diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 83c6870d157..8fa41138696 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Cron: retry recurring wake-now main-session jobs through temporary heartbeat busy skips before recording success, so queued cron events no longer appear as ok ghost runs while the main lane is still busy. Fixes #75964.
 - Control UI: contain the standalone iOS PWA viewport with safe-area-aware document locking, so Add-to-Home-Screen launches cannot scroll past the device bounds. Refs #76072. Thanks @kvncrw.
 - Agents/restart recovery: match cleaned transcript locks by exact transcript lock paths plus the canonical session fallback, so interrupted main sessions using topic-suffixed transcripts resume after gateway restart. Refs #76052. Thanks @anyech.
 - Agents/runtime: cache the stable system-prompt prefix and reuse prompt-report tool schema stats during dispatch prep, reducing repeated CPU work before streaming starts. Fixes #75999; supersedes #76061. Thanks @zackchiutw and @STLI69.
diff --git a/src/cron/service.main-job-passes-heartbeat-target-last.test.ts b/src/cron/service.main-job-passes-heartbeat-target-last.test.ts
index f4662883b01..460d44f3787 100644
--- a/src/cron/service.main-job-passes-heartbeat-target-last.test.ts
+++ b/src/cron/service.main-job-passes-heartbeat-target-last.test.ts
@@ -47,9 +47,10 @@ describe("cron main job passes heartbeat target=last", () => {
   }
 
   async function runSingleTick(cron: CronService) {
-    await cron.start();
+    const startPromise = cron.start();
     await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(2_000);
     await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1_000);
+    await startPromise;
     cron.stop();
   }
 
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ describe("cron main job passes heartbeat target=last", () => {
 
     const runHeartbeatOnce = vi.fn<RunHeartbeatOnce>(async () => ({
       status: "skipped" as const,
-      reason: "requests-in-flight",
+      reason: "cron-in-progress",
     }));
 
     const { cron, requestHeartbeatNow } = createCronWithSpies({
diff --git a/src/cron/service/timer.regression.test.ts b/src/cron/service/timer.regression.test.ts
index 4a7f8dfe0e1..9aeb0339f96 100644
--- a/src/cron/service/timer.regression.test.ts
+++ b/src/cron/service/timer.regression.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   setupCronRegressionFixtures,
   writeCronJobs,
 } from "../../../test/helpers/cron/service-regression-fixtures.js";
-import type { HeartbeatRunResult } from "../../infra/heartbeat-wake.js";
+import { HEARTBEAT_SKIP_LANES_BUSY, type HeartbeatRunResult } from "../../infra/heartbeat-wake.js";
 import * as schedule from "../schedule.js";
 import type { CronAgentExecutionStarted, CronJob } from "../types.js";
 import { computeJobNextRunAtMs } from "./jobs.js";
@@ -827,18 +827,16 @@ describe("cron service timer regressions", () => {
     expect(requestHeartbeatNow).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("finishes recurring wake-now main jobs quickly when the main lane is busy (#58833)", async () => {
+  it("retries recurring wake-now main jobs until temporary lane pressure clears (#75964)", async () => {
     let now = 0;
     const nowMs = () => {
       now += 10;
       return now;
     };
-    const runHeartbeatOnce = vi.fn(
-      async (): Promise<HeartbeatRunResult> => ({
-        status: "skipped",
-        reason: "requests-in-flight",
-      }),
-    );
+    const runHeartbeatOnce = vi
+      .fn<() => Promise<HeartbeatRunResult>>()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ status: "skipped", reason: HEARTBEAT_SKIP_LANES_BUSY })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ status: "ran", durationMs: 12 });
     const enqueueSystemEvent = vi.fn();
     const requestHeartbeatNow = vi.fn();
     const job: CronJob = {
@@ -862,20 +860,19 @@ describe("cron service timer regressions", () => {
       requestHeartbeatNow,
       runHeartbeatOnce,
       wakeNowHeartbeatBusyMaxWaitMs: 120_000,
-      wakeNowHeartbeatBusyRetryDelayMs: 250,
+      wakeNowHeartbeatBusyRetryDelayMs: 1,
       runIsolatedAgentJob: createDefaultIsolatedRunner(),
     });
     state.store = { version: 1, jobs: [job] };
 
-    await executeJob(state, job, nowMs(), { forced: false });
+    const runPromise = executeJob(state, job, nowMs(), { forced: false });
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1);
+    await runPromise;
 
     expect(enqueueSystemEvent).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(runHeartbeatOnce).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(requestHeartbeatNow).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.objectContaining({ reason: "cron:busy-recurring-main" }),
-    );
+    expect(runHeartbeatOnce).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(requestHeartbeatNow).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(job.state.lastStatus).toBe("ok");
-    expect(job.state.lastDurationMs).toBeLessThan(100);
     expect(job.state.runningAtMs).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
diff --git a/src/cron/service/timer.ts b/src/cron/service/timer.ts
index d0909d4a984..5476f05e41d 100644
--- a/src/cron/service/timer.ts
+++ b/src/cron/service/timer.ts
@@ -1374,7 +1374,6 @@ async function executeMainSessionCronJob(
   });
   if (job.wakeMode === "now" && state.deps.runHeartbeatOnce) {
     const reason = `cron:${job.id}`;
-    const isRecurringJob = job.schedule.kind !== "at";
     const maxWaitMs = state.deps.wakeNowHeartbeatBusyMaxWaitMs ?? 2 * 60_000;
     const retryDelayMs = state.deps.wakeNowHeartbeatBusyRetryDelayMs ?? 250;
     const waitStartedAt = state.deps.nowMs();
@@ -1396,11 +1395,12 @@ async function executeMainSessionCronJob(
       ) {
         break;
       }
-      if (isRecurringJob || heartbeatResult.reason === HEARTBEAT_SKIP_CRON_IN_PROGRESS) {
-        // Recurring main-session cron jobs should not hold the cron lane open
-        // while runtime lanes are busy. A cron-in-progress skip is caused by
-        // this job's own active marker, so direct wake-now cannot succeed until
-        // the cron job returns and clears it (#50773).
+      if (heartbeatResult.reason === HEARTBEAT_SKIP_CRON_IN_PROGRESS) {
+        // A cron-in-progress skip is caused by this job's own active marker, so
+        // direct wake-now cannot succeed until the cron job returns and clears
+        // it (#50773). Other retryable busy reasons can clear while this job is
+        // still active, so let the bounded retry loop observe a real heartbeat
+        // run before recording recurring jobs as successful (#75964).
         state.deps.requestHeartbeatNow({
           reason,
           agentId: job.agentId,