diff --git a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control.go b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control.go
index 1fd2f9481..e7d1854a3 100644
--- a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control.go
+++ b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control.go
@@ -96,9 +96,14 @@ func resolveGatewayTarget(homePath string) (*gatewayTarget, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to find gateway process (PID: %d): %w", data.PID, err)
 	}
 
-	err = verifyGatewayProcessIdentity(data.PID)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	// Hardening: when possible, ensure the PID file still points to a picoclaw
+	// gateway process before we report or signal it. Currently we only have a
+	// reliable, dependency-free implementation on Linux (/proc).
+	if runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
+		err = verifyGatewayProcessIdentity(data.PID)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 	}
 
 	return &gatewayTarget{
diff --git a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control_test.go b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control_test.go
index 931f39c73..ceac0f016 100644
--- a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control_test.go
+++ b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/control_test.go
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ func TestGatewayStopCmdNotRunning(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGatewayStatusCmdRejectsNonGatewayPID(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS != "linux" {
+		t.Skip("process identity verification is linux-only (/proc)")
+	}
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		t.Skip("requires POSIX signal semantics")
 	}
@@ -98,6 +101,9 @@ func TestGatewayStatusCmdRejectsNonGatewayPID(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGatewayStopCmdRejectsNonGatewayPID(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS != "linux" {
+		t.Skip("process identity verification is linux-only (/proc)")
+	}
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		t.Skip("requires POSIX signal semantics")
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/process_identity_other.go b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/process_identity_other.go
index fb099ff26..099ba6569 100644
--- a/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/process_identity_other.go
+++ b/cmd/picoclaw/internal/gateway/process_identity_other.go
@@ -2,11 +2,8 @@
 
 package gateway
 
-import "fmt"
-
 func verifyGatewayProcessIdentity(processID int) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf(
-		"gateway process identity verification is not supported on this platform (PID: %d)",
-		processID,
-	)
+	// Best-effort: non-Linux platforms don't have a portable, dependency-free way
+	// to validate /proc-style executable + argv identity. Don't block status/stop.
+	return nil
 }