diff --git a/.github/workflows/ios.yml b/.github/workflows/ios.yml
index 657606bb8..de94f9d66 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ios.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ios.yml
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ jobs:
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testAlertDismissDoesNotActivateAReplacementWithTheSameTitle \
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testAlertCannotProveAnIdenticalReplacementAndDoesNotActivateIt \
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testAlertDeadlineBeforeActivationLeavesTheOriginalUntouched \
+            -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testAlertHittableProbeCompletingAfterDeadlineLeavesTheOriginalUntouched \
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testSystemModalProbeSliceSharesAndClampsToPlanDeadline \
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testDispatchRecoverySkipsBookkeepingWhileXCTestChannelOccupied \
             -only-testing:AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests/testBoundedSystemModalProbeTimeoutRecoversThenReleasesOnDrain \
diff --git a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests+Alert.swift b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests+Alert.swift
index ea62b202d..8b43c1993 100644
--- a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests+Alert.swift
+++ b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests+Alert.swift
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ extension RunnerTests {
       guard Date() < deadline else {
         return alertVerificationResponse(.timedOut, action: action, activated: false)
       }
+      guard waitUntilAlertButtonHittable(button, deadline: deadline) else {
+        return alertVerificationResponse(.timedOut, action: action, activated: false)
+      }
       let outcome = activateElement(app: alert.ownerApp, element: button, action: "alert \(action)")
       if let response = unsupportedResponse(for: outcome) {
         return response
@@ -222,6 +225,37 @@ extension RunnerTests {
     return enabled
   }
 
+  // A snapshot can expose an alert's button a beat before the owning app has made it
+  // hittable, and a starved host delays the app's layout and hit-testing further. This
+  // activation is not repeated, so a tap issued into that window is dropped, the
+  // presentation never changes, and the whole budget rides an unchanged alert to
+  // `ALERT_DEADLINE_EXCEEDED` with no button ever activated. Spend the deadline waiting
+  // for a fresh hittable read instead of spending it on a dropped tap. The hittable read
+  // is itself a synchronous query a starved host can complete past the deadline, so a read
+  // that lands late forfeits rather than buys back the one activation.
+  private func waitUntilAlertButtonHittable(_ button: XCUIElement, deadline: Date) -> Bool {
+    while Date() < deadline {
+      if probeAlertButtonHittable(button, deadline: deadline) {
+        return Date() < deadline
+      }
+      sleepFor(min(0.1, max(0, deadline.timeIntervalSinceNow)))
+    }
+    return false
+  }
+
+  private func probeAlertButtonHittable(_ button: XCUIElement, deadline: Date) -> Bool {
+#if AGENT_DEVICE_RUNNER_UNIT_TESTS
+    if let override = alertButtonHittabilityProbeOverrideForTesting {
+      return override(deadline)
+    }
+#endif
+    var hittable = false
+    _ = RunnerObjCExceptionCatcher.catchException({
+      hittable = button.exists && button.isHittable
+    })
+    return hittable
+  }
+
   private func isDismissPopupMarker(_ label: String) -> Bool {
     label.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).caseInsensitiveCompare("dismiss popup") == .orderedSame
   }
diff --git a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests.swift b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests.swift
index abb6737b1..98dc676f9 100644
--- a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests.swift
+++ b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/RunnerTests.swift
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ final class RunnerTests: XCTestCase {
   var systemModalProbeOverrideForTesting: ((Date) -> DataPayload?)?
   var blockingSystemModalPresenceOverrideForTesting: Bool?
   var alertResolutionOverrideForTesting: ((Date) -> RunnerAlert?)?
+  var alertButtonHittabilityProbeOverrideForTesting: ((Date) -> Bool)?
   #endif
   // Observability for the record(_:) suppression below: how many AX-broken-screen snapshot
   // issues this session muted, so wedge investigations see the volume without grepping logs.
diff --git a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/UnitTests/RunnerTests+AlertObservationTests.swift b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/UnitTests/RunnerTests+AlertObservationTests.swift
index 081d1c861..3d234c21f 100644
--- a/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/UnitTests/RunnerTests+AlertObservationTests.swift
+++ b/apple/runner/AgentDeviceRunner/AgentDeviceRunnerUITests/UnitTests/RunnerTests+AlertObservationTests.swift
@@ -34,6 +34,29 @@ extension RunnerTests {
     XCTAssertEqual(app.staticTexts["agent-device-alert-actions"].label, "First actions: 0; replacement actions: 0")
   }
 
+  func testAlertHittableProbeCompletingAfterDeadlineLeavesTheOriginalUntouched() throws {
+    app.launchArguments = ["--agent-device-alert-replacement-regression"]
+    app.launch()
+    defer {
+      alertButtonHittabilityProbeOverrideForTesting = nil
+      invalidateCachedTarget(reason: "unit_test_cleanup")
+      app.terminate()
+    }
+    XCTAssertTrue(app.alerts.firstMatch.waitForExistence(timeout: appExistenceTimeout))
+    let alert = try XCTUnwrap(resolveAlert(app: app, deadline: Date().addingTimeInterval(10)))
+    alertButtonHittabilityProbeOverrideForTesting = { probeDeadline in
+      while Date() < probeDeadline {
+        Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: min(0.02, max(0, probeDeadline.timeIntervalSinceNow)))
+      }
+      return true
+    }
+    let response = handleAlert(alert, action: "accept", deadline: Date().addingTimeInterval(1))
+    XCTAssertFalse(response.ok)
+    XCTAssertEqual(response.error?.code, "ALERT_DEADLINE_EXCEEDED")
+    XCTAssertTrue(app.alerts.firstMatch.exists)
+    XCTAssertEqual(app.staticTexts["agent-device-alert-actions"].label, "First actions: 0; replacement actions: 0")
+  }
+
   private func assertReplacementAlertUntouched(action: String, arguments: [String], confirmed: Bool) throws {
     app.launchArguments = ["--agent-device-alert-replacement-regression"] + arguments
     app.launch()