diff --git a/tools/fleet/canary-poisoned-peer.py b/tools/fleet/canary-poisoned-peer.py
index 4bdc39209..9178faf3b 100644
--- a/tools/fleet/canary-poisoned-peer.py
+++ b/tools/fleet/canary-poisoned-peer.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def hubsplit(): return hub.run("echo total=$(grep -c 'wrong block version' /root
 print(st(), "hub before:", hubsplit(), flush=True)
 for box, l, peers in ((A, "p2-4090-3", "--addpeer=213.173.107.74:16516 --addpeer=188.245.5.161:26611 --addpeer=213.173.98.36:18451"), (B, "p2-3090-2", "--addpeer=213.173.107.74:16516 --addpeer=188.245.5.161:26611")):
     path=box.install_payload(NODE, SHA); box.put([MINER], "/root/fleet/in/igneum-miner-new"); iid,r=Registry.find(l)
-    already = box.run(f"pgrep -f '^{path} --devnet --appdir=' >/dev/null && echo yes", 20)[1].strip() == "yes"   # the node already runs this binary (a relaunch): keep its datadir and sync
+    already = "ALREADY=yes" in box.run(f"pgrep -f '^{path} --devnet --appdir=' >/dev/null && echo ALREADY=yes || echo ALREADY=no", 20)[1]   # a marker: the Vast proxy prints a banner on stdout   # the node already runs this binary (a relaunch): keep its datadir and sync
     if already: print(st(), l, "already on the binary, keeping its sync", flush=True)
     rc,out,err=(0,"kept","") if already else box.run(f"cd /root/fleet && {KILL}; [ -d node ] && mv node node.pre-$(date -u +%H%M); mkdir -p node; mv node.log node.pre-$(date -u +%H%M).log 2>/dev/null; cp in/igneum-miner-new /opt/igneum/pkg/bin/igneum-miner.new && chmod +x /opt/igneum/pkg/bin/igneum-miner.new && mv /opt/igneum/pkg/bin/igneum-miner.new /opt/igneum/pkg/bin/igneum-miner; echo {path} > standing.node; IGNEUM_PROOF_VERIFIER=/opt/igneum-floor/bin/igneum-prove-host setsid nohup {path} --devnet --appdir=/root/fleet/node --rpclisten=0.0.0.0:26610 --evm-rpclisten=127.0.0.1:26790 --listen=0.0.0.0:26611 {peers} --override-params-file=/root/fleet/override.json --nodnsseed --disable-upnp --nologfiles --yes </dev/null >> node.log 2>&1 & echo started T0=$(date -u +%T)", 90)
     print(st(), l, out.replace("\n"," "), flush=True)