diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 8c3f8b55a6..6514a55819 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -2898,16 +2898,29 @@ def _restore_stashed_changes(
     return True
 
 def _invalidate_update_cache():
-    """Delete the update-check cache so ``hermes --version`` doesn't
-    report a stale "commits behind" count after a successful update."""
-    try:
-        cache_file = Path(os.getenv(
-            "HERMES_HOME", Path.home() / ".hermes"
-        )) / ".update_check"
-        if cache_file.exists():
-            cache_file.unlink()
-    except Exception:
-        pass
+    """Delete the update-check cache for ALL profiles so no banner
+    reports a stale "commits behind" count after a successful update.
+
+    The git repo is shared across profiles — when one profile runs
+    ``hermes update``, every profile is now current.
+    """
+    homes = []
+    # Default profile home
+    default_home = Path.home() / ".hermes"
+    homes.append(default_home)
+    # Named profiles under ~/.hermes/profiles/
+    profiles_root = default_home / "profiles"
+    if profiles_root.is_dir():
+        for entry in profiles_root.iterdir():
+            if entry.is_dir():
+                homes.append(entry)
+    for home in homes:
+        try:
+            cache_file = home / ".update_check"
+            if cache_file.exists():
+                cache_file.unlink()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
 
 
 def _load_installable_optional_extras() -> list[str]:
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_check.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_check.py
index 08ed342694..b7d6de6ff0 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_check.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_check.py
@@ -133,3 +133,41 @@ def test_get_update_result_timeout():
     # Should have waited ~0.1s and returned None
     assert result is None
     assert elapsed < 0.5
+
+
+def test_invalidate_update_cache_clears_all_profiles(tmp_path):
+    """_invalidate_update_cache() should delete .update_check from ALL profiles."""
+    from hermes_cli.main import _invalidate_update_cache
+
+    # Build a fake ~/.hermes with default + two named profiles
+    default_home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+    default_home.mkdir()
+    (default_home / ".update_check").write_text('{"ts":1,"behind":50}')
+
+    profiles_root = default_home / "profiles"
+    for name in ("ops", "dev"):
+        p = profiles_root / name
+        p.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (p / ".update_check").write_text('{"ts":1,"behind":50}')
+
+    with patch.object(Path, "home", return_value=tmp_path):
+        _invalidate_update_cache()
+
+    # All three caches should be gone
+    assert not (default_home / ".update_check").exists(), "default profile cache not cleared"
+    assert not (profiles_root / "ops" / ".update_check").exists(), "ops profile cache not cleared"
+    assert not (profiles_root / "dev" / ".update_check").exists(), "dev profile cache not cleared"
+
+
+def test_invalidate_update_cache_no_profiles_dir(tmp_path):
+    """Works fine when no profiles directory exists (single-profile setup)."""
+    from hermes_cli.main import _invalidate_update_cache
+
+    default_home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+    default_home.mkdir()
+    (default_home / ".update_check").write_text('{"ts":1,"behind":5}')
+
+    with patch.object(Path, "home", return_value=tmp_path):
+        _invalidate_update_cache()
+
+    assert not (default_home / ".update_check").exists()