diff --git a/src/claude/poc-hook.rs b/src/claude/poc-hook.rs
index 415f575..b02a53d 100644
--- a/src/claude/poc-hook.rs
+++ b/src/claude/poc-hook.rs
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ fn check_notifications() {
 
 /// Check for stale agent processes in a state dir.
 /// Cleans up pid files for dead processes and kills timed-out ones.
+/// Also detects PID reuse by checking if the process is actually a
+/// claude/poc-memory process (reads /proc/pid/cmdline).
 fn reap_agent_pids(state_dir: &std::path::Path, timeout_secs: u64) {
     let Ok(entries) = fs::read_dir(state_dir) else { return };
     for entry in entries.flatten() {
@@ -93,11 +95,23 @@ fn reap_agent_pids(state_dir: &std::path::Path, timeout_secs: u64) {
         let Some(pid_str) = name_str.strip_prefix("pid-") else { continue };
         let Ok(pid) = pid_str.parse::<i32>() else { continue };
 
+        // Check if the process is actually alive
         if unsafe { libc::kill(pid, 0) } != 0 {
             fs::remove_file(entry.path()).ok();
             continue;
         }
 
+        // Check if the PID still belongs to a claude/poc-memory process.
+        // PID reuse by an unrelated process would otherwise block the
+        // agent from being re-launched.
+        let is_ours = fs::read_to_string(format!("/proc/{}/cmdline", pid))
+            .map(|cmd| cmd.contains("claude") || cmd.contains("poc-memory"))
+            .unwrap_or(false);
+        if !is_ours {
+            fs::remove_file(entry.path()).ok();
+            continue;
+        }
+
         if timeout_secs > 0 {
             if let Ok(meta) = entry.metadata() {
                 if let Ok(modified) = meta.modified() {