diff --git a/src/app_network.cpp b/src/app_network.cpp
index f65f094..216178b 100644
--- a/src/app_network.cpp
+++ b/src/app_network.cpp
@@ -3561,11 +3561,14 @@ void App::beginAdoptSeedWallet()
         bool swapDone = false;
         try {
             std::error_code ec;
-            // 1. Stop the main daemon and wait for it to fully exit.
-            stopEmbeddedDaemon();
-            for (int i = 0; i < 60 && isEmbeddedDaemonRunning(); ++i)
-                std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(500));
-            if (isEmbeddedDaemonRunning()) {
+            // 1. Stop the main daemon and wait for it to FULLY release wallet.dat + the RPC port before we
+            //    swap the file. Use the wallet-switch stop path: for an ADOPTED (external) daemon it sends a
+            //    graceful RPC "stop" and gates on the port actually freeing — isEmbeddedDaemonRunning() is
+            //    process-handle-only and would falsely read "stopped" for an adopted daemon, letting the swap
+            //    run against a live daemon still holding wallet.dat. (For an owned daemon stopEmbeddedDaemon()
+            //    already blocks for full process exit, so the file is closed before the swap.)
+            const bool port_free = stopDaemonForWalletSwitch();
+            if (!port_free) {
                 err = "The daemon did not stop in time; your wallet was not changed.";
             } else {
                 // 2. Swap wallet.dat. Move the legacy one aside to a timestamped backup (NEVER
@@ -3607,6 +3610,11 @@ void App::beginAdoptSeedWallet()
             //    unless we're quitting, in which case don't resurrect it.
             if (swapDone && daemon_controller_) daemon_controller_->setRescanOnNextStart(true);
             if (!shutting_down_) {
+                // We stopped the daemon ourselves (port_free) — clear the adopted-external latch so the
+                // relaunched process is treated as owned (stop/isRunning/exit behave normally afterward).
+                // Skip when the stop failed: the old adopted daemon is still up, and we must not mark a
+                // process we can't control as owned.
+                if (port_free && daemon_controller_) daemon_controller_->clearExternalDaemonDetected();
                 if (!startEmbeddedDaemon() && swapDone)
                     warn = "Your wallet was swapped, but the daemon did not restart — start it from Settings.";
             }