diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/issue-recovery-actions.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/issue-recovery-actions.test.ts
index 5ce43d2811c..9cd3fd8822a 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/issue-recovery-actions.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/issue-recovery-actions.test.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,93 @@ import { recoveryService } from "../services/recovery/service.js";
 const embeddedPostgresSupport = await getEmbeddedPostgresTestSupport();
 const describeEmbeddedPostgres = embeddedPostgresSupport.supported ? describe : describe.skip;
 
+function makeRecoveryActionRow(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
+  const now = new Date("2026-05-09T19:30:00.000Z");
+  return {
+    id: randomUUID(),
+    companyId: "company-1",
+    sourceIssueId: "source-1",
+    recoveryIssueId: null,
+    kind: "missing_disposition",
+    status: "active",
+    ownerType: "agent",
+    ownerAgentId: "agent-1",
+    ownerUserId: null,
+    previousOwnerAgentId: null,
+    returnOwnerAgentId: null,
+    cause: "successful_run_missing_issue_disposition",
+    fingerprint: "missing-disposition:fingerprint",
+    evidence: {},
+    nextAction: "Choose a valid issue disposition.",
+    wakePolicy: null,
+    monitorPolicy: null,
+    attemptCount: 1,
+    maxAttempts: null,
+    timeoutAt: null,
+    lastAttemptAt: now,
+    outcome: null,
+    resolutionNote: null,
+    resolvedAt: null,
+    createdAt: now,
+    updatedAt: now,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe("issueRecoveryActionService", () => {
+  it("does not reactivate an action resolved between the active read and update", async () => {
+    const existingRow = makeRecoveryActionRow({ id: "existing-action", attemptCount: 1 });
+    const createdRow = makeRecoveryActionRow({ id: "new-action", attemptCount: 1 });
+    const selectResults = [[existingRow], []];
+
+    const makeSelectQuery = (rows: unknown[]) => ({
+      from() {
+        return this;
+      },
+      where() {
+        return this;
+      },
+      orderBy() {
+        return this;
+      },
+      limit() {
+        return Promise.resolve(rows);
+      },
+    });
+
+    const fakeDb = {
+      select: vi.fn(() => makeSelectQuery(selectResults.shift() ?? [])),
+      update: vi.fn(() => ({
+        set: vi.fn(() => ({
+          where: vi.fn(() => ({
+            returning: vi.fn(async () => []),
+          })),
+        })),
+      })),
+      insert: vi.fn(() => ({
+        values: vi.fn(() => ({
+          returning: vi.fn(async () => [createdRow]),
+        })),
+      })),
+    };
+
+    const result = await issueRecoveryActionService(fakeDb as never).upsertSourceScoped({
+      companyId: "company-1",
+      sourceIssueId: "source-1",
+      kind: "missing_disposition",
+      ownerType: "agent",
+      ownerAgentId: "agent-1",
+      cause: "successful_run_missing_issue_disposition",
+      fingerprint: "missing-disposition:fingerprint",
+      nextAction: "Choose a valid issue disposition.",
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ id: "new-action", status: "active" });
+    expect(fakeDb.update).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(fakeDb.insert).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});
+
 if (!embeddedPostgresSupport.supported) {
   console.warn(
     `Skipping embedded Postgres issue recovery action tests on this host: ${embeddedPostgresSupport.reason ?? "unsupported environment"}`,
diff --git a/server/src/services/issue-recovery-actions.ts b/server/src/services/issue-recovery-actions.ts
index 067f47bdf1b..30f04ec70a2 100644
--- a/server/src/services/issue-recovery-actions.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/issue-recovery-actions.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type {
 } from "@paperclipai/shared";
 
 const ACTIVE_RECOVERY_ACTION_STATUSES = ["active", "escalated"] as const satisfies readonly IssueRecoveryActionStatus[];
+const MAX_UPSERT_RETRIES = 3;
 
 type IssueRecoveryActionRow = typeof issueRecoveryActions.$inferSelect;
 
@@ -128,7 +129,24 @@ export function issueRecoveryActionService(db: Db) {
     return result;
   }
 
-  async function upsertSourceScoped(input: UpsertIssueRecoveryActionInput): Promise<IssueRecoveryAction> {
+  async function retryUpsertSourceScoped(
+    input: UpsertIssueRecoveryActionInput,
+    retryCount: number,
+    error?: unknown,
+  ): Promise<IssueRecoveryAction> {
+    if (retryCount >= MAX_UPSERT_RETRIES) {
+      if (error) throw error;
+      throw new Error(
+        `Failed to upsert active recovery action for issue ${input.sourceIssueId} after ${MAX_UPSERT_RETRIES} retries`,
+      );
+    }
+    return upsertSourceScoped(input, retryCount + 1);
+  }
+
+  async function upsertSourceScoped(
+    input: UpsertIssueRecoveryActionInput,
+    retryCount = 0,
+  ): Promise<IssueRecoveryAction> {
     const existing = await getActiveForIssue(input.companyId, input.sourceIssueId);
     const now = new Date();
     const ownerType = input.ownerType ?? (input.ownerAgentId ? "agent" : "board");
@@ -159,8 +177,16 @@ export function issueRecoveryActionService(db: Db) {
           resolvedAt: null,
           updatedAt: now,
         })
-        .where(eq(issueRecoveryActions.id, existing.id))
+        .where(
+          and(
+            eq(issueRecoveryActions.id, existing.id),
+            inArray(issueRecoveryActions.status, [...ACTIVE_RECOVERY_ACTION_STATUSES]),
+          ),
+        )
         .returning();
+      if (!updated) {
+        return retryUpsertSourceScoped(input, retryCount);
+      }
       return toReadModel(updated!);
     }
 
@@ -193,9 +219,7 @@ export function issueRecoveryActionService(db: Db) {
       return toReadModel(created!);
     } catch (error) {
       if (!isUniqueRecoveryActionConflict(error)) throw error;
-      const raced = await getActiveForIssue(input.companyId, input.sourceIssueId);
-      if (!raced) throw error;
-      return upsertSourceScoped(input);
+      return retryUpsertSourceScoped(input, retryCount, error);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.test.tsx b/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.test.tsx
index 6ea8660fb92..71451e10f8c 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.test.tsx
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ describe("IssueRecoveryActionCard", () => {
     const section = node.querySelector("section[aria-label]");
     expect(section?.getAttribute("aria-label")).toBe("Recovery action: needed");
     expect(node.textContent).toContain("RECOVERY NEEDED");
-    expect(node.textContent).toContain("missing_disposition");
+    expect(node.textContent).toContain("Missing Disposition");
+    expect(node.textContent).not.toContain("missing_disposition");
     expect(node.textContent).toContain("This issue's run finished, but no next step was chosen.");
     expect(node.textContent).toContain("ClaudeCoder");
     expect(node.textContent).toContain("CodexCoder");
diff --git a/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.tsx b/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.tsx
index 8313d97e5e9..1ec36065817 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/IssueRecoveryActionCard.tsx
@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ export interface IssueRecoveryActionCardProps {
 }
 
 const KIND_LABEL: Record<IssueRecoveryActionKind, string> = {
-  missing_disposition: "missing_disposition",
-  stranded_assigned_issue: "stranded_assigned_issue",
-  active_run_watchdog: "active_run_watchdog",
-  issue_graph_liveness: "issue_graph_liveness",
+  missing_disposition: "Missing Disposition",
+  stranded_assigned_issue: "Stranded Issue",
+  active_run_watchdog: "Active Watchdog",
+  issue_graph_liveness: "Graph Liveness",
 };
 
 const KIND_HEADLINE: Record<IssueRecoveryActionKind, string> = {