diff --git a/dogfood/coder/main.tf b/dogfood/coder/main.tf
index 6560d87ad0..3ab3d03bac 100644
--- a/dogfood/coder/main.tf
+++ b/dogfood/coder/main.tf
@@ -579,12 +579,17 @@ resource "coder_agent" "dev" {
     trap cleanup EXIT
     coder exp sync start agent-startup
 
-    # Authenticate GitHub CLI
-    if ! gh auth status >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    # Authenticate GitHub CLI. `gh api user` is used instead of `gh auth
+    # status` because the latter exits non-zero when a stale token exists
+    # in ~/.config/gh/hosts.yml, even when a valid GITHUB_TOKEN is already
+    # present in the environment and gh commands work fine.
+    if ! gh api user --jq .login >/dev/null 2>&1; then
       echo "Logging into GitHub CLI…"
-      coder external-auth access-token github | gh auth login --hostname github.com --with-token
+      if ! coder external-auth access-token github | gh auth login --hostname github.com --with-token; then
+        echo "GitHub CLI authentication failed; gh commands may not work."
+      fi
     else
-      echo "Already logged into GitHub CLI."
+      echo "GitHub CLI already has working credentials."
     fi
     # Configure Mux GitHub owner login for browser access (skip if
     # already set). See: https://mux.coder.com/config/server-access