diff --git a/infra/devnet/restart-hand-nodes.sh b/infra/devnet/restart-hand-nodes.sh
index 2d424e1f..a8dcc639 100755
--- a/infra/devnet/restart-hand-nodes.sh
+++ b/infra/devnet/restart-hand-nodes.sh
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ echo "$OVJSON" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; o=json.load(sys.stdin); assert isi
 [ "$(strings "$BIN" | grep -c "$COMMIT")" -gt 0 ] || { echo "$BIN is not the $COMMIT node (a 0.3.5 node refuses an override file with fees_v1_activation_daa)"; exit 1; }
 cp -p "$OV" "$OV.prev-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ)" 2>/dev/null || true
 printf '%s\n' "$OVJSON" > "$OV"
-stop() { local p; p=$(pgrep -f "$1" | head -1 || true); if [ -n "$p" ]; then kill -INT "$p"; while kill -0 "$p" 2>/dev/null; do sleep 1; done; fi; }
+# the pid is an igneumd process, never a shell whose command line carries the pattern's text (6 October 2026: pgrep -f matched the
+# caller's own zsh -c "..." and the stop waited 11 minutes on it)
+stop() { local p; p=$(for c in $(pgrep -f "$1" || true); do [ "$(ps -o comm= -p "$c" 2>/dev/null | xargs basename 2>/dev/null)" = igneumd ] && echo "$c"; done | head -1); if [ -n "$p" ]; then kill -INT "$p"; while kill -0 "$p" 2>/dev/null; do sleep 1; done; fi; }
 lines() { sleep 10; grep -E "Calibrated v1 fees from the override file|Fees on igneum-devnet|Consensus params digest" "$1" | tail -3 || true; }
 # the observer first
 stop "igneumd --devnet.*observer-v4"