diff --git a/src/lib/onboard.ts b/src/lib/onboard.ts
index 0e9d6e6aad..4ae3f67469 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard.ts
@@ -2978,6 +2978,14 @@ async function createSandbox(
       note(`  Sandbox '${sandboxName}' exists but is not ready — recreating it.`);
     }
 
+    const previousEntry = registry.getSandbox(sandboxName);
+    if (previousEntry?.policies?.length > 0) {
+      onboardSession.updateSession((current) => {
+        current.policyPresets = previousEntry.policies;
+        return current;
+      });
+    }
+
     note(`  Deleting and recreating sandbox '${sandboxName}'...`);
 
     // Destroy old sandbox
@@ -5916,8 +5924,9 @@ async function onboard(opts = {}) {
       onboardSession.markStepSkipped("agent_setup");
     }
 
-    const recordedPolicyPresets = Array.isArray(session?.policyPresets)
-      ? session.policyPresets
+    const latestSession = onboardSession.loadSession();
+    const recordedPolicyPresets = Array.isArray(latestSession?.policyPresets)
+      ? latestSession.policyPresets
       : null;
     if (dangerouslySkipPermissions) {
       step(8, 8, "Policy presets");
@@ -5952,10 +5961,7 @@ async function onboard(opts = {}) {
         });
         const appliedPolicyPresets = await setupPoliciesWithSelection(sandboxName, {
           selectedPresets:
-            resume &&
-            session?.steps?.policies?.status !== "complete" &&
-            Array.isArray(recordedPolicyPresets) &&
-            recordedPolicyPresets.length > 0
+            Array.isArray(recordedPolicyPresets) && recordedPolicyPresets.length > 0
               ? recordedPolicyPresets
               : null,
           enabledChannels: selectedMessagingChannels,
diff --git a/test/onboard.test.ts b/test/onboard.test.ts
index a1b9366aa6..35951cae3f 100644
--- a/test/onboard.test.ts
+++ b/test/onboard.test.ts
@@ -3071,6 +3071,119 @@ const { createSandbox } = require(${onboardPath});
     },
   );
 
+  it(
+    "recreating a sandbox preserves the user's policy preset selections",
+    { timeout: 60_000 },
+    async () => {
+      const repoRoot = path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..");
+      const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(
+        path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-onboard-recreate-preserves-"),
+      );
+      const fakeBin = path.join(tmpDir, "bin");
+      const scriptPath = path.join(tmpDir, "recreate-preserves.js");
+      const onboardPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "onboard.js"));
+      const runnerPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "runner.js"));
+      const registryPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "registry.js"));
+      const sessionModulePath = JSON.stringify(
+        path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "onboard-session.js"),
+      );
+
+      fs.mkdirSync(fakeBin, { recursive: true });
+      fs.writeFileSync(path.join(fakeBin, "openshell"), "#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n", {
+        mode: 0o755,
+      });
+
+      const script = String.raw`
+const runner = require(${runnerPath});
+const registry = require(${registryPath});
+const onboardSession = require(${sessionModulePath});
+const childProcess = require("node:child_process");
+const { EventEmitter } = require("node:events");
+
+const commands = [];
+runner.run = (command, opts = {}) => {
+  commands.push({ command, env: opts.env || null });
+  return { status: 0 };
+};
+runner.runCapture = (command) => {
+  if (command.includes("'sandbox' 'get' 'my-assistant'")) return "my-assistant";
+  if (command.includes("'sandbox' 'list'")) return "my-assistant Ready";
+  if (command.includes("'forward' 'list'")) return "";
+  if (command.includes("sandbox exec") && command.includes("curl")) return "ok";
+  return "";
+};
+
+// Existing sandbox has a custom preset selection: only "npm" (not the
+// full "balanced" tier). Recreating the sandbox must preserve this
+// customisation rather than reverting to the tier defaults.
+registry.getSandbox = () => ({
+  name: "my-assistant",
+  gpuEnabled: false,
+  policies: ["npm"],
+  policyTier: "balanced",
+});
+registry.registerSandbox = () => true;
+registry.removeSandbox = () => true;
+
+const preflight = require(${JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "preflight.js"))});
+preflight.checkPortAvailable = async () => ({ ok: true });
+
+childProcess.spawn = (...args) => {
+  const child = new EventEmitter();
+  child.stdout = new EventEmitter();
+  child.stderr = new EventEmitter();
+  commands.push({ command: args[1][1], env: args[2]?.env || null });
+  process.nextTick(() => {
+    child.stdout.emit("data", Buffer.from("Created sandbox: my-assistant\n"));
+    child.emit("close", 0);
+  });
+  return child;
+};
+
+const { createSandbox } = require(${onboardPath});
+
+(async () => {
+  process.env.OPENSHELL_GATEWAY = "nemoclaw";
+  process.env.NEMOCLAW_RECREATE_SANDBOX = "1";
+  await createSandbox(null, "gpt-5.4", "nvidia-prod", null, "my-assistant");
+  const session = onboardSession.loadSession();
+  console.log(JSON.stringify({ policyPresets: session && session.policyPresets }));
+})().catch((error) => {
+  console.error(error);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+`;
+      fs.writeFileSync(scriptPath, script);
+
+      const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [scriptPath], {
+        cwd: repoRoot,
+        encoding: "utf-8",
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          HOME: tmpDir,
+          PATH: `${fakeBin}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
+          NEMOCLAW_NON_INTERACTIVE: "1",
+        },
+      });
+
+      assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+      const payloadLine = result.stdout
+        .trim()
+        .split("\n")
+        .slice()
+        .reverse()
+        .find((line) => line.startsWith("{") && line.endsWith("}"));
+      assert.ok(payloadLine, `expected JSON payload in stdout:\n${result.stdout}`);
+      const payload = JSON.parse(payloadLine);
+
+      assert.deepEqual(
+        payload.policyPresets,
+        ["npm"],
+        "createSandbox should write the previous sandbox's policy presets to the onboard session before destroying it so they can be reapplied after recreation",
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
   it(
     "interactive mode prompts before reusing an existing ready sandbox",
     { timeout: 60_000 },