diff --git a/hive-agent/src/login_session.rs b/hive-agent/src/login_session.rs
index e151fcbc..99c36df7 100644
--- a/hive-agent/src/login_session.rs
+++ b/hive-agent/src/login_session.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ struct State {
     /// First URL-looking substring we saw in the output. Surface this on the
     /// web UI as the link the operator should open.
     url: Option<String>,
-    /// Set when the child has exited. The web UI uses this to know whether
+    /// Set by `poll` when the child has exited. The web UI uses this to know whether
     /// the operator can still paste a code.
     finished: bool,
     /// Exit status note (e.g. "exited with code 0", "killed by signal 15"),
@@ -209,10 +209,10 @@ async fn pump<R: tokio::io::AsyncRead + Unpin>(
         // we'll miss it until EOF (acceptable for the URL surface — claude
         // prints the URL on its own line).
         match reader.read_line(&mut buf).await {
-            Ok(0) => {
-                state.lock().unwrap().finished = true;
-                break;
-            }
+            // EOF means this pipe closed, not that the child exited: only
+            // `poll` (via `try_wait`) may mark the session finished, or the
+            // next state render would drop a login that is still running.
+            Ok(0) => break,
             Ok(_) => {
                 let mut s = state.lock().unwrap();
                 if s.url.is_none()
@@ -225,9 +225,7 @@ async fn pump<R: tokio::io::AsyncRead + Unpin>(
             }
             Err(e) => {
                 tracing::warn!(error = ?e, %tag, "login pump read error");
-                let mut s = state.lock().unwrap();
-                s.finished = true;
-                s.exit_note = Some(format!("pump {tag} error: {e}"));
+                state.lock().unwrap().exit_note = Some(format!("pump {tag} error: {e}"));
                 break;
             }
         }
@@ -277,7 +275,18 @@ impl Drop for LoginSession {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-    use super::extract_url;
+    use super::{State, extract_url, pump};
+    use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+    use tokio::io::BufReader;
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_closed_output_pipe_does_not_finish_the_session() {
+        let state = Arc::new(Mutex::new(State::default()));
+
+        pump(BufReader::new(tokio::io::empty()), state.clone(), "stdout").await;
+
+        assert!(!state.lock().unwrap().finished);
+    }
 
     #[test]
     fn picks_first_https() {