diff --git a/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.option-collisions.test.ts b/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.option-collisions.test.ts
index 88ad3e57496..982fa30b74e 100644
--- a/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.option-collisions.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.option-collisions.test.ts
@@ -319,6 +319,41 @@ describe("gateway run option collisions", () => {
     expect(secondOptions.startupStartedAt).toBe(2000);
   });
 
+  it("uses the startup snapshot only for the first in-process gateway start", async () => {
+    runGatewayLoop.mockImplementationOnce(async ({ start }: { start: GatewayLoopStart }) => {
+      await start({ startupStartedAt: 1000 });
+      await start({ startupStartedAt: 2000 });
+    });
+
+    await runGatewayCli(["gateway", "run", "--allow-unconfigured"]);
+
+    expect(startGatewayServer).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(startGatewayServer).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      1,
+      18789,
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        startupStartedAt: 1000,
+        startupConfigSnapshotRead: {
+          snapshot: configState.snapshot,
+        },
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(startGatewayServer).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      2,
+      18789,
+      expect.not.objectContaining({
+        startupConfigSnapshotRead: expect.anything(),
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(startGatewayServer).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      2,
+      18789,
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        startupStartedAt: 2000,
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("logs when first startup will build missing Control UI assets", async () => {
     controlUiState.root = null;