diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/index.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/index.ts
index e1dea209b..039196489 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/index.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-import { emergencyTerminalRestore } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-tui";
-import { postmortem } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
-
 /**
  * Interactive mode and embeddable RPC client exports for the coding agent.
  *
@@ -11,7 +8,3 @@ import { postmortem } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 export * from "./interactive-mode";
 export * from "./rpc/rpc-client";
 export * from "./rpc/rpc-types";
-
-postmortem.register("terminal-restore", () => {
-	emergencyTerminalRestore();
-});
diff --git a/packages/tui/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/tui/CHANGELOG.md
index 1a6af1e17..a2c4c4001 100644
--- a/packages/tui/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/tui/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Registered emergency terminal restore with the postmortem fatal path whenever a real terminal starts, so fatal exits restore raw mode/alternate screen on the normal CLI graph (previously the registration was a side effect of a barrel module the CLI never imported).
+
 ## [16.3.9] - 2026-07-06
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/terminal.ts b/packages/tui/src/terminal.ts
index f70b454a5..ed9210af9 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/terminal.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/terminal.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { dlopen, FFIType, ptr } from "bun:ffi";
 import * as fs from "node:fs";
-import { $env, isBunTestRuntime, isTerminalHeadless, logger } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
+import { $env, isBunTestRuntime, isTerminalHeadless, logger, postmortem } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 import { setKittyProtocolActive } from "./keys";
 import { StdinBuffer } from "./stdin-buffer";
 import {
@@ -161,6 +161,15 @@ let terminalEverStarted = false;
 // jumps to the viewport home, dropping the parent shell prompt on top of the
 // dead frame after exit.
 let altScreenActive = false;
+let terminalRestoreRegistered = false;
+
+function registerPostmortemTerminalRestore(): void {
+	if (terminalRestoreRegistered) return;
+	terminalRestoreRegistered = true;
+	postmortem.register("terminal-restore", () => {
+		emergencyTerminalRestore();
+	});
+}
 
 /** Record alternate-screen state (called by the TUI on `?1049h`/`?1049l` writes). */
 export function setAltScreenActive(active: boolean): void {
@@ -523,6 +532,7 @@ export class ProcessTerminal implements Terminal {
 		// escapes never reach the developer's terminal during `bun test`.
 		this.#headless = isTerminalHeadless();
 		if (this.#headless) return;
+		registerPostmortemTerminalRestore();
 
 		// Register for emergency cleanup
 		activeTerminal = this;