diff --git a/.claude/skills/xce-test-ha/run-ha-soak.sh b/.claude/skills/xce-test-ha/run-ha-soak.sh
index b249290c..bab90fc7 100755
--- a/.claude/skills/xce-test-ha/run-ha-soak.sh
+++ b/.claude/skills/xce-test-ha/run-ha-soak.sh
@@ -553,6 +553,65 @@ wait_for_full_convergence() {
     return 1
 }
 
+# Config version ("tag") the given node currently has loaded for cluster
+# membership — 0 is the cold-start default before the elected primary's
+# post-election config-push (ctrlhello) has reached and been applied. Same
+# direct single-node client-probe technique as node_probe (bug-1449: the
+# config-push marker is only visible via the buffered logfile otherwise, same
+# lag problem as everything else in this section). Echoes the numeric
+# configVersion, or empty with rc!=0 if the node is unreachable.
+node_config_tag() {
+    local node="$1" addr out tag
+    addr="localhost:${PORT[$node]}"
+    out="$(printf 'set masters %s\nset myname conv\nclient\nctrlstatus\nquit\n' "$addr" | xtest)"
+    tag="$(printf '%s\n' "$out" | sed -n 's/^configVersion: \([0-9][0-9]*\)$/\1/p' | head -1)"
+    [ -n "$tag" ] || return 1
+    echo "$tag"
+}
+
+# True (rc 0) iff every one of the 3 nodes reports a non-zero config tag — the
+# elected primary's config-push has reached and been applied by both standbys.
+# This is the "3-of-3 initial config convergence" signal for round 1's first
+# kill (bug-1449): a standby still at tag=0 is VOTER ONLY
+# (ha-config-bootstrap Req 2.8's ha_on_primary_ctrl_fd_rdhup guard correctly
+# refuses to let it self-elect), so killing the primary before this converges
+# can leave the cluster with no candidate at all — even though the guard
+# itself is working exactly as designed.
+cluster_config_converged() {
+    local n tag
+    for n in "${NODES[@]}"; do
+        tag="$(node_config_tag "$n")" || return 1
+        [ "$tag" != "0" ] || return 1
+    done
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Wait until all 3 nodes report a non-zero config tag (bug-1449). Mirrors
+# wait_for_full_convergence's polling primitive exactly (alive-count guard,
+# STABLE_TICKS consecutive converged probes, ~90s bound) but gates on
+# cluster_config_converged (config-push landed) instead of
+# cluster_committed_converged (committed-prefix caught up) — the two are
+# independent signals, and round 1 needs the former specifically: nothing else
+# in this script waits for it before the very first kill.
+wait_for_initial_config_convergence() {
+    local i alive stable=0
+    local STABLE_TICKS=2   # 2 consecutive converged probes ⇒ settled
+    for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+        alive="$(pgrep -c -f -- "$(run_pattern)")"
+        if [ "$alive" -lt 3 ]; then
+            stable=0; sleep 2; continue
+        fi
+        if cluster_config_converged; then
+            stable=$((stable + 1))
+            [ "$stable" -ge "$STABLE_TICKS" ] && return 0
+        else
+            stable=0
+        fi
+        sleep 2
+    done
+    return 1
+}
+
 # Submit jobs through the live primary until N are cleanly acked, appending each
 # acked JobId to ALL_JOBIDS. A FRESHLY-promoted primary is briefly not write-able
 # (it appends its own-term NOOP but cannot commit until a standby reconnects and
@@ -1894,6 +1953,24 @@ if [ "$MODE" = "chaotic" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# ── Round-1 config-convergence gate (bug-1449) ────────────────────────────────
+# The sequential loop below (Step 10) blocks for full 3-of-3 reconvergence
+# between rounds, but round 1 has no equivalent wait before its FIRST kill — it
+# falls straight from Step 5 (initial submit+verify) into killing whatever
+# primary Step 4 found. Cold-start election + config-push can occasionally take
+# longer than Steps 4-5's budget to land on both standbys: if round 1's kill
+# fires first, the standbys are still at config tag=0 and
+# ha_on_primary_ctrl_fd_rdhup's voter-only guard (ha-config-bootstrap Req 2.8,
+# working exactly as designed) correctly refuses to let either self-elect,
+# producing a false "no primary elected" round-1 failure (hit once in ~11
+# Group-1 kiro-validate-impl soaks, cleared on immediate retry). Close that gap
+# the same way every later round is already protected: block here for 3-of-3
+# initial config convergence before the loop's first kill.
+log "waiting for 3-of-3 initial config convergence before round 1"
+wait_for_initial_config_convergence \
+    || fail "initial config convergence: standbys did not reach a non-zero config tag within budget (bug-1449 guard)"
+log "3-of-3 initial config convergence confirmed"
+
 # ── Steps 7–10 looped: kill primary, verify, submit, restart, reconverge ─────
 #
 # Each round kills the CURRENT primary, then restarts the node downed in the