diff --git a/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/smoke.ts b/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/smoke.ts
index 2d2c447213..fa5a4e01be 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/smoke.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/smoke.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ export async function smoke() {
   const exited = Promise.withResolvers<number>()
   const data = proc.onData((chunk) => {
     state.output += chunk
-    if (state.output.includes("KILO_PTY_READY")) output.resolve()
+    const lines = state.output.replace(/\x1b\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, "").split(/\r?\n/)
+    if (lines.some((line) => line.trim() === "KILO_PTY_READY")) output.resolve()
   })
   const exit = proc.onExit((event) => {
     state.exited = true
diff --git a/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/termination.ts b/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/termination.ts
index 51aa3d9f5d..c9862adbd8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/termination.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/kilocode/pty/termination.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { spawn } from "child_process"
+import { readdir, readFile } from "node:fs/promises"
 import { setTimeout as sleep } from "node:timers/promises"
 import type { Proc } from "../../pty/pty"
 import { Log } from "../../util/log"
@@ -87,6 +88,15 @@ function signal(proc: Process, pids: number[], value: "SIGTERM" | "SIGKILL", inp
 }
 
 async function tree(file: string = "ps", args: string[] = ["-axo", "pid=,ppid="]) {
+  if (process.platform === "linux") {
+    try {
+      const rows = await procTree()
+      if (rows.length > 0) return rows
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.debug("failed to read Linux process tree", { err })
+    }
+  }
+
   return await new Promise<Array<{ pid: number; parent: number }>>((resolve, reject) => {
     try {
       const child = spawn(file, args, {
@@ -116,6 +126,21 @@ async function tree(file: string = "ps", args: string[] = ["-axo", "pid=,ppid="]
   })
 }
 
+async function procTree() {
+  const entries = await readdir("/proc", { withFileTypes: true })
+  const rows = await Promise.all(
+    entries
+      .filter((entry) => entry.isDirectory() && /^\d+$/.test(entry.name))
+      .map(async (entry) => {
+        const stat = await readFile(`/proc/${entry.name}/stat`, "utf8")
+        const match = stat.match(/^\d+ \(.*\) [A-Z] (\d+)/)
+        if (!match) return
+        return { pid: Number(entry.name), parent: Number(match[1]) }
+      }),
+  )
+  return rows.filter((row): row is { pid: number; parent: number } => row !== undefined)
+}
+
 async function taskkill(file: string, args: string[], opts: { stdio: "ignore"; windowsHide: true; timeout: number }) {
   return await new Promise<boolean>((resolve) => {
     try {
diff --git a/packages/core/test/kilocode/pty-platform.test.ts b/packages/core/test/kilocode/pty-platform.test.ts
index ed07f32de6..273eacdedc 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/kilocode/pty-platform.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/kilocode/pty-platform.test.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,26 @@ const layer = AppNodeBuilder.build(LayerNode.group([Pty.node, EventV2.node]), [
 ])
 const it = testEffect(layer)
 
+async function alive(pid: number) {
+  if (process.platform !== "win32") {
+    try {
+      process.kill(pid, 0)
+      return true
+    } catch {
+      return false
+    }
+  }
+
+  const proc = Bun.spawn(["tasklist", "/FI", `PID eq ${pid}`, "/FO", "CSV", "/NH"], {
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "ignore",
+    windowsHide: true,
+  })
+  const output = await new Response(proc.stdout).text()
+  await proc.exited
+  return output.includes(`"${pid}"`)
+}
+
 const attach = Effect.fn("PtyPlatformTest.attach")(function* (id: Pty.Info["id"]) {
   const pty = yield* Pty.Service
   const output = yield* Queue.unbounded<string>()
@@ -70,12 +90,7 @@ describe("cross-platform PTY", () => {
       expect(pid).toBeGreaterThan(0)
 
       yield* pty.remove(info.id)
-      if (process.platform === "win32") {
-        const result = yield* Effect.promise(() => Bun.$`taskkill /pid ${pid} /f /t`.quiet().nothrow())
-        expect(result.exitCode).toBe(128)
-      } else {
-        expect(() => process.kill(pid, 0)).toThrow()
-      }
+      expect(yield* Effect.promise(() => alive(pid))).toBe(false)
     }),
   )
 })