diff --git a/service/src/hosted-app/control-plane.test.ts b/service/src/hosted-app/control-plane.test.ts
index 51d7e708..3c30ca58 100644
--- a/service/src/hosted-app/control-plane.test.ts
+++ b/service/src/hosted-app/control-plane.test.ts
@@ -52,9 +52,12 @@ const runtimeConfig: HostedAppMicrovmConfig = {
   tokenTps: 8,
 };
 
+/* The seed is salted per call, so fixtures share one allocation. */
+const seededGeneration = hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(runtimeConfig);
+
 class MemoryRegistry implements HostedAppRegistry {
   record: RuntimeSessionRecord | null = null;
-  generation = hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(runtimeConfig);
+  generation = seededGeneration;
   writes: RuntimeSessionRecord[] = [];
   allocations = 0;
 
@@ -260,7 +263,7 @@ test('does not report an expired pending intent as starting', () => {
 });
 
 function pendingRecord(): RuntimeSessionRecord {
-  const generation = hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(runtimeConfig);
+  const generation = seededGeneration;
   return {
     runtime_session_id: input.hostedAppRuntimeId,
     tenant_id: input.tenantId,
diff --git a/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.test.ts b/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.test.ts
index eae7ad38..64221aa3 100644
--- a/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.test.ts
@@ -162,14 +162,14 @@ describe('HostedAppMicrovmRuntime', () => {
     expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(HostedAppMicrovmError);
     expect(error.transient).toBe(true);
   });
-  test('seeds idempotency from exact wire inputs while keeping semantic matching order-independent', () => {
+  test('fingerprints exact wire inputs, keeps semantic matching order-independent, and salts seeds', () => {
     const first = { ...config(), ingressConnectorArns: ['arn:b', 'arn:a'] };
     const reordered = { ...config(), ingressConnectorArns: ['arn:a', 'arn:b'] };
     expect(hostedAppLaunchFingerprint(first)).toBe(hostedAppLaunchFingerprint(reordered));
     expect(hostedAppLaunchRequestFingerprint(first)).not.toBe(
       hostedAppLaunchRequestFingerprint(reordered),
     );
-    expect(hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(first)).not.toBe(hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(reordered));
+    expect(hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(first)).not.toBe(hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(first));
   });
 
   test('launches the dedicated image with bounded idle policy and no egress connector', async () => {
diff --git a/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.ts b/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.ts
index f0cb69e9..3cb10941 100644
--- a/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.ts
+++ b/service/src/hosted-app/microvm-runtime.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
   type ThrottledOp,
 } from '../runtime-session/throttle';
 import type { ResidentHostedAppSpec } from './spec';
-import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
+import { createHash, randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
 
 export interface HostedAppMicrovmConfig {
   imageArn: string;
@@ -73,11 +73,14 @@ export function hostedAppLaunchRequestFingerprint(config: HostedAppMicrovmConfig
   });
 }
 
-/** Keep reset Redis counters in an image/config-specific safe-integer range. */
+/** Keep reset Redis counters in a safe-integer range. The random salt makes
+ * every reset counter start somewhere new, because AWS rejects a reused token
+ * it still remembers even when the request body is identical. */
 export function hostedAppLaunchGenerationSeed(config: HostedAppMicrovmConfig): number {
   const offset = Number.parseInt(
     createHash('sha256')
       .update(hostedAppLaunchRequestFingerprint(config), 'utf8')
+      .update(randomBytes(16))
       .digest('hex')
       .slice(0, 13),
     16,
diff --git a/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.test.ts b/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.test.ts
index 02110edd..aec4307a 100644
--- a/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.test.ts
+++ b/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.test.ts
@@ -289,11 +289,11 @@ describe('normalizeMicrovmEndpoint', () => {
 });
 
 describe('runtime session launch tokens', () => {
-  test('uses a deterministic launch namespace and stays within the AWS limit', () => {
+  test('salts every launch namespace seed and stays within the AWS limit', () => {
     const cfg = config();
     const seed = runtimeSessionLaunchGenerationSeed(cfg);
     expect(seed).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(RUNTIME_SESSION_NAMESPACED_GENERATION_MIN);
-    expect(runtimeSessionLaunchGenerationSeed({ ...cfg, imageVersion: '4' })).not.toBe(seed);
+    expect(runtimeSessionLaunchGenerationSeed(cfg)).not.toBe(seed);
 
     const runtimeSessionId = `rt_${'a'.repeat(40)}`;
     const token = runtimeSessionLaunchClientToken(runtimeSessionId, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER);
@@ -690,10 +690,7 @@ describe('LambdaMicrovmSandboxBackend session execution', () => {
      * (image builds stay hookless), so RunMicrovm carries no runHookPayload. */
     expect(runArgs.runHookPayload).toBeUndefined();
     expect(runArgs.idlePolicy?.autoResume).toBe(true);
-    expect(runArgs.clientToken).toBe(runtimeSessionLaunchClientToken(
-      'rt_session_1',
-      runtimeSessionLaunchGenerationSeed(config()),
-    ));
+    expect(runArgs.clientToken).toMatch(/^sess-rt_session_1-\d+$/);
     expect(runArgs.maximumDurationSeconds).toBe(28_800);
 
     const executeReq = captured.find((c) => c.path === '/api/v2/execute');
@@ -704,6 +701,7 @@ describe('LambdaMicrovmSandboxBackend session execution', () => {
     expect(record?.microvm_id).toBe([...fake.vms.keys()][0]);
     expect(record?.generation).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(RUNTIME_SESSION_NAMESPACED_GENERATION_MIN);
     expect(record?.launch_client_token).toBe(runArgs.clientToken);
+    expect(runArgs.clientToken).toBe(runtimeSessionLaunchClientToken('rt_session_1', record?.generation as number));
   });
 
   test('replays a legacy recorded launch intent after the RunMicrovm response is lost', async () => {
@@ -875,6 +873,53 @@ describe('LambdaMicrovmSandboxBackend session execution', () => {
     expect((await readRuntimeSessionRecord('rt_session_1'))?.image_version).toBe('4');
   });
 
+  test('never reissues a launch token after registry loss on an unchanged config', async () => {
+    const fake = fakeClient();
+    await makeBackend(fake).execute(request(), sessionContext());
+    const firstToken = (fake.callsFor('runMicrovm')[0].args as { clientToken?: string }).clientToken;
+
+    /* The rtsx:gen counter expires after an idle night while AWS still
+     * remembers the token and rejects its reuse ("The provided clientToken was
+     * used with different request parameters"), even for an identical body.
+     * A relaunch on the same config must therefore never resend the token. */
+    await fake.terminateMicrovm([...fake.vms.keys()][0]);
+    await mock.del('rtsx:sess:rt_session_1', 'rtsx:gen:rt_session_1');
+
+    const second = await makeBackend(fake).execute(request(), sessionContext())
+      .catch((error: unknown) => error);
+    const secondToken = (fake.callsFor('runMicrovm')[1].args as { clientToken?: string }).clientToken;
+    expect(secondToken).not.toBe(firstToken);
+    expect(second).toEqual(EXECUTE_RESPONSE);
+  });
+
+  test('stops replaying a PENDING token that AWS rejected as reused', async () => {
+    const fake = fakeClient();
+    /* An ambiguous failure persists the PENDING intent and its token. */
+    fake.failNext('runMicrovm', new LambdaMicrovmApiError('other', 'RunMicrovm', 'connection lost'));
+    await expect(makeBackend(fake).execute(request(), sessionContext())).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      code: 'MICROVM_LAUNCH_FAILED',
+    });
+    const poisoned = (await readRuntimeSessionRecord('rt_session_1'))?.launch_client_token;
+    expect(poisoned).toBeDefined();
+
+    fake.failNext('runMicrovm', new LambdaMicrovmApiError(
+      'validation',
+      'RunMicrovm',
+      'The provided clientToken was used with different request parameters.',
+    ));
+    await expect(makeBackend(fake).execute(request(), sessionContext())).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      code: 'MICROVM_LAUNCH_FAILED',
+    });
+
+    await expect(makeBackend(fake).execute(request(), sessionContext()))
+      .resolves.toEqual(EXECUTE_RESPONSE);
+    const tokens = fake.callsFor('runMicrovm')
+      .map(call => (call.args as { clientToken?: string }).clientToken);
+    expect(tokens).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(tokens.slice(0, 2)).toEqual([poisoned, poisoned]);
+    expect(tokens[2]).not.toBe(poisoned);
+  });
+
   test('does not replay a persisted token when the exact connector request changed', async () => {
     const fake = fakeClient();
     const firstRun = fake.runMicrovm.bind(fake);
diff --git a/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.ts b/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.ts
index e4ccf9a5..6e59d773 100644
--- a/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.ts
+++ b/service/src/sandbox-backend/lambda-microvm.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import axios from 'axios';
 import { nanoid } from 'nanoid';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
-import { createHash } from 'crypto';
+import { createHash, randomBytes } from 'crypto';
 import type { LambdaMicrovmClient, MicrovmAuthToken, MicrovmDescription, MicrovmIdlePolicy } from '../runtime-session/lambda-client';
 import type { SandboxBackend, SandboxExecuteContext, SandboxRawResponse, SandboxTransportRequest } from './types';
 import type { RuntimeSessionRecord } from '../runtime-session/registry';
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ export function runtimeSessionLaunchFingerprint(config: LambdaMicrovmBackendConf
 }
 
 /** Generations below this boundary were allocated by the original INCR-only
- * scheme. New launches start in a fingerprint-seeded namespace so losing the
- * Redis counter cannot reuse an AWS clientToken after launch inputs change.
+ * scheme. New launches start in a randomly seeded namespace so losing the
+ * Redis counter cannot reuse an AWS clientToken.
  *
  * Keep the provider token itself in the legacy `sess-<id>-<generation>` shape:
  * an older worker taking over a PENDING record during a rolling deployment
@@ -124,13 +124,17 @@ function runtimeSessionLaunchRequestFingerprint(config: LambdaMicrovmBackendConf
   });
 }
 
-/** A 52-bit digest leaves ample safe-integer headroom for later INCRs while
- * making a reset counter's first generation depend on the exact launch
- * request. Token collisions are scoped to one runtime session. */
+/** A 52-bit digest leaves ample safe-integer headroom for later INCRs. The
+ * random salt makes every reset counter start somewhere new: the rtsx:gen key
+ * expires after an idle night while AWS still remembers the old tokens, and AWS
+ * rejects a reused token ("The provided clientToken was used with different
+ * request parameters") even when the request body is identical. Token
+ * collisions are scoped to one runtime session. */
 export function runtimeSessionLaunchGenerationSeed(config: LambdaMicrovmBackendConfig): number {
   const offset = Number.parseInt(
     createHash('sha256')
       .update(runtimeSessionLaunchRequestFingerprint(config), 'utf8')
+      .update(randomBytes(16))
       .digest('hex')
       .slice(0, 13),
     16,
@@ -730,10 +734,18 @@ export class LambdaMicrovmSandboxBackend implements SandboxBackend {
       && error.cause.kind === 'validation';
   }
 
+  /** AWS reports a reused idempotency token only as a generic
+   * ValidationException, so the message text is the only discriminator. */
+  private isClientTokenReuseRejection(error: unknown): boolean {
+    return this.isValidationLaunchFailure(error)
+      && /client ?token\b.*\bdifferent (request )?parameters/i.test((error as Error).message);
+  }
+
   /** Both the base token and its single retry reached a terminal state and
-   * were successfully terminated. Keeping that PENDING intent would replay
-   * two known-dead tokens forever, so let the next request allocate a new
-   * generation. Ambiguous provider failures remain persisted for recovery. */
+   * were successfully terminated, or AWS refused the token as already used and
+   * launched nothing. Keeping that PENDING intent would replay a known-dead
+   * token forever, so let the next request allocate a new generation.
+   * Ambiguous provider failures remain persisted for recovery. */
   private async retireExhaustedLaunchIntent(
     launchIntent: RuntimeSessionRecord,
     lockToken: string,
@@ -742,7 +754,7 @@ export class LambdaMicrovmSandboxBackend implements SandboxBackend {
     const cleanlyExhausted =
       error instanceof SandboxBackendError
       && error.code === 'MICROVM_LAUNCH_FAILED'
-      && error.transient;
+      && (error.transient || this.isClientTokenReuseRejection(error));
     if (!cleanlyExhausted) return;
     try {
       const retired = await writeRuntimeSessionRecord({