2 files changed, 23 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/daemon.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/daemon.py
index 8f9307c..3a024f0 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/daemon.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/daemon.py
@@ -1599,9 +1599,23 @@ def _systemctl_user(verb: str, unit: str, *, not_running_hint: str,
     signalling it, respawning it — is a second, worse implementation of what
     systemd is already doing, and pattern-matching a process list has already
     hit a real developer's real running node by accident.
+
+    Reloads the user manager's view of unit files first. The package
+    installers (deb postinst, rpm %post) run as root and can only reload the
+    *system* manager — a different process from any signed-in user's *user*
+    manager, which is the one that actually owns this unit — so a package
+    upgrade leaves that manager still holding the old unit file and prints a
+    warning naming the exact fix. Doing it here runs it under the right
+    privilege, the user's own, right before the command that would otherwise
+    act on a stale definition. Best-effort and unchecked: a reload the
+    manager did not need must never block what the operator actually asked
+    for, and a genuine problem still surfaces from the verb below.
     """
     import subprocess
 
+    subprocess.run(["systemctl", "--user", "daemon-reload"],
+                   capture_output=True, text=True)
+
     result = subprocess.run(["systemctl", "--user", verb, unit],
                             capture_output=True, text=True)
     if result.returncode != 0:
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
index b676546..c774dc0 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_cli_dispatch.py
@@ -150,12 +150,20 @@ def test_lifecycle_commands_delegate_to_systemctl_user(
     `reload` and `restart-daemon` must ask systemd to do it, not hunt a PID
     with pgrep and signal it directly — that pattern-matched a developer's own
     running node by accident once, which is why it was replaced.
+
+    They must also reload the user manager's view of unit files first: a
+    package upgrade only reloads the *system* manager (it runs as root and
+    cannot reach a signed-in user's own), so the user manager can still be
+    holding a stale unit when one of these runs.
     """
     monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "argv", ["meshbay-node", *argv])
     daemon_mod.main()
 
     systemctl_calls = dict(stub_daemon)["_systemctl_calls"]
-    assert systemctl_calls == [["systemctl", "--user", verb, "meshbay-node"]]
+    assert systemctl_calls == [
+        ["systemctl", "--user", "daemon-reload"],
+        ["systemctl", "--user", verb, "meshbay-node"],
+    ]
     assert not capsys.readouterr().err