diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/guided-flow.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/guided-flow.ts
index b70fd3fd9..04073b611 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/guided-flow.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/guided-flow.ts
@@ -909,8 +909,9 @@ export async function showSmartEntry(
     }
   }
 
-  const state = interrupted.state ?? await deriveState(basePath);
-
+  // Always derive from the project root — the assessment may have derived
+  // state from a worktree path that was cleaned up in the stale branch above.
+  const state = await deriveState(basePath);
 
   if (!state.activeMilestone) {
     // Guard: if a discuss session is already in flight, don't re-inject the prompt.
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/crash-recovery.test.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/crash-recovery.test.ts
index 132dbec9b..c396ee728 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/crash-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/crash-recovery.test.ts
@@ -168,6 +168,25 @@ test("readPausedSessionMetadata reads paused-session metadata when present", ()
   }
 });
 
+test("assessInterruptedSession returns none when no lock and no paused session exist", async () => {
+  const base = makeTmpBase();
+  try {
+    const assessment = await assessInterruptedSession(base);
+    assert.equal(assessment.classification, "none");
+    assert.equal(assessment.lock, null);
+    assert.equal(assessment.pausedSession, null);
+    assert.equal(assessment.state, null);
+    assert.equal(assessment.recovery, null);
+    assert.equal(assessment.recoveryPrompt, null);
+    assert.equal(assessment.recoveryToolCallCount, 0);
+    assert.equal(assessment.artifactSatisfied, false);
+    assert.equal(assessment.hasResumableDiskState, false);
+    assert.equal(assessment.isBootstrapCrash, false);
+  } finally {
+    cleanup(base);
+  }
+});
+
 test("assessInterruptedSession classifies stale complete repo as stale and suppresses recovery", async () => {
   const base = makeTmpBase();
   try {