diff --git a/scripts/e2e/parallels-npm-update-smoke.sh b/scripts/e2e/parallels-npm-update-smoke.sh
index d37e8376f65..34d0f9ae065 100755
--- a/scripts/e2e/parallels-npm-update-smoke.sh
+++ b/scripts/e2e/parallels-npm-update-smoke.sh
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ function Invoke-OpenClawUpdateWithTimeout {
     $previousDisableBundledPlugins = $env:OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS
     $env:OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS = '1'
     try {
-      $output = & $Path update --tag $Target --yes --json *>&1
+      $output = & $Path update --tag $Target --yes --no-restart --json *>&1
     } finally {
       if ($null -eq $previousDisableBundledPlugins) {
         Remove-Item Env:OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
@@ -835,6 +835,33 @@ function Invoke-OpenClawAgentWithTimeout {
   throw "openclaw agent timed out after ${TimeoutSeconds}s"
 }
 
+function Invoke-OpenClawVersionWithRetry {
+  param(
+    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$OpenClawPath,
+    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)][string]$ExpectedNeedle,
+    [int]$Attempts = 12,
+    [int]$SleepSeconds = 2
+  )
+
+  $lastError = ''
+  for ($attempt = 1; $attempt -le $Attempts; $attempt++) {
+    Write-ProgressLog "update.verify-version.attempt-$attempt"
+    try {
+      $version = Invoke-CaptureLogged 'openclaw --version' { & $OpenClawPath --version }
+      if (-not $ExpectedNeedle -or $version -match [regex]::Escape($ExpectedNeedle)) {
+        return $version
+      }
+      $lastError = "version mismatch: expected substring $ExpectedNeedle"
+    } catch {
+      $lastError = $_ | Out-String
+    }
+    if ($attempt -lt $Attempts) {
+      Start-Sleep -Seconds $SleepSeconds
+    }
+  }
+  throw $lastError
+}
+
 function Start-GatewayRunFallback {
   param(
     [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$OpenClawPath
@@ -948,10 +975,7 @@ try {
   Write-ProgressLog 'update.openclaw-update'
   Invoke-OpenClawUpdateWithTimeout -OpenClawPath $openclaw -UpdateTarget $UpdateTarget
   Write-ProgressLog 'update.verify-version'
-  $version = Invoke-CaptureLogged 'openclaw --version' { & $openclaw --version }
-  if ($ExpectedNeedle -and $version -notmatch [regex]::Escape($ExpectedNeedle)) {
-    throw "version mismatch: expected substring $ExpectedNeedle"
-  }
+  $version = Invoke-OpenClawVersionWithRetry -OpenClawPath $openclaw -ExpectedNeedle $ExpectedNeedle
   Write-ProgressLog $version
   Write-ProgressLog 'update.status'
   Invoke-Logged 'openclaw update status' { & $openclaw update status --json }
@@ -1678,6 +1702,27 @@ stop_openclaw_gateway_processes() {
     /bin/kill -9 "\$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
   done
 }
+openclaw_version_with_retry() {
+  bin="\$1"
+  expected="\$2"
+  version=""
+  last_output=""
+  for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12; do
+    if version="\$("\$bin" --version 2>&1)"; then
+      printf '%s\n' "\$version"
+      if [ -z "\$expected" ] || [[ "\$version" == *"\$expected"* ]]; then
+        return 0
+      fi
+      last_output="version mismatch: expected substring \$expected"
+    else
+      last_output="\$version"
+      printf '%s\n' "\$last_output" >&2
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+  done
+  printf '%s\n' "\$last_output" >&2
+  return 1
+}
 # Stop the pre-update gateway before replacing the package. Otherwise the old
 # host can observe new plugin metadata mid-update and abort config validation.
 scrub_future_plugin_entries
@@ -1686,21 +1731,11 @@ stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
 # host while new bundled plugin metadata is already on disk. Keep this
 # same-guest update hop focused on core/package migration; post-update smoke
 # below starts the fresh gateway with bundled plugins enabled.
-OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw update --tag "$update_target" --yes --json
+OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw update --tag "$update_target" --yes --no-restart --json
 # Same-guest npm upgrades can leave the old gateway process holding the old
 # bundled plugin host version. Stop it before post-update config commands.
 stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
-version="\$(/opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw --version)"
-printf '%s\n' "\$version"
-if [ -n "$expected_needle" ]; then
-  case "\$version" in
-    *"$expected_needle"*) ;;
-    *)
-      echo "version mismatch: expected substring $expected_needle" >&2
-      exit 1
-      ;;
-  esac
-fi
+version="\$(openclaw_version_with_retry /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw "$expected_needle")"
 /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw update status --json
   /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw models set "$MODEL_ID"
   /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw config set agents.defaults.skipBootstrap true --strict-json
@@ -1816,25 +1851,36 @@ stop_openclaw_gateway_processes() {
     done
   fi
 }
+openclaw_version_with_retry() {
+  bin="\$1"
+  expected="\$2"
+  version=""
+  last_output=""
+  for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12; do
+    if version="\$("\$bin" --version 2>&1)"; then
+      printf '%s\n' "\$version"
+      if [ -z "\$expected" ] || [[ "\$version" == *"\$expected"* ]]; then
+        return 0
+      fi
+      last_output="version mismatch: expected substring \$expected"
+    else
+      last_output="\$version"
+      printf '%s\n' "\$last_output" >&2
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+  done
+  printf '%s\n' "\$last_output" >&2
+  return 1
+}
 # Stop the pre-update manual gateway before replacing the package. Otherwise
 # the old host can observe new plugin metadata mid-update and abort validation.
 scrub_future_plugin_entries
 stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
-OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 openclaw update --tag "$update_target" --yes --json
+OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_PLUGINS=1 openclaw update --tag "$update_target" --yes --no-restart --json
 # The fresh Linux lane starts a manual gateway; stop the old process before
 # post-update config validation sees mixed old-host/new-plugin metadata.
 stop_openclaw_gateway_processes
-version="\$(openclaw --version)"
-printf '%s\n' "\$version"
-if [ -n "$expected_needle" ]; then
-  case "\$version" in
-    *"$expected_needle"*) ;;
-    *)
-      echo "version mismatch: expected substring $expected_needle" >&2
-      exit 1
-      ;;
-  esac
-fi
+version="\$(openclaw_version_with_retry openclaw "$expected_needle")"
 openclaw update status --json
 openclaw models set "$MODEL_ID"
 openclaw config set agents.defaults.skipBootstrap true --strict-json