diff --git a/apps/desktop/e2e/fixtures.ts b/apps/desktop/e2e/fixtures.ts
index 1dabc674d04..3427d42c9bf 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/e2e/fixtures.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/e2e/fixtures.ts
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ export function buildAppEnv(sandbox: Sandbox, extra: Record<string, string> = {}
     HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING: '1',
     HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT: REPO_ROOT,
     HERMES_DESKTOP_APP_NAME: `HermesE2E-${Date.now()}`,
+    // `app.close()` in teardown must exit even when a spec leaves a turn
+    // mid-flight — otherwise the quit confirmation waits on a click that no
+    // one is there to make, and the worker dies on a teardown timeout.
+    HERMES_DESKTOP_SKIP_QUIT_CONFIRM: '1',
     // Clear dev-server override — we want the built dist/, not a vite server.
     // The dev-server check in main.ts looks for this env var; if it's set,
     // it loads from the vite URL instead of the local file.
diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
index 78157a3af79..7ac24c57f8e 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/main.ts
@@ -608,6 +608,10 @@ const DESKTOP_LOG_DISCARD_BYTES = DESKTOP_LOG_MAX_BYTES * 4
 const desktopLogBackupPath = n => `${DESKTOP_LOG_PATH}.${n}`
 const BOOT_FAKE_MODE = process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE === '1'
 const BOOT_FAKE_ERROR = process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE_ERROR || ''
+// Automated teardown (Playwright's app.close(), harness scripts) quits with
+// nobody to answer a modal, so the active-work confirmation would hang the
+// caller instead of letting the process exit. Force quits set this.
+const SKIP_QUIT_CONFIRM = process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_SKIP_QUIT_CONFIRM === '1'
 
 const BOOT_FAKE_STEP_MS = (() => {
   const raw = Number.parseInt(String(process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE_STEP_MS || ''), 10)
@@ -11424,7 +11428,7 @@ function configureSpellChecker() {
 // and the confirmation is on screen; "Quit Anyway" re-enters before-quit with
 // the latch set and falls straight through to the teardown below.
 function heldQuitForActiveWork(event: Electron.Event): boolean {
-  if (quitConfirmedWithActiveWork || quitPromptOpen) {
+  if (SKIP_QUIT_CONFIRM || quitConfirmedWithActiveWork || quitPromptOpen) {
     return false
   }