diff --git a/hermes_cli/doctor.py b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
index 7155809b0c..3e20622575 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/doctor.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
@@ -309,14 +309,11 @@ def _render_state_db_stats(stats: dict, holders=None) -> list:
             f"({detail})",
         ))
 
-    # Advisory: WAL runaway — checkpoints are not landing.
-    if wal is not None and wal > STATE_DB_WAL_WARN_BYTES:
-        lines.append((
-            "warn",
-            f"state.db WAL is very large ({_human_bytes(wal)})",
-            "(checkpoints may not be completing — a long-lived reader or "
-            "stuck process can block them; see 'hermes doctor --fix')",
-        ))
+    # WAL runaway is deliberately NOT warned here: the pre-existing WAL
+    # check later in the state.db section already warns above 50 MB and
+    # offers a checkpoint via --fix; a second warning at a higher threshold
+    # would only duplicate it. STATE_DB_WAL_WARN_BYTES remains for callers
+    # (dashboards) that consume the stats dict without that legacy check.
 
     return lines
 
diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index 3d98d4241c..370da3730c 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -2220,8 +2220,14 @@ def collect_state_db_stats(db_path: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     try:
         # mode=ro refuses to create the file and refuses every write; a
         # short timeout keeps doctor snappy when a writer holds the lock.
-        conn = sqlite3.connect(
-            f"file:{Path(db_path)}?mode=ro", uri=True, timeout=2.0
+        # Route through the tracked connect so byte-probe helpers
+        # (read_header_bytes_preopen) see this connection and refuse raw
+        # opens that could cancel our POSIX locks mid-read.
+        conn = _connect_tracked_db(
+            f"file:{Path(db_path)}?mode=ro",
+            tracking_path=Path(db_path),
+            uri=True,
+            timeout=2.0,
         )
     except Exception as exc:
         logger.debug("collect_state_db_stats: cannot open %s read-only: %s",
diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index c28d067a9e..0adf9acb09 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -3719,8 +3719,8 @@ class AIAgent:
                     prefix
                     + "the turn was stopped because session storage was busy "
                     "(another Hermes process was writing to the state "
-                    "database). Your message was saved — please send it "
-                    "again in a moment."
+                    "database). Your message should already be saved — "
+                    "please send it again in a moment."
                 )
             if cause == "disk":
                 return (
diff --git a/tests/test_state_db_stats.py b/tests/test_state_db_stats.py
index fff1d2920d..b527c9c1a0 100644
--- a/tests/test_state_db_stats.py
+++ b/tests/test_state_db_stats.py
@@ -208,14 +208,18 @@ def test_render_large_db_legacy_trigram_suggests_optimize():
     assert "optimize-storage" in blob
 
 
-def test_render_warns_on_large_wal():
+def test_render_does_not_duplicate_legacy_wal_warning():
+    """A large WAL must NOT warn here: doctor's pre-existing WAL check
+    (50 MB threshold, with a --fix checkpoint) already covers it, and a
+    second warning at a higher threshold would duplicate the output."""
     from hermes_cli.doctor import STATE_DB_WAL_WARN_BYTES, _render_state_db_stats
 
     lines = _render_state_db_stats(
         _base_stats(wal_size_bytes=STATE_DB_WAL_WARN_BYTES + 1), holders=None
     )
-    blob = " ".join(" ".join(str(p) for p in line) for line in lines).lower()
-    assert "checkpoint" in blob
+    warns = [line for line in lines if line[0] == "warn"]
+    blob = " ".join(" ".join(str(p) for p in line) for line in warns).lower()
+    assert "wal" not in blob
 
 
 def test_render_handles_all_none_stats():