diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d659cad3668..d7fc5f0c283 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Telegram/native commands: clean up metadata-driven progress placeholders when replies fall back, edits fail, or local exec approval prompts are suppressed. (#59300) Thanks @jalehman.
 - Matrix: allow secret-storage recreation during automatic repair bootstrap so clients that lose their recovery key can recover and persist new cross-signing keys. (#59846) Thanks @al3mart.
 - Matrix/crypto persistence: capture and write the IndexedDB snapshot while holding the snapshot file lock so concurrent gateway and CLI persists cannot overwrite newer crypto state. (#59851) Thanks @al3mart.
+- Telegram/media: keep inbound image attachments readable on upgraded installs where legacy state roots still differ from the managed config-dir media cache. (#59971) Thanks @neeravmakwana.
 
 ## 2026.4.2
 
diff --git a/src/media/local-roots.test.ts b/src/media/local-roots.test.ts
index 46d4f4281c8..91467864698 100644
--- a/src/media/local-roots.test.ts
+++ b/src/media/local-roots.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
+  buildMediaLocalRoots,
   getAgentScopedMediaLocalRoots,
   getAgentScopedMediaLocalRootsForSources,
   getDefaultMediaLocalRoots,
@@ -177,4 +179,19 @@ describe("local media roots", () => {
     expectPicturesRootAbsent(roots, moviesDir);
     expect(roots.map(normalizeHostPath)).not.toContain(normalizeHostPath("/"));
   });
+
+  it("includes the config media root when legacy state and config dirs diverge", () => {
+    const homeRoot = path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-legacy-home-test");
+    const roots = buildMediaLocalRoots(
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".clawdbot"),
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".openclaw"),
+    );
+
+    expectNormalizedRootsContain(roots, [
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".clawdbot", "media"),
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".clawdbot", "workspace"),
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".clawdbot", "sandboxes"),
+      path.join(homeRoot, ".openclaw", "media"),
+    ]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/media/local-roots.ts b/src/media/local-roots.ts
index 1b5e1bbe993..3d7c8f77388 100644
--- a/src/media/local-roots.ts
+++ b/src/media/local-roots.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { resolveAgentWorkspaceDir } from "../agents/agent-scope.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { resolveStateDir } from "../config/paths.js";
 import { resolvePreferredOpenClawTmpDir } from "../infra/tmp-openclaw-dir.js";
+import { resolveConfigDir } from "../utils.js";
 
 type BuildMediaLocalRootsOptions = {
   preferredTmpDir?: string;
@@ -17,29 +18,38 @@ function resolveCachedPreferredTmpDir(): string {
   return cachedPreferredTmpDir;
 }
 
-function buildMediaLocalRoots(
+export function buildMediaLocalRoots(
   stateDir: string,
+  configDir: string,
   options: BuildMediaLocalRootsOptions = {},
 ): string[] {
   const resolvedStateDir = path.resolve(stateDir);
+  const resolvedConfigDir = path.resolve(configDir);
   const preferredTmpDir = options.preferredTmpDir ?? resolveCachedPreferredTmpDir();
-  return [
-    preferredTmpDir,
-    path.join(resolvedStateDir, "media"),
-    path.join(resolvedStateDir, "workspace"),
-    path.join(resolvedStateDir, "sandboxes"),
-  ];
+  return Array.from(
+    new Set([
+      preferredTmpDir,
+      path.join(resolvedStateDir, "media"),
+      path.join(resolvedStateDir, "workspace"),
+      path.join(resolvedStateDir, "sandboxes"),
+      // Upgraded installs can still resolve the active state dir to the legacy
+      // ~/.clawdbot tree while new media writes already go under ~/.openclaw/media.
+      // Keep inbound media readable across that split without widening roots beyond
+      // the managed media cache.
+      path.join(resolvedConfigDir, "media"),
+    ]),
+  );
 }
 
 export function getDefaultMediaLocalRoots(): readonly string[] {
-  return buildMediaLocalRoots(resolveStateDir());
+  return buildMediaLocalRoots(resolveStateDir(), resolveConfigDir());
 }
 
 export function getAgentScopedMediaLocalRoots(
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
   agentId?: string,
 ): readonly string[] {
-  const roots = buildMediaLocalRoots(resolveStateDir());
+  const roots = buildMediaLocalRoots(resolveStateDir(), resolveConfigDir());
   if (!agentId?.trim()) {
     return roots;
   }