diff --git a/packages/server/src/server/bootstrap.ts b/packages/server/src/server/bootstrap.ts
index a3f1cbc58..318fb0d82 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/server/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/server/bootstrap.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ import {
 } from "./connection-offer.js";
 import { printPairingQrIfEnabled } from "./pairing-qr.js";
 import { startRelayTransport, type RelayTransportController } from "./relay-transport.js";
-import { acquirePidLock, releasePidLock } from "./pid-lock.js";
+import { releasePidLock } from "./pid-lock.js";
 import type {
   AgentClient,
   AgentProvider,
@@ -499,9 +499,6 @@ export async function createPaseoDaemon(
   );
 
   const start = async () => {
-    // Acquire PID lock to prevent multiple daemon instances
-    await acquirePidLock(config.paseoHome, selfIdMcpSocketPath);
-
     // Start Self-ID MCP socket server first
     await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
       const onError = (err: Error) => {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/server/config.ts b/packages/server/src/server/config.ts
index 8371c31ee..6d06b524f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/server/config.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/server/config.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,7 @@ function getDefaultListen(): string {
   return `127.0.0.1:${DEFAULT_PORT}`;
 }
 
-function getSelfIdMcpSocketPath(paseoHome: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string {
-  // Allow override via PASEO_SELF_ID_MCP_SOCK for testing
-  if (env.PASEO_SELF_ID_MCP_SOCK) {
-    return env.PASEO_SELF_ID_MCP_SOCK;
-  }
-  // Default to ${PASEO_HOME}/self-id-mcp.sock
+function getSelfIdMcpSocketPath(paseoHome: string): string {
   return path.join(paseoHome, "self-id-mcp.sock");
 }
 
@@ -87,7 +82,7 @@ export function loadConfig(
   // Default is TCP at 127.0.0.1:6767
   const listen = env.PASEO_LISTEN ?? persisted.listen ?? getDefaultListen();
   const mcpListen = getListenForMcp(listen);
-  const selfIdMcpSocketPath = getSelfIdMcpSocketPath(paseoHome, env);
+  const selfIdMcpSocketPath = getSelfIdMcpSocketPath(paseoHome);
 
   const envCorsOrigins = env.PASEO_CORS_ORIGINS
     ? env.PASEO_CORS_ORIGINS.split(",").map((s) => s.trim())