diff --git a/hermes_cli/kanban_db.py b/hermes_cli/kanban_db.py
index 43dbce0ab6f..4746c85518a 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/kanban_db.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/kanban_db.py
@@ -3941,7 +3941,14 @@ def _default_spawn(
     # profile-specific config entirely.  Fixes profile-scoped fallback_providers
     # being invisible to kanban workers.
     from hermes_cli.profiles import resolve_profile_env
-    env["HERMES_HOME"] = resolve_profile_env(profile_arg)
+    try:
+        env["HERMES_HOME"] = resolve_profile_env(profile_arg)
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        # Profile dir doesn't exist — defer resolution to the CLI's
+        # _apply_profile_override() via HERMES_PROFILE (set below).
+        # This only happens in test fixtures where the isolated
+        # HERMES_HOME never had profiles created.
+        pass
     if task.tenant:
         env["HERMES_TENANT"] = task.tenant
     env["HERMES_KANBAN_TASK"] = task.id