diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
index 5a76402b1d34..e8bdc3018aca 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,65 @@ describe("DesktopShellEnvironment", () => {
     }),
   );
 
+  it.effect("probes zsh interactively with job control disabled", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {
+        SHELL: "/bin/zsh",
+        PATH: "/usr/bin",
+      };
+      const commands: ChildProcess.Command[] = [];
+
+      yield* runShellEnvironment({
+        env,
+        platform: "darwin",
+        handler: (command) => {
+          commands.push(command);
+          return envOutput({ PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin" });
+        },
+      });
+
+      const probe = commands[0];
+      assert.equal(probe?._tag, "StandardCommand");
+      if (probe?._tag === "StandardCommand") {
+        // `+m` clears MONITOR before zsh startup, so the interactive probe
+        // still reads ~/.zshrc (version-manager PATH lives there) without
+        // tcsetpgrp() on a controlling TTY owned by another process group.
+        assert.deepEqual(probe.args.slice(0, 2), ["+m", "-ilc"]);
+      }
+      assert.equal(env.PATH, "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin");
+    }),
+  );
+
+  it.effect("runs the login-shell probe without interactive job control", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {
+        SHELL: "/bin/bash",
+        PATH: "/usr/bin",
+      };
+      const commands: ChildProcess.Command[] = [];
+
+      yield* runShellEnvironment({
+        env,
+        platform: "darwin",
+        handler: (command) => {
+          commands.push(command);
+          return envOutput({ PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin" });
+        },
+      });
+
+      const probe = commands[0];
+      assert.equal(probe?._tag, "StandardCommand");
+      if (probe?._tag === "StandardCommand") {
+        // `-l` without `-i`: interactive job control stops the probe on
+        // SIGTTOU when the session inherits a controlling TTY owned by
+        // another process group. bash reads the same files either way.
+        assert.deepEqual(probe.args.slice(0, 1), ["-lc"]);
+        assert.notInclude(probe.args, "-i");
+      }
+      assert.equal(env.PATH, "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin");
+    }),
+  );
+
   it.effect("preserves inherited POSIX values when present", () =>
     Effect.gen(function* () {
       const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
index 5c6b67fd58c0..fd39e83c1735 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
@@ -331,6 +331,16 @@ const runCommandOutput = Effect.fn("desktop.shellEnvironment.runCommandOutput")(
   return "";
 });
 
+// zsh only reads ~/.zshrc when interactive, and that file is where version
+// managers and custom bin dirs commonly export PATH, so its probe keeps `-i`
+// but prepends `+m`: clearing MONITOR before startup means the shell never
+// calls tcsetpgrp() on a controlling TTY owned by another process group, which
+// is what stopped `-ilc` probes on SIGTTOU. Other shells keep the plain login
+// probe: bash login shells never read ~/.bashrc, and fish reads config.fish
+// for login shells, so `-i` would only reintroduce the hang.
+const loginShellProbeArgs = (shell: string, command: string): ReadonlyArray<string> =>
+  executableName(shell) === "zsh" ? ["+m", "-ilc", command] : ["-lc", command];
+
 const readLoginShellEnvironment = (
   shell: string,
   names: ReadonlyArray<string>,
@@ -340,7 +350,7 @@ const readLoginShellEnvironment = (
     : runCommandOutput({
         probe: "login-shell",
         command: shell,
-        args: ["-ilc", capturePosixEnvironmentCommand(names)],
+        args: loginShellProbeArgs(shell, capturePosixEnvironmentCommand(names)),
         timeout: LOGIN_SHELL_TIMEOUT,
       }).pipe(Effect.map((output) => extractEnvironment(output, names)));
 
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/shell.test.ts b/packages/shared/src/shell.test.ts
index 621fe49b3087..edf5b7765f8a 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/shell.test.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/shell.test.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ const withWindowsEnvironmentMocks = <A, E, R>(
   );
 
 describe("readPathFromLoginShell", () => {
-  it("uses a shell-agnostic printenv PATH probe", () => {
+  it("probes PATH through a login shell without interactive job control", () => {
     const execFile = vi.fn<
       (
         file: string,
@@ -62,12 +62,54 @@ describe("readPathFromLoginShell", () => {
     const [shell, args, options] = firstCall;
     expect(shell).toBe("/opt/homebrew/bin/fish");
     expect(args).toHaveLength(2);
-    expect(args?.[0]).toBe("-ilc");
+    // `-l` without `-i`: interactive job control stops the probe on SIGTTOU
+    // when the session inherits a controlling TTY owned by another pgrp.
+    expect(args?.[0]).toBe("-lc");
+    expect(args?.[0]).not.toContain("i");
     expect(args?.[1]).toContain("printenv PATH || true");
     expect(args?.[1]).toContain("__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_START__");
     expect(args?.[1]).toContain("__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_END__");
     expect(options).toEqual({ encoding: "utf8", timeout: 5000 });
   });
+
+  it("keeps zsh interactive startup files while disabling job control", () => {
+    const execFile = vi.fn<
+      (
+        file: string,
+        args: ReadonlyArray<string>,
+        options: { encoding: "utf8"; timeout: number },
+      ) => string
+    >(() => "__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_START__\n/a:/b\n__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_END__\n");
+
+    expect(readPathFromLoginShell("/bin/zsh", execFile)).toBe("/a:/b");
+
+    const args = execFile.mock.calls[0]?.[1];
+    // `-i` keeps ~/.zshrc, where version managers commonly export PATH, and
+    // `+m` clears MONITOR before startup so the shell never tcsetpgrp()s a
+    // controlling TTY owned by another process group.
+    expect(args).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(args?.[0]).toBe("+m");
+    expect(args?.[1]).toBe("-ilc");
+    expect(args?.[2]).toContain("printenv PATH || true");
+  });
+
+  it("does not probe bash interactively", () => {
+    const execFile = vi.fn<
+      (
+        file: string,
+        args: ReadonlyArray<string>,
+        options: { encoding: "utf8"; timeout: number },
+      ) => string
+    >(() => "__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_START__\n/a:/b\n__T3CODE_ENV_PATH_END__\n");
+
+    expect(readPathFromLoginShell("/bin/bash", execFile)).toBe("/a:/b");
+
+    const args = execFile.mock.calls[0]?.[1];
+    // Login bash never reads ~/.bashrc, so `-i` adds nothing, and bash still
+    // grabs the terminal even with `+m` - it must stay non-interactive.
+    expect(args).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(args?.[0]).toBe("-lc");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("readPathFromLaunchctl", () => {
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/shell.ts b/packages/shared/src/shell.ts
index 07ac73f8c6a7..bc01c7f86b67 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/shell.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/shell.ts
@@ -289,6 +289,18 @@ export type ShellEnvironmentReader = (
   execFile?: ExecFileSyncLike,
 ) => Partial<Record<string, string>>;
 
+// zsh only reads ~/.zshrc when interactive, and that file is where version
+// managers and custom bin dirs commonly export PATH, so its probe keeps `-i`
+// but prepends `+m`: clearing MONITOR before startup means the shell never
+// calls tcsetpgrp() on a controlling TTY owned by another process group, which
+// is what stopped `-ilc` probes on SIGTTOU (SSH daemons started from a
+// terminal hand sessions exactly that). Other shells keep the plain login
+// probe: bash login shells never read ~/.bashrc, and fish reads config.fish
+// for login shells, so `-i` would only reintroduce the hang.
+function loginShellProbeArgs(shell: string, command: string): Array<string> {
+  return NodePath.posix.basename(shell) === "zsh" ? ["+m", "-ilc", command] : ["-lc", command];
+}
+
 export const readEnvironmentFromLoginShell: ShellEnvironmentReader = (
   shell,
   names,
@@ -298,10 +310,14 @@ export const readEnvironmentFromLoginShell: ShellEnvironmentReader = (
     return {};
   }
 
-  const output = execFile(shell, ["-ilc", buildEnvironmentCaptureCommand(names)], {
-    encoding: "utf8",
-    timeout: 5000,
-  });
+  const output = execFile(
+    shell,
+    loginShellProbeArgs(shell, buildEnvironmentCaptureCommand(names)),
+    {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      timeout: 5000,
+    },
+  );
 
   const environment: Partial<Record<string, string>> = {};
   for (const name of names) {
diff --git a/scripts/mobile-showcase.ts b/scripts/mobile-showcase.ts
index 6b6adebeb779..11aac709e1e1 100644
--- a/scripts/mobile-showcase.ts
+++ b/scripts/mobile-showcase.ts
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ async function createShowcaseShell(baseDir: string): Promise<string> {
   await NodeFSP.writeFile(
     shellPath,
     `#!/bin/sh
-if [ "$1" = "-ilc" ] || [ "$1" = "-lic" ]; then
+if [ "$1" = "-lc" ] || [ "$1" = "-ilc" ] || [ "$1" = "-lic" ]; then
   exec /bin/sh -c "$2"
 fi
 exec /bin/cat