diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/running-state.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/running-state.ts
index c6876d4c1..5e6eb7535 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/running-state.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/running-state.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   openSync,
   closeSync,
   constants,
+  statSync,
 } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ const STATE_FILE = join(STATE_DIR, "running.json");
 const STATE_LOCK_FILE = join(STATE_DIR, "running.lock");
 const STARTUP_LOCK_FILE = join(STATE_DIR, "startup.lock");
 const MAX_LOCK_AGE_MS = 30 * 60 * 1000;
+const UNPARSEABLE_LOCK_GRACE_MS = 5_000;
 
 interface LockMetadata {
   pid: number;
@@ -62,10 +64,20 @@ function readLockMetadata(lockFile: string): LockMetadata | null {
 }
 
 function isStaleLockOwner(owner: LockMetadata): boolean {
+  if (isProcessAlive(owner.pid)) return false;
   const acquiredAt = Date.parse(owner.acquiredAt);
   return Number.isFinite(acquiredAt) && Date.now() - acquiredAt > MAX_LOCK_AGE_MS;
 }
 
+function isStaleUnparseableLock(lockFile: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    const mtimeMs = statSync(lockFile).mtimeMs;
+    return Date.now() - mtimeMs > UNPARSEABLE_LOCK_GRACE_MS;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 /** Try to create the lockfile atomically. Returns a release function on success, null on failure. */
 function tryAcquire(lockFile: string): (() => void) | null {
   try {
@@ -110,7 +122,8 @@ async function acquireLock(
     if (release) return release;
 
     const owner = readLockMetadata(lockFile);
-    if (owner && (isStaleLockOwner(owner) || !isProcessAlive(owner.pid))) {
+    if ((!owner && isStaleUnparseableLock(lockFile))
+      || (owner && (isStaleLockOwner(owner) || !isProcessAlive(owner.pid)))) {
       try { unlinkSync(lockFile); } catch { /* ignore */ }
       const retryRelease = tryAcquire(lockFile);
       if (retryRelease) return retryRelease;
diff --git a/packages/web/src/__tests__/api-routes.test.ts b/packages/web/src/__tests__/api-routes.test.ts
index 39505f483..a297c9c45 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/__tests__/api-routes.test.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/__tests__/api-routes.test.ts
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ describe("API Routes", () => {
       expect(mockSessionManager.listCached).toHaveBeenCalledWith("my-app");
     });
 
-    it("omits dead orchestrators from project-scoped orchestrator payloads when none are live", async () => {
+    it("keeps dead orchestrators as the fallback project-scoped payload when none are live", async () => {
       const deadLifecycle = createInitialCanonicalLifecycle("orchestrator", new Date("2026-04-19T11:00:00.000Z"));
       deadLifecycle.session.state = "terminated";
       deadLifecycle.session.reason = "runtime_missing";
@@ -423,7 +423,9 @@ describe("API Routes", () => {
       const data = await res.json();
 
       expect(data.orchestratorId).toBeNull();
-      expect(data.orchestrators).toEqual([]);
+      expect(data.orchestrators).toEqual([
+        { id: "my-app-orchestrator-0", projectId: "my-app", projectName: "My App" },
+      ]);
       expect(data.sessions).toEqual([]);
     });
 
diff --git a/packages/web/src/app/api/sessions/route.ts b/packages/web/src/app/api/sessions/route.ts
index 1744ae9ac..ec74de844 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/app/api/sessions/route.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/app/api/sessions/route.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@ function listLiveDashboardOrchestrators(
   );
 }
 
+function listPreferredProjectOrchestrators(
+  sessions: Parameters<typeof listDashboardOrchestrators>[0],
+  projects: Parameters<typeof listDashboardOrchestrators>[1],
+) {
+  const liveOrchestrators = listLiveDashboardOrchestrators(sessions, projects);
+  return liveOrchestrators.length > 0
+    ? liveOrchestrators
+    : listDashboardOrchestrators(sessions, projects);
+}
+
 export async function GET(request: Request) {
   const correlationId = getCorrelationId(request);
   const startedAt = Date.now();
@@ -69,7 +79,7 @@ export async function GET(request: Request) {
     const coreSessions = await sessionManager.listCached(requestedProjectId);
     const visibleSessions = filterProjectSessions(coreSessions, projectFilter, config.projects);
     const orchestrators = requestedProjectId
-      ? listLiveDashboardOrchestrators(visibleSessions, config.projects)
+      ? listPreferredProjectOrchestrators(visibleSessions, config.projects)
       : listDashboardOrchestrators(visibleSessions, config.projects);
     const orchestratorId = requestedProjectId
       ? selectPreferredOrchestratorId(visibleSessions, config.projects)