diff --git a/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime-recording-reaper.test.ts b/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime-recording-reaper.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a816b129a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime-recording-reaper.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import { afterEach, expect, test, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { mkdtempForTestSync } from '../../__tests__/test-utils/tmp-dir.ts';
+
+const reapCalls = vi.hoisted(() => [] as Array<Record<string, unknown>>);
+
+vi.mock('@agent-device/host-kit/process', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<Record<string, unknown>>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    reapOwnedProcessRecordsAtStartup: (_store: unknown, options?: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+      reapCalls.push(options ?? {});
+      return Promise.resolve({ terminated: [], failed: [] });
+    },
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock('../../platform-runtime.ts', () => ({
+  androidObservation: {},
+  createRequestPlatformProviders: () => ({
+    run: async (_context: unknown, task: () => Promise<unknown>) => await task(),
+  }),
+  createPlatformRuntimeGateway: () => ({
+    applicationLifecycle: {
+      recoverStartupResources: async () => {},
+      detachForDaemonShutdown: async () => {},
+      finalizeDaemonShutdown: async () => {},
+    },
+    inspectFacts: async () => {
+      throw new Error('unused');
+    },
+    bind: async () => {
+      throw new Error('unused');
+    },
+    shutdown: async () => {},
+  }),
+  createPlatformDeviceInventoryGateways: () => ({}),
+}));
+
+vi.mock('../../provider-device-runtimes.ts', () => ({
+  DEFAULT_PROVIDER_RUNTIME_REQUIRED_IDS: [],
+  createDefaultProviderRuntimeComposition: async () => ({ runtimes: [], platformModules: [] }),
+}));
+
+import { startDaemonRuntime } from './daemon-runtime.ts';
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  reapCalls.length = 0;
+});
+
+test('daemon startup reaps orphaned simctl recorders with a graceful finalize window', async () => {
+  const stateDir = mkdtempForTestSync('agent-device-daemon-recording-reaper-');
+  try {
+    const runtime = await startDaemonRuntime({
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        AGENT_DEVICE_STATE_DIR: stateDir,
+        AGENT_DEVICE_DAEMON_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS: '0',
+        AGENT_DEVICE_DAEMON_SERVER_MODE: 'http',
+      },
+      exit: () => {},
+      registerProcessHandlers: false,
+      stderr: { write: () => {} },
+      stdout: { write: () => {} },
+    });
+    expect(runtime).not.toBeNull();
+
+    const recordingReap = reapCalls.find(
+      (call) => JSON.stringify(call.purposes) === JSON.stringify(['simctl-screen-recording']),
+    );
+    expect(recordingReap, 'startup should reap the simctl recorder purpose').toBeDefined();
+    // An orphaned recorder must get the same graceful finalize window the live stop path allows,
+    // so it releases the host recording lock instead of leaving it dangling for the next session.
+    expect(Number(recordingReap!.termTimeoutMs)).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(5_000);
+
+    await runtime?.shutdown();
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(stateDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime.ts b/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime.ts
index 604eb9322..7735bebc7 100644
--- a/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/server/daemon-runtime.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ import { createScreenRecordingAdmissionLedger } from '../screen-recording-admiss
 const DAEMON_SESSION_LEASE_RELEASE_TIMEOUT_MS = 1_000;
 const DAEMON_PNG_WORKER_TERMINATE_TIMEOUT_MS = 1_000;
 const DAEMON_PROVIDER_RELEASE_DRAIN_TIMEOUT_MS = 2_000;
+// An orphaned `simctl recordVideo` releases the host-wide recording lock only after it finishes
+// finalizing on SIGINT; force-killing it sooner leaves every later recording failing with EBUSY
+// (#2170). Bound the grace to the recorder purpose, so daemon startup stays under the client budget.
+const DAEMON_RECORDING_REAP_TERM_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
 
 type WritableOutput = {
   write: (chunk: string) => unknown;
@@ -515,6 +519,7 @@ export async function startDaemonRuntime(
     await reapOwnedProcessRecordsAtStartup(ownedProcessRecords, {
       openWebSessionNames: openWebSessionNames(sessionStore),
       purposes: ['simctl-screen-recording'],
+      termTimeoutMs: DAEMON_RECORDING_REAP_TERM_TIMEOUT_MS,
     });
     await cleanupWebBrowserOrphansForDaemonStartup({
       stateDir: baseDir,