diff --git a/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts b/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
index 4b6fe265fee..6e0fef6477e 100644
--- a/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
+++ b/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts
@@ -765,15 +765,7 @@ async function runUpgradeLane(params) {
 
     logLanePhase(lane, "update");
     const updateEnv = buildRealUpdateEnv(env);
-    const updateArgs = [
-      "update",
-      "--tag",
-      params.candidateUrl,
-      "--yes",
-      "--json",
-      "--timeout",
-      String(updateStepTimeoutSeconds()),
-    ];
+    const updateArgs = buildPackagedUpgradeUpdateArgs(params.candidateUrl);
     const updateResult = await runOpenClaw({
       lane,
       env: updateEnv,
@@ -1345,6 +1337,19 @@ export function verifyPackagedUpgradeUpdateResult(result, _options) {
   );
 }
 
+export function buildPackagedUpgradeUpdateArgs(candidateUrl) {
+  return [
+    "update",
+    "--tag",
+    candidateUrl,
+    "--yes",
+    "--json",
+    "--no-restart",
+    "--timeout",
+    String(updateStepTimeoutSeconds()),
+  ];
+}
+
 export function isRecoverableWindowsPackagedUpgradeSwapCleanupFailure(
   result,
   platform = process.platform,
diff --git a/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts b/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
index ba536f51e0d..4ff4c4e6966 100644
--- a/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { LOCAL_BUILD_METADATA_DIST_PATHS } from "../../scripts/lib/local-build-m
 import {
   agentOutputHasExpectedOkMarker,
   buildCrossOsReleaseSmokePluginAllowlist,
+  buildPackagedUpgradeUpdateArgs,
   buildReleaseOnboardArgs,
   buildWindowsDevUpdateToolchainCheckScript,
   buildWindowsFreshShellVersionCheckScript,
@@ -232,6 +233,19 @@ describe("scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("keeps packaged-upgrade release updates out of service restart flow", () => {
+    const args = buildPackagedUpgradeUpdateArgs("http://127.0.0.1:49152/openclaw-current.tgz");
+    expect(args.slice(0, 6)).toEqual([
+      "update",
+      "--tag",
+      "http://127.0.0.1:49152/openclaw-current.tgz",
+      "--yes",
+      "--json",
+      "--no-restart",
+    ]);
+    expect(args.at(-2)).toBe("--timeout");
+  });
+
   it("keeps cross-OS live smoke agent turns on GPT-5-safe timeouts and minimal context", () => {
     const source = readFileSync("scripts/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks.ts", "utf8");
     const providerOverride = "models.providers.${params.providerConfig.extensionId}";