diff --git a/hermes_cli/linux_desktop_entry.py b/hermes_cli/linux_desktop_entry.py
index 9047ef5626..98c2304fc8 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/linux_desktop_entry.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/linux_desktop_entry.py
@@ -210,8 +210,16 @@ def _resolve_hermes_bin_for_desktop_entry(
         sys.argv[0] = original_argv0
 
     if not primary:
-        return primary
-    if rerouted is not None:
+        # No launcher resolvable from argv[0]/PATH (e.g. a cold relaunch):
+        # do NOT return None here — that skipped the durable-wrapper probe
+        # below and persisted the module form with a checkout-absolute
+        # interpreter, which differs from what the DE-launched form renders.
+        # Any content change rewrites hermes.desktop, and gnome-shell 50.x
+        # crashes when the entry changes while its ShellApp is STARTING
+        # (shell_app_dispose assertion). Probe the known locations first;
+        # only with no durable wrapper anywhere fall back to the module form.
+        pass
+    elif rerouted is not None:
         return rerouted or primary
 
     # argv[0] was checkout-internal AND PATH had no `hermes` — common in stripped systemd user
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_linux_desktop_entry.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_linux_desktop_entry.py
index acb372b2f8..06dcbf4cf7 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_linux_desktop_entry.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_linux_desktop_entry.py
@@ -421,6 +421,54 @@ def test_exec_uses_known_wrapper_when_path_lookup_misses(
     assert exec_line == f"{known_wrapper} desktop"
 
 
+def test_exec_finds_known_wrapper_when_resolver_has_no_candidate(
+    tmp_path, xdg_home, monkeypatch
+):
+    """`None` from the resolver must still probe known wrapper locations.
+
+    A cold relaunch (argv[0] is not an executable file, e.g. `-c` under
+    `python -m`, and PATH has no `hermes`) makes resolve_hermes_bin return
+    None outright. The early `return primary` that used to fire here skipped
+    the durable-wrapper probe, so the persisted Exec flipped to the bare
+    `<python> -m hermes_cli.main desktop` module form. Each flip between the
+    wrapper and module forms rewrites hermes.desktop on the next launch; any
+    rewrite that lands while gnome-shell's ShellApp for the entry is still
+    STARTING crashes the shell (shell_app_dispose `state == STOPPED`
+    assertion, gnome-shell 50.4). The entry must converge on the durable
+    wrapper wherever it exists.
+    """
+    root = _make_project(tmp_path)
+
+    known_wrapper = tmp_path / "cold-home" / ".local" / "bin" / "hermes"
+    known_wrapper.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
+    known_wrapper.write_text(
+        f'#!/bin/bash\nexec {root / "venv" / "bin" / "python"} {root / "hermes"} "$@"\n',
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    known_wrapper.chmod(0o755)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", str(tmp_path / "cold-home"))
+
+    # argv[0] is not an executable path at all — the resolver's own chain
+    # yields None with or without argv[0].
+    _argv0_context(monkeypatch, "-c")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda name: None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_cli.relaunch.resolve_hermes_bin", lambda: None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(lde, "refresh_desktop_databases", lambda _dir: [])
+
+    entry = lde.install_desktop_entry(root)
+    assert entry is not None
+    exec_line = _parse(entry.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))["Exec"]
+
+    assert exec_line == f"{known_wrapper} desktop"
+
+    # …and the SAME context a second time re-renders byte-identical content:
+    # the no-op guard in install_desktop_entry then skips the rewrite.
+    lde._probe_cache.clear()
+    entry2 = lde.install_desktop_entry(root)
+    assert entry2 is not None
+    assert entry2.read_text(encoding="utf-8") == entry.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+
 def test_exec_rejects_known_wrapper_from_another_checkout(
     tmp_path, xdg_home, monkeypatch
 ):