diff --git a/cmd/vm/lifecycle.go b/cmd/vm/lifecycle.go
index 37ba541..5b0316c 100644
--- a/cmd/vm/lifecycle.go
+++ b/cmd/vm/lifecycle.go
@@ -238,6 +238,9 @@ func launch(cmd *cobra.Command, dir string, r *record) error {
 	if err := requireCNIVNCPassword(r.Netns != "", r.VNCDisp, r.VNCPass); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if err := recoverNet(cmd, r); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("recover network: %w", err)
+	}
 	if isHostAMD() {
 		// macOS reads MSRs an AMD host lacks; without kvm.ignore_msrs KVM injects #GP (best-effort, host-global)
 		if err := os.WriteFile("/sys/module/kvm/parameters/ignore_msrs", []byte("1\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/vm/net_linux.go b/cmd/vm/net_linux.go
index c6b976d..9bcfd68 100644
--- a/cmd/vm/net_linux.go
+++ b/cmd/vm/net_linux.go
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ func newProvider(cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) (network.Network, error) {
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown --net mode %q (want user|tap|cni|bridge)", r.NetMode)
 }
 
+// netVMConfig pins CPU=1 so NetNumQueues yields a single-queue TAP matching QEMU's single-queue -netdev tap,ifname=
+func netVMConfig(r *record) *types.VMConfig {
+	return &types.VMConfig{CPU: 1, Name: r.Name}
+}
+
 // provisionNet auto-creates a TAP via cocoon — the SAME forwarding plane as cocoon's CH/FC VMs.
 func provisionNet(cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) (tap, netns, mac string, err error) {
 	provider, err := newProvider(cmd, r)
@@ -66,8 +71,7 @@ func provisionNet(cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) (tap, netns, mac string, err er
 		return "", "", "", err
 	}
 	ctx := cliutil.CommandContext(cmd)
-	// CPU=1 => NetNumQueues yields a single-queue TAP matching QEMU's single-queue -netdev tap,ifname=
-	vmCfg := &types.VMConfig{CPU: 1, Name: r.Name}
+	vmCfg := netVMConfig(r)
 	nsPath, err := provider.Prepare(ctx, r.VMID, vmCfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", "", "", fmt.Errorf("prepare network: %w", err)
@@ -92,6 +96,34 @@ func provisionNet(cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) (tap, netns, mac string, err er
 	return cfgs[0].TAP, nsPath, mac, nil
 }
 
+func recoverNet(cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) error {
+	if !r.TapOwned {
+		return nil
+	}
+	provider, err := newProvider(cmd, r)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	ctx := cliutil.CommandContext(cmd)
+	expected := []*types.NetworkConfig{{TAP: r.Tap, MAC: r.MAC}}
+	verifyErr := provider.Verify(ctx, r.VMID, expected)
+	if verifyErr == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	log.WithFunc("cmd.vm.recoverNet").Warnf(ctx, "rebuild network for %s: %v", r.VMID, verifyErr)
+	vmCfg := netVMConfig(r)
+	nsPath, err := provider.Prepare(ctx, r.VMID, vmCfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cfgs, err := provider.Add(ctx, r.VMID, vmCfg, network.AddRecover(expected)...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r.Tap, r.Netns = cfgs[0].TAP, nsPath
+	return nil
+}
+
 func teardownNet(ctx context.Context, cmd *cobra.Command, r *record) error {
 	if !r.TapOwned {
 		return nil
diff --git a/cmd/vm/net_linux_test.go b/cmd/vm/net_linux_test.go
index a04d8c6..4a0afe9 100644
--- a/cmd/vm/net_linux_test.go
+++ b/cmd/vm/net_linux_test.go
@@ -71,3 +71,27 @@ func TestRMRetainsStateWhenNetworkTeardownFails(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("VM state was removed after teardown failure: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestStartChecksOwnedNetworkBeforeQEMU(t *testing.T) {
+	stateDir := t.TempDir()
+	cmd := newLifecycleTestCommand(t, stateDir)
+	dir, err := home.VMDir(cmd, "macos-demo")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	r := &record{
+		Name: "macos-demo", VMID: "TESTVMID", Disk: filepath.Join(dir, "disk.qcow2"),
+		NetMode: "invalid", TapOwned: true,
+	}
+	if err := saveRec(dir, r); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	err = Start(cmd, []string{"macos-demo"})
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "recover network: unknown --net mode") {
+		t.Fatalf("Start error = %v, want the network recovery failure before qemu launch", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/vm/net_other.go b/cmd/vm/net_other.go
index 0300911..0fc9dcc 100644
--- a/cmd/vm/net_other.go
+++ b/cmd/vm/net_other.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ func provisionNet(_ *cobra.Command, _ *record) (tap, netns, mac string, err erro
 	return "", "", "", fmt.Errorf("auto-create TAP / CNI / bridge networking requires Linux (running on %s); pass a pre-created --tap or use --net user", runtime.GOOS)
 }
 
+func recoverNet(_ *cobra.Command, _ *record) error { return nil }
+
 func teardownNet(_ context.Context, _ *cobra.Command, _ *record) error { return nil }
 
 func toggleNet(_ *cobra.Command, _ *record, _ bool) {}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2ab1871..7d8a932 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon-macos
 go 1.27.0
 
 require (
-	github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923034234-4a3ed8c35796
+	github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923161722-22b7392e16b0
 	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.13.0
 	github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.1.1
 	github.com/projecteru2/core v0.1.3
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 939c0f8..2015474 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ github.com/cockroachdb/logtags v0.0.0-20241215232642-bb51bb14a506 h1:ASDL+UJcILM
 github.com/cockroachdb/logtags v0.0.0-20241215232642-bb51bb14a506/go.mod h1:Mw7HqKr2kdtu6aYGn3tPmAftiP3QPX63LdK/zcariIo=
 github.com/cockroachdb/redact v1.1.8 h1:8eVLLj6juKxiKrAEw2b8cJvNqWq++U8WOfQFuL7KTaA=
 github.com/cockroachdb/redact v1.1.8/go.mod h1:GceHHpJ0rMDpYARL5In88Alq/xMBUtVlz7Qxix6ZVkw=
-github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923034234-4a3ed8c35796 h1:P3b28cTPRfbwKgCBj5swqJhwXYdnEtIC8xrKS/PAARM=
-github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923034234-4a3ed8c35796/go.mod h1:B02b6pewrk1DbrRn+iBtDc8LNQWxwot2qF1j4YX5/jg=
+github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923161722-22b7392e16b0 h1:RJe3v2i/sP1BymsYlJx8+0DqnTRxExvYyi1rslV7tvg=
+github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon v0.6.9-0.20260923161722-22b7392e16b0/go.mod h1:B02b6pewrk1DbrRn+iBtDc8LNQWxwot2qF1j4YX5/jg=
 github.com/containernetworking/cni v1.3.0 h1:v6EpN8RznAZj9765HhXQrtXgX+ECGebEYEmnuFjskwo=
 github.com/containernetworking/cni v1.3.0/go.mod h1:Bs8glZjjFfGPHMw6hQu82RUgEPNGEaBb9KS5KtNMnJ4=
 github.com/containernetworking/plugins v1.9.1 h1:8oU6WsIsU3bpnNZuvHp74a6cE1MJwbj2P7s4/yTUNlA=