diff --git a/packages/ui/src/stores/useGitHubPrStatusStore.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/stores/useGitHubPrStatusStore.test.ts
index f8affe7c..351cf765 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/stores/useGitHubPrStatusStore.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/stores/useGitHubPrStatusStore.test.ts
@@ -440,4 +440,104 @@ describe("GitHub PR status stale terminal associations", () => {
     expect(useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().entries[key]?.status?.pr?.number).toBe(12)
     expect(useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().entries[key]?.error).toBe("GitHub unavailable")
   })
+
+  test("does not persist a merged branch association", () => {
+    const merged: GitHubPullRequestStatus = {
+      connected: true,
+      fetchedAt: 1_000,
+      pr: { number: 12, title: "old", url: "u12", state: "merged", draft: false, base: "main", head: "feature" },
+    }
+    const key = getGitHubPrStatusKey("/repo", "feature", "origin")
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().ensureEntry(key)
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().setParams(key, params({} as RuntimeAPIs["github"], "feature"))
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.setState((state) => ({
+      entries: {
+        ...state.entries,
+        [key]: {
+          ...state.entries[key]!,
+          status: merged,
+          isInitialStatusResolved: true,
+          lastRefreshAt: Date.now(),
+        },
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const persisted = useGitHubPrStatusStore.persist.getOptions().partialize?.(
+      useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState(),
+    ) as { entries?: Record<string, unknown> } | undefined
+    expect(persisted?.entries?.[key]).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  test("still persists an open branch association", () => {
+    const open: GitHubPullRequestStatus = {
+      connected: true,
+      fetchedAt: 1_000,
+      pr: { number: 15, title: "new", url: "u15", state: "open", draft: false, base: "main", head: "feature" },
+    }
+    const key = getGitHubPrStatusKey("/repo", "feature", "origin")
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().ensureEntry(key)
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState().setParams(key, params({} as RuntimeAPIs["github"], "feature"))
+    useGitHubPrStatusStore.setState((state) => ({
+      entries: {
+        ...state.entries,
+        [key]: {
+          ...state.entries[key]!,
+          status: open,
+          isInitialStatusResolved: true,
+          lastRefreshAt: Date.now(),
+        },
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const persisted = useGitHubPrStatusStore.persist.getOptions().partialize?.(
+      useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState(),
+    ) as { entries?: Record<string, { status?: GitHubPullRequestStatus | null }> } | undefined
+    expect(persisted?.entries?.[key]?.status?.pr?.number).toBe(15)
+  })
+
+  test("hydrate strips a legacy persisted merged PR and marks it unresolved", () => {
+    const key = getGitHubPrStatusKey("/repo", "feature", "origin")
+    const hydrated = useGitHubPrStatusStore.persist.getOptions().merge?.(
+      {
+        entries: {
+          [key]: {
+            status: {
+              connected: true,
+              fetchedAt: 1_000,
+              repo: { owner: "acme", repo: "app", url: "https://github.com/acme/app" },
+              pr: { number: 12, title: "old", url: "u12", state: "merged", draft: false, base: "main", head: "feature" },
+              checks: { state: "success", total: 1, success: 1, failure: 0, pending: 0 },
+              canMerge: true,
+            },
+            isInitialStatusResolved: true,
+            lastRefreshAt: Date.now(),
+            lastDiscoveryPollAt: 0,
+            identity: {
+              runtimeKey: "runtime-a",
+              directory: "/repo",
+              branch: "feature",
+              remoteName: "origin",
+            },
+            resolvedRemoteName: "origin",
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      useGitHubPrStatusStore.getState(),
+    ) as {
+      entries: Record<string, {
+        status: GitHubPullRequestStatus | null
+        isInitialStatusResolved: boolean
+      }>
+    }
+
+    expect(hydrated.entries[key]?.status?.pr).toBeNull()
+    expect(hydrated.entries[key]?.status?.repo).toEqual({
+      owner: "acme",
+      repo: "app",
+      url: "https://github.com/acme/app",
+    })
+    expect(hydrated.entries[key]?.status?.checks).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(hydrated.entries[key]?.status?.canMerge).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(hydrated.entries[key]?.isInitialStatusResolved).toBe(false)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.js b/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.js
index 523f12d6..f31cb30c 100644
--- a/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.js
+++ b/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.js
@@ -514,14 +514,11 @@ const findFirstMatchingPr = async ({ octokit, target, branch, sourceCandidates,
 
   // Branch status associates the current head with an open PR only. Returning a
   // closed/merged PR here made the client cache a terminal status that could not
-  // self-heal until a manual forced refresh.
-  const state = 'open';
-  // Shared per-repo list first: one pulls.list answers every branch of the
-  // repo within the TTL. A miss in a complete list is authoritative — skip
-  // the per-branch query fan entirely.
+  // self-heal until a manual forced refresh. A miss also lets the next repo
+  // target run, so an open upstream PR wins over a merged fork PR.
   let listWasComplete = false;
   try {
-    const listEntry = await getRepoPulls(octokit, target.repo, state, { force });
+    const listEntry = await getRepoPulls(octokit, target.repo, 'open', { force });
     const fromList = pickPreferred(listEntry.prs);
     if (fromList) {
       return fromList;
@@ -539,7 +536,7 @@ const findFirstMatchingPr = async ({ octokit, target, branch, sourceCandidates,
       const directCandidates = await safeListPulls(octokit, {
         owner: target.repo.owner,
         repo: target.repo.repo,
-        state,
+        state: 'open',
         head: `${owner}:${branch}`,
         per_page: 100,
       });
diff --git a/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.test.js b/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.test.js
index 14bc8bfb..a481deca 100644
--- a/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.test.js
+++ b/packages/web/server/lib/github/pr-status.test.js
@@ -86,4 +86,20 @@ describe('findFirstMatchingPr open-only branch status', () => {
     expect(listMock.mock.calls.every((call) => call[0]?.state === 'open')).toBe(true);
     expect(listMock.mock.calls.some((call) => call[0]?.state === 'closed')).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  test('does not query closed PRs when the open list is complete and empty', async () => {
+    listMock.mockImplementation(async () => ({ data: [] }));
+
+    const pr = await findFirstMatchingPr({
+      octokit: { rest: { pulls: { list: listMock } } },
+      target: { repo: { owner: 'acme', repo: 'app' }, remoteName: 'origin' },
+      branch: 'feature',
+      sourceCandidates: [{ repo: { owner: 'acme', repo: 'app' } }],
+      force: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(pr).toBeNull();
+    expect(listMock.mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(listMock.mock.calls[0]?.[0]?.state).toBe('open');
+  });
 });