diff --git a/__tests__/mcp-daemon.test.ts b/__tests__/mcp-daemon.test.ts
index 6925556adf..6e4bd0eeab 100644
--- a/__tests__/mcp-daemon.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/mcp-daemon.test.ts
@@ -859,21 +859,37 @@ describe('Shared MCP daemon (issue #411)', () => {
     // A launcher connecting just as the daemon stops is accepted but is not yet a
     // client. The stop used to wait on that socket with the writer lock held and
     // the socket gone, so every other new client failed until it closed.
-    const env = { CODEGRAPH_DAEMON_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS: '30000', CODEGRAPH_PPID_POLL_MS: '5000' };
+    // The idle timeout drives the stop: SIGTERM on Windows ends the process
+    // without running it. The pending socket connects while the proxy is a
+    // registered client, so the idle timer can't fire first, and the long
+    // client-hello wait keeps it from becoming a client before the stop runs.
+    const env = {
+      CODEGRAPH_DAEMON_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS: '2000',
+      CODEGRAPH_DAEMON_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS: '60000',
+      CODEGRAPH_PPID_POLL_MS: '5000',
+    };
     const server = spawnServer(tempDir, env);
     servers.push(server);
     sendInitialize(server.child, `file://${tempDir}`, 1);
     await waitFor(() => findResponse(server.stdout, 1), 20000, 25, 'initialize response');
-    // Attached means the daemon is listening with its SIGTERM handler installed.
     await waitFor(() => server.stderr.some((l) => l.includes('Attached to shared daemon')), 8000, 25, 'daemon attach log');
     await waitFor(() => (readLockPid(realRoot) ?? 0) > 0, 8000, 25, 'daemon pidfile');
     const daemonPid = readLockPid(realRoot)!;
     const { socketPath } = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(realRoot, '.codegraph', 'daemon.pid'), 'utf8'));
+    // The daemon arms its idle timer when it starts listening, so the proxy must
+    // register within those 2 s. If it doesn't, the daemon stops by design and
+    // the test fails before its assertion: at the alive check, or at the pending
+    // connection once the daemon has closed its listener.
+    sendMessage(server.child, { jsonrpc: '2.0', id: 2, method: 'ping' });
+    await waitFor(() => findResponse(server.stdout, 2), 8000, 25, 'ping response');
+    expect(isAlive(daemonPid)).toBe(true);
     const pending = net.connect(socketPath);
-    await new Promise((resolve, reject) => pending.once('connect', resolve).once('error', reject));
+    // The daemon's hello line proves it accepted the connection.
+    await new Promise((resolve, reject) => pending.once('data', resolve).once('error', reject));
+    // The only client leaves; the daemon idles out with the socket still pending.
+    server.child.stdin.end();
     try {
-      process.kill(daemonPid, 'SIGTERM');
-      expect(await waitProcessExit(daemonPid, 5000)).toBe(true);
+      expect(await waitProcessExit(daemonPid, 8000)).toBe(true);
       expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(realRoot, '.codegraph', 'writer.pid'))).toBe(false);
     } finally {
       pending.destroy();
diff --git a/src/mcp/daemon.ts b/src/mcp/daemon.ts
index 7c7dc37780..6f23386114 100644
--- a/src/mcp/daemon.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/daemon.ts
@@ -118,8 +118,11 @@ export function finalizeDaemonExit(
 /** How often the daemon sweeps connected clients for a dead peer process (#692). */
 const DEFAULT_CLIENT_SWEEP_MS = 30_000;
 
-/** How long the daemon waits for the optional client-hello before proceeding without it. */
-const CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS = 3_000;
+/**
+ * How long the daemon waits for the optional client-hello before proceeding
+ * without it. `CODEGRAPH_DAEMON_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS` overrides it.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS = 3_000;
 
 /** Bytes/parse-window for an oversized hello line — bounded against a malicious peer. */
 const MAX_HELLO_LINE_BYTES = 4096;
@@ -862,6 +865,14 @@ function resolveClientSweepMs(): number {
   return Math.floor(parsed); // 0 disables the sweep
 }
 
+function resolveClientHelloTimeoutMs(): number {
+  const raw = process.env.CODEGRAPH_DAEMON_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  if (raw === undefined || raw === '') return DEFAULT_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  const parsed = Number(raw);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(parsed) || parsed <= 0) return DEFAULT_CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  return Math.floor(parsed);
+}
+
 /**
  * Parse one client-hello line. Returns the peer pids if `line` is a well-formed
  * client-hello (carries the `codegraph_client` marker), or null otherwise — in
@@ -967,7 +978,7 @@ function readClientHello(
     const timer = setTimeout(() => {
       const partial = chunks.length === 0 ? undefined : (chunks.length === 1 ? chunks[0] : Buffer.concat(chunks, total));
       finish({ pid: null, hostPid: null }, partial);
-    }, CLIENT_HELLO_TIMEOUT_MS);
+    }, resolveClientHelloTimeoutMs());
     timer.unref?.();
     socket.on('data', onData);
     socket.on('error', onEnd);