diff --git a/src/commands/list.ts b/src/commands/list.ts
index e2fb428..a72ebf3 100644
--- a/src/commands/list.ts
+++ b/src/commands/list.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import * as vm from "../vm.ts"
 import * as state from "../state.ts"
 import { die, reset, dim, green, yellow, cyan, magenta, red } from "../fmt.ts"
 
+interface ListSession extends state.Session {
+  repoRoot: string
+  repo?: string
+}
+
 // ── Shared rendering ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 const styleDefs: [string, string, string][] = [
@@ -17,9 +22,9 @@ const styles = Object.fromEntries(
 )
 
 function renderSessions(
-  sessions: { branch: string; prompt?: string }[],
+  sessions: ListSession[],
   statuses: Record<string, string>,
-  keyFn: (s: { branch: string }) => string,
+  keyFn: (s: ListSession) => string,
 ) {
   const branchWidth = Math.max(6, ...sessions.map(s => s.branch.length))
   const cols = process.stdout.columns || 80
@@ -49,7 +54,7 @@ async function resolveStatus(
 ): Promise<string> {
   try { await stat(s.worktree) } catch { return "idle" }
   if (vmRunning) {
-    const active = await vm.isClaudeActive(s.worktree, s.branch)
+    const active = await vm.isClaudeActive(s.worktree, s.branch).catch(() => false)
     if (active && s.in_review) return "review"
     if (active) return "active"
   }
@@ -120,11 +125,6 @@ async function backfillPrompts(sessions: { worktree: string; prompt?: string }[]
 
 // ── Commands ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-interface ListSession extends state.Session {
-  repoRoot: string
-  repo?: string
-}
-
 export async function action(opts: { json?: boolean; all?: boolean; add?: string; remove?: string }) {
   if (opts.add) return actionAdd(opts.add)
   if (opts.remove) return actionRemove(opts.remove)
@@ -185,7 +185,12 @@ async function actionAdd(dir: string) {
 }
 
 async function actionRemove(dir: string) {
-  const removed = await state.unregisterProject(dir)
+  let removed: boolean
+  try {
+    removed = await state.unregisterProject(dir)
+  } catch {
+    die("Could not acquire registry lock")
+  }
   if (removed) {
     console.log(`${red}-${reset} ${dir}`)
   } else {
diff --git a/src/state.ts b/src/state.ts
index fb36f62..103ace7 100644
--- a/src/state.ts
+++ b/src/state.ts
@@ -76,11 +76,7 @@ async function withGlobalLock<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
         const info = await stat(lockPath)
         if (Date.now() - info.mtimeMs > 300_000) {
           await rmdir(lockPath).catch(() => {})
-          // Retry mkdir immediately instead of continuing the loop
-          try {
-            await mkdir(lockPath)
-            break
-          } catch {}
+          continue
         }
       } catch {}
       if (i === 19) throw new Error("Could not acquire registry lock")