diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/container/prod_orchestrator.rs b/core/archipelago/src/container/prod_orchestrator.rs
index f72a3d8a..fa78e912 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/container/prod_orchestrator.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/container/prod_orchestrator.rs
@@ -3106,17 +3106,12 @@ impl ProdContainerOrchestrator {
             .flatten()
             .unwrap_or_default();
 
-        if let Some(expected_entry) = &manifest.app.container.entrypoint {
-            if current_entry != *expected_entry {
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
-        if !manifest.app.container.custom_args.is_empty()
-            && current_cmd != manifest.app.container.custom_args
-        {
-            return true;
-        }
-        false
+        command_argv_drifted(
+            manifest.app.container.entrypoint.as_deref(),
+            &manifest.app.container.custom_args,
+            &current_entry,
+            &current_cmd,
+        )
     }
 
     /// True when a *running* container publishes a manifest container-port to a
@@ -3872,6 +3867,36 @@ impl ContainerOrchestrator for ProdContainerOrchestrator {
     }
 }
 
+/// Compare a manifest's command against a live container's, over the
+/// concatenated argv (entrypoint ++ args) rather than each half separately.
+/// The halves are not stable across create paths: quadlet's `Entrypoint=`
+/// takes a single value, so a manifest entrypoint of `sh -lc` is written as
+/// `Entrypoint=sh` + `Exec=-lc ...`, and podman then reports
+/// `Config.Entrypoint=["sh"]`, `Config.Cmd=["-lc", ...]` — a per-half
+/// comparison reads that as permanent drift and recreates the container on
+/// every reconcile pass (electrumx on .228, 2026-07-08: 114 recreates in 6h).
+/// The concatenation is what actually runs, so it is the thing to compare.
+fn command_argv_drifted(
+    expected_entry: Option<&[String]>,
+    expected_args: &[String],
+    current_entry: &[String],
+    current_cmd: &[String],
+) -> bool {
+    let Some(expected_entry) = expected_entry else {
+        // No entrypoint override: the manifest args map to Cmd directly.
+        return !expected_args.is_empty() && current_cmd != expected_args;
+    };
+    let expected: Vec<&String> = expected_entry.iter().chain(expected_args).collect();
+    let actual: Vec<&String> = current_entry.iter().chain(current_cmd).collect();
+    if expected_args.is_empty() {
+        // With no manifest args, the container's trailing Cmd may be the
+        // image's baked-in CMD — only the entrypoint prefix must match.
+        actual.len() < expected.len() || actual[..expected.len()] != expected[..]
+    } else {
+        actual != expected
+    }
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Tests
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -3891,6 +3916,80 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    fn sv(items: &[&str]) -> Vec<String> {
+        items.iter().map(|s| s.to_string()).collect()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn command_drift_tolerates_quadlet_entrypoint_split() {
+        // Quadlet writes Entrypoint=sh + Exec=-lc "<script>", so podman
+        // reports entry=["sh"], cmd=["-lc", script] for a manifest that
+        // declared entrypoint ["sh", "-lc"] + custom_args [script]. Same
+        // argv, different split — must NOT read as drift (the electrumx
+        // recreate loop).
+        let script = "export DAEMON_URL=...; exec electrumx_server";
+        assert!(!command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["sh", "-lc"])),
+            &sv(&[script]),
+            &sv(&["sh"]),
+            &sv(&["-lc", script]),
+        ));
+        // Legacy podman-create layout keeps the halves as declared.
+        assert!(!command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["sh", "-lc"])),
+            &sv(&[script]),
+            &sv(&["sh", "-lc"]),
+            &sv(&[script]),
+        ));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn command_drift_detected_when_argv_actually_differs() {
+        assert!(command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["sh", "-lc"])),
+            &sv(&["new script"]),
+            &sv(&["sh"]),
+            &sv(&["-lc", "old script"]),
+        ));
+        assert!(command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["bash", "-c"])),
+            &sv(&["run"]),
+            &sv(&["sh"]),
+            &sv(&["-lc", "run"]),
+        ));
+        // No entrypoint override: args compare against Cmd directly.
+        assert!(command_argv_drifted(
+            None,
+            &sv(&["-server=1"]),
+            &sv(&["bitcoind"]),
+            &sv(&["-server=0"]),
+        ));
+        assert!(!command_argv_drifted(
+            None,
+            &sv(&["-server=1"]),
+            &sv(&["bitcoind"]),
+            &sv(&["-server=1"]),
+        ));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn command_drift_entrypoint_only_ignores_image_cmd() {
+        // Entrypoint override with no manifest args: the container's Cmd is
+        // the image's baked-in CMD — only the entrypoint prefix matters.
+        assert!(!command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["/usr/local/bin/bitcoind"])),
+            &[],
+            &sv(&["/usr/local/bin/bitcoind"]),
+            &sv(&["-image-default-arg"]),
+        ));
+        assert!(command_argv_drifted(
+            Some(&sv(&["/usr/local/bin/bitcoind"])),
+            &[],
+            &sv(&["/other/binary"]),
+            &sv(&[]),
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn port_drift_detected_when_host_port_differs() {
         // The .116 case: container publishes container-port 8080 on host 8080,