diff --git a/src/server/routes/api/accounts.apikey-recovery.test.ts b/src/server/routes/api/accounts.apikey-recovery.test.ts
index 9d42e5a..d7ca3ec 100644
--- a/src/server/routes/api/accounts.apikey-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/routes/api/accounts.apikey-recovery.test.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,21 @@ describe('accounts api key recovery', { timeout: 15_000 }, () => {
       checkedAt: '2026-04-01T10:00:00.000Z',
     }).run();
 
+    const route = await db.insert(schema.tokenRoutes).values({
+      modelPattern: 'gpt-4.1',
+      enabled: true,
+    }).returning().get();
+
+    const seededChannel = await db.insert(schema.routeChannels).values({
+      routeId: route.id,
+      accountId: account.id,
+      tokenId: null,
+      priority: 0,
+      weight: 10,
+      enabled: true,
+      manualOverride: false,
+    }).returning().get();
+
     const response = await app.inject({
       method: 'PUT',
       url: `/api/accounts/${account.id}`,
@@ -211,6 +226,11 @@ describe('accounts api key recovery', { timeout: 15_000 }, () => {
     });
 
     const routeChannels = await db.select().from(schema.routeChannels).all();
-    expect(routeChannels.some((channel) => channel.accountId === account.id)).toBe(false);
+    expect(routeChannels).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({
+      id: seededChannel.id,
+      routeId: route.id,
+      accountId: account.id,
+      tokenId: null,
+    }));
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/server/services/accountUpdateWorkflow.ts b/src/server/services/accountUpdateWorkflow.ts
index 6e40540..6a78bb9 100644
--- a/src/server/services/accountUpdateWorkflow.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/accountUpdateWorkflow.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ type AccountUpdateWorkflowInput = {
 };
 
 export async function applyAccountUpdateWorkflow(input: AccountUpdateWorkflowInput) {
+  const isExpiredApiKeyRecoveryFlow = Boolean(
+    input.preserveExpiredStatus
+    && input.allowInactiveModelRefresh
+    && input.reactivateAfterSuccessfulModelRefresh,
+  );
   const persistedUpdates: Partial<typeof schema.accounts.$inferInsert> = {
     ...input.updates,
     ...(input.preserveExpiredStatus ? { status: 'expired' } : {}),
@@ -51,7 +56,11 @@ export async function applyAccountUpdateWorkflow(input: AccountUpdateWorkflowInp
       .run();
   }
 
-  await rebuildRoutesBestEffort();
+  const shouldRebuildRoutes = !isExpiredApiKeyRecoveryFlow
+    || convergence.modelRefreshResult?.status === 'success';
+  if (shouldRebuildRoutes) {
+    await rebuildRoutesBestEffort();
+  }
 
   const account = await db.select()
     .from(schema.accounts)