diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 23d5d51b3..a1e2a9d08 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Status: unreleased.
 - CI: increase Node heap size for macOS checks. (#1890) Thanks @realZachi.
 - macOS: avoid crash when rendering code blocks by bumping Textual to 0.3.1. (#2033) Thanks @garricn.
 - Browser: fall back to URL matching for extension relay target resolution. (#1999) Thanks @jonit-dev.
+- Update: ignore dist/control-ui for dirty checks and restore after ui builds. (#1976) Thanks @Glucksberg.
 
 ## 2026.1.24-3
 
diff --git a/src/infra/update-check.ts b/src/infra/update-check.ts
index 2e020ff8d..518da3c28 100644
--- a/src/infra/update-check.ts
+++ b/src/infra/update-check.ts
@@ -129,9 +129,10 @@ export async function checkGitUpdateStatus(params: {
   ).catch(() => null);
   const upstream = upstreamRes && upstreamRes.code === 0 ? upstreamRes.stdout.trim() : null;
 
-  const dirtyRes = await runCommandWithTimeout(["git", "-C", root, "status", "--porcelain"], {
-    timeoutMs,
-  }).catch(() => null);
+  const dirtyRes = await runCommandWithTimeout(
+    ["git", "-C", root, "status", "--porcelain", "--", ":!dist/control-ui/"],
+    { timeoutMs },
+  ).catch(() => null);
   const dirty = dirtyRes && dirtyRes.code === 0 ? dirtyRes.stdout.trim().length > 0 : null;
 
   const fetchOk = params.fetch
diff --git a/src/infra/update-runner.test.ts b/src/infra/update-runner.test.ts
index e33159326..6bf450d83 100644
--- a/src/infra/update-runner.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/update-runner.test.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ describe("runGatewayUpdate", () => {
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --show-toplevel`]: { stdout: tempDir },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse HEAD`]: { stdout: "abc123" },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`]: { stdout: "main" },
-      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain`]: { stdout: " M README.md" },
+      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain -- :!dist/control-ui/`]: { stdout: " M README.md" },
     });
 
     const result = await runGatewayUpdate({
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ describe("runGatewayUpdate", () => {
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --show-toplevel`]: { stdout: tempDir },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse HEAD`]: { stdout: "abc123" },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`]: { stdout: "main" },
-      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain`]: { stdout: "" },
+      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain -- :!dist/control-ui/`]: { stdout: "" },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name @{upstream}`]: {
         stdout: "origin/main",
       },
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ describe("runGatewayUpdate", () => {
     const { runner, calls } = createRunner({
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse --show-toplevel`]: { stdout: tempDir },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} rev-parse HEAD`]: { stdout: "abc123" },
-      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain`]: { stdout: "" },
+      [`git -C ${tempDir} status --porcelain -- :!dist/control-ui/`]: { stdout: "" },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} fetch --all --prune --tags`]: { stdout: "" },
       [`git -C ${tempDir} tag --list v* --sort=-v:refname`]: {
         stdout: `${stableTag}\n${betaTag}\n`,
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ describe("runGatewayUpdate", () => {
       "pnpm install": { stdout: "" },
       "pnpm build": { stdout: "" },
       "pnpm ui:build": { stdout: "" },
+      [`git -C ${tempDir} checkout -- dist/control-ui/`]: { stdout: "" },
       "pnpm clawdbot doctor --non-interactive": { stdout: "" },
     });
 
diff --git a/src/infra/update-runner.ts b/src/infra/update-runner.ts
index 0a5196fd7..c73c3a7e7 100644
--- a/src/infra/update-runner.ts
+++ b/src/infra/update-runner.ts
@@ -346,10 +346,14 @@ export async function runGatewayUpdate(opts: UpdateRunnerOptions = {}): Promise<
     const channel: UpdateChannel = opts.channel ?? "dev";
     const branch = channel === "dev" ? await readBranchName(runCommand, gitRoot, timeoutMs) : null;
     const needsCheckoutMain = channel === "dev" && branch !== DEV_BRANCH;
-    gitTotalSteps = channel === "dev" ? (needsCheckoutMain ? 10 : 9) : 8;
+    gitTotalSteps = channel === "dev" ? (needsCheckoutMain ? 11 : 10) : 9;
 
     const statusCheck = await runStep(
-      step("clean check", ["git", "-C", gitRoot, "status", "--porcelain"], gitRoot),
+      step(
+        "clean check",
+        ["git", "-C", gitRoot, "status", "--porcelain", "--", ":!dist/control-ui/"],
+        gitRoot,
+      ),
     );
     steps.push(statusCheck);
     const hasUncommittedChanges =
@@ -654,6 +658,17 @@ export async function runGatewayUpdate(opts: UpdateRunnerOptions = {}): Promise<
     );
     steps.push(uiBuildStep);
 
+    // Restore dist/control-ui/ to committed state to prevent dirty repo after update
+    // (ui:build regenerates assets with new hashes, which would block future updates)
+    const restoreUiStep = await runStep(
+      step(
+        "restore control-ui",
+        ["git", "-C", gitRoot, "checkout", "--", "dist/control-ui/"],
+        gitRoot,
+      ),
+    );
+    steps.push(restoreUiStep);
+
     const doctorStep = await runStep(
       step(
         "clawdbot doctor",