand({ yes: true });
+
+    const logs = vi.mocked(defaultRuntime.log).mock.calls.map((call) => String(call[0]));
+    expect(serviceStop).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(runRestartScript).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(defaultRuntime.exit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+    expect(logs.join("\n")).toContain("Gateway: restart failed: Error: restart unavailable");
+    expect(logs.join("\n")).not.toContain("Gateway: restarted and verified.");
+  });
+
   it("stops a managed gateway rooted at the git checkout when switching package installs to dev", async () => {
     const packageRoot = createCaseDir("openclaw-update-package-root");
     const gitRoot = await createTrackedTempDir("openclaw-update-git-service-root-");
diff --git a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
index 2a7573811aa6..04dbd7580ee1 100644
--- a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
+++ b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
@@ -2315,7 +2315,10 @@ async function maybeRestartService(params: {
           ),
         );
       }
-      if (isPackageManagerUpdateMode(params.result.mode)) {
+      if (
+        isPackageManagerUpdateMode(params.result.mode) ||
+        params.requireRunningServiceAfterRestart
+      ) {
         return false;
       }
     }