diff --git a/src/UniGetUI.Avalonia/Infrastructure/SingleInstanceRedirector.cs b/src/UniGetUI.Avalonia/Infrastructure/SingleInstanceRedirector.cs
index a7f753be5c..fd79927b0f 100644
--- a/src/UniGetUI.Avalonia/Infrastructure/SingleInstanceRedirector.cs
+++ b/src/UniGetUI.Avalonia/Infrastructure/SingleInstanceRedirector.cs
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ private static string BuildPipeName()
 
     private static Thread? _listener;
 
+    // The mutex proves a first instance exists, so keep probing this long before giving up.
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ForwardBudget = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+    // Bound each read so a client that connects but never sends EOF can't wedge the loop.
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ReadTimeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Start a background listener thread.  When a second instance forwards its args,
     /// <paramref name="onArgsReceived"/> is invoked on the Avalonia UI thread.
@@ -44,28 +49,33 @@ public static void StartListener(Action<string[]> onArgsReceived)
         {
             while (true)
             {
+                NamedPipeServerStream? pipe = null;
                 try
                 {
-                    using var pipe = new NamedPipeServerStream(
+                    pipe = new NamedPipeServerStream(
                         PipeName,
                         PipeDirection.In,
-                        maxNumberOfServerInstances: 1,
-                        transmissionMode: PipeTransmissionMode.Byte);
+                        maxNumberOfServerInstances: NamedPipeServerStream.MaxAllowedServerInstances,
+                        transmissionMode: PipeTransmissionMode.Byte,
+                        options: PipeOptions.Asynchronous);
 
                     pipe.WaitForConnection();
 
-                    using var reader = new StreamReader(pipe, Encoding.UTF8);
-                    string payload = reader.ReadToEnd();
-
-                    // Args are newline-delimited.
-                    var args = payload.Split('\n', StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
-                    Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() => onArgsReceived(args));
+                    // Read off-thread and immediately re-arm: a single slow/stuck client can
+                    // never block the next accept nor "busy out" the pipe into timeouts.
+                    HandleConnection(pipe, onArgsReceived);
+                    pipe = null; // ownership handed to the read task
                 }
                 catch (Exception ex) when (ex is not ThreadAbortException)
                 {
                     // Keep the listener alive through errors (the pipe breaks on disconnect, etc.)
                     Logger.Warn($"SingleInstanceRedirector listener error: {ex.Message}");
                 }
+                finally
+                {
+                    // Dispose the stream if the handoff never happened, so a broken accept can't leak handles.
+                    pipe?.Dispose();
+                }
             }
         })
         {
@@ -76,36 +86,71 @@ public static void StartListener(Action<string[]> onArgsReceived)
         _listener.Start();
     }
 
+    private static void HandleConnection(NamedPipeServerStream pipe, Action<string[]> onArgsReceived)
+    {
+        _ = Task.Run(async () =>
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                using (pipe)
+                using (var reader = new StreamReader(pipe, Encoding.UTF8))
+                using (var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(ReadTimeout))
+                {
+                    string payload = await reader.ReadToEndAsync(cts.Token);
+                    // Args are newline-delimited.
+                    var args = payload.Split('\n', StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
+                    Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() => onArgsReceived(args));
+                }
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Logger.Warn($"SingleInstanceRedirector read error: {ex.Message}");
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Try to forward <paramref name="args"/> to the already-running first instance.
     /// </summary>
     /// <returns><c>true</c> if the message was delivered successfully.</returns>
     public static bool TryForwardToFirstInstance(string[] args)
+        => ForwardToFirstInstanceAsync(args).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+
+    private static async Task<bool> ForwardToFirstInstanceAsync(string[] args)
     {
-        if (args.Length == 0)
-        {
-            // Nothing to forward — still show the window by sending an empty payload.
-        }
+        // One token bounds connect, write and flush across retries, so a peer that connects
+        // then stops reading can never block past the budget and skip the fallback.
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(ForwardBudget);
+        byte[] payload = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(string.Join('\n', args)); // newline-delimited args
+        Exception? last = null;
 
-        try
-        {
-            using var pipe = new NamedPipeClientStream(
-                serverName: ".",
-                pipeName: PipeName,
-                direction: PipeDirection.Out);
-
-            pipe.Connect(500);
-
-            using var writer = new StreamWriter(pipe, Encoding.UTF8);
-            // Newline-delimited args payload.
-            writer.Write(string.Join('\n', args));
-            writer.Flush();
-            return true;
-        }
-        catch (Exception ex)
+        while (true)
         {
-            Logger.Warn($"Could not forward args to first instance: {ex.Message}");
-            return false;
+            try
+            {
+                using var pipe = new NamedPipeClientStream(
+                    serverName: ".",
+                    pipeName: PipeName,
+                    direction: PipeDirection.Out,
+                    options: PipeOptions.Asynchronous);
+
+                await pipe.ConnectAsync(cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                await pipe.WriteAsync(payload, cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                await pipe.FlushAsync(cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                return true;
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                last = ex;
+                if (cts.IsCancellationRequested)
+                    break;
+
+                try { await Task.Delay(100, cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false); }
+                catch (OperationCanceledException) { break; }
+            }
         }
+
+        Logger.Warn($"Could not forward args to first instance: {last?.Message}");
+        return false;
     }
 }