diff --git a/src/Cli/CronJobs/ServersCronJob.php b/src/Cli/CronJobs/ServersCronJob.php
index 12e1a436..c609eb3d 100644
--- a/src/Cli/CronJobs/ServersCronJob.php
+++ b/src/Cli/CronJobs/ServersCronJob.php
@@ -101,7 +101,22 @@ class ServersCronJob implements CommandInterface {
             shell_exec(BIN_PATH . 'network > /dev/null 2>/dev/null &');
         }
 
-        if (!ProcessManager::isAnyProcessRunning(array('XC_VM[Watchdog]', 'console.php watchdog'))) {
+        // A watchdog generation lives only a few seconds. If one is still
+        // present but far older it is wedged — typically blocked in poll()
+        // on a half-open MariaDB socket (CLOSE_WAIT) inside its DB ping — and
+        // will never refresh last_check_ago, so the panel marks the node
+        // offline while nginx/php/redis/streams are all fine. Kill the stale
+        // process and start a fresh generation; a plain presence check alone
+        // would keep trusting the wedged one forever.
+        $rWatchdogAlive = false;
+        foreach (ProcessManager::findProcessPIDs(array('XC_VM[Watchdog]', 'console.php watchdog')) as $rWatchdogPID) {
+            if (ProcessManager::getProcessAge($rWatchdogPID) > 90) {
+                ProcessManager::kill($rWatchdogPID);
+                continue;
+            }
+            $rWatchdogAlive = true;
+        }
+        if (!$rWatchdogAlive) {
             shell_exec(PHP_BIN . ' ' . MAIN_HOME . 'console.php watchdog > /dev/null 2>/dev/null &');
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Core/Process/ProcessManager.php b/src/Core/Process/ProcessManager.php
index f7229480..aef3415b 100644
--- a/src/Core/Process/ProcessManager.php
+++ b/src/Core/Process/ProcessManager.php
@@ -254,6 +254,40 @@ class ProcessManager {
         return getmypid();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the age of a process in seconds (how long it has been running).
+     *
+     * On Linux the mtime of the /proc/PID directory is fixed to the
+     * process start time, so `time() - filemtime()` yields the same figure
+     * as `ps -o etimes` without shelling out to ps — consistent with the
+     * rest of this class reading /proc directly.
+     *
+     * Used to detect daemons that are still present but wedged (e.g. a
+     * watchdog blocked in poll() on a half-open MariaDB socket): a normally
+     * short-lived generation that has been alive far too long is stale.
+     *
+     * @param int $pid Process ID
+     * @return int Age in seconds, or -1 if it cannot be determined
+     */
+    public static function getProcessAge($pid) {
+        $pid = (int)$pid;
+
+        if ($pid <= 0 || !self::procExists($pid)) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        clearstatcache(true, '/proc/' . $pid);
+        $rStart = @filemtime('/proc/' . $pid);
+
+        if ($rStart === false) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        $rAge = time() - $rStart;
+
+        return $rAge > 0 ? $rAge : 0;
+    }
+
     // ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     //  Cron Lock Management
     // ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────