diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c448808..da406ce 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ COPY cleanup.sh /usr/local/bin/cleanup.sh
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cleanup.sh
 ENV ACTIONS_RUNNER_HOOK_JOB_COMPLETED=/usr/local/bin/cleanup.sh
 
-# NB: there is no CMD so it will work the same as the base image. See the
+# Preflight entrypoint: validates the persisted runner registration against
+# GitHub before handing off to the upstream entrypoint. Upstream reuses
+# CONFIGURED_ACTIONS_RUNNER_FILES_DIR credentials unconditionally, which
+# crash-loops the container when the runner was removed server-side; the
+# preflight wipes provably-dead registrations so a fresh ACCESS_TOKEN
+# registration happens instead. See preflight-entrypoint.sh for details.
+COPY preflight-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/preflight-entrypoint.sh
+RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/preflight-entrypoint.sh
+ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/preflight-entrypoint.sh"]
+# Declaring ENTRYPOINT resets the CMD inherited from the base image, so the
+# base image's CMD is restated here. See
 # https://github.com/myoung34/docker-github-actions-runner#environment-variables
 # for how to use the image
+CMD ["./bin/Runner.Listener", "run", "--startuptype", "service"]
diff --git a/preflight-entrypoint.sh b/preflight-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40fecb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/preflight-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Preflight wrapper around the upstream myoung34 entrypoint.
+#
+# When CONFIGURED_ACTIONS_RUNNER_FILES_DIR is set, the upstream entrypoint
+# copies the persisted config into /actions-runner and skips registration
+# whenever a .runner file exists — with no validation of the stored
+# credentials and no fallback to ACCESS_TOKEN. If the runner was meanwhile
+# removed server-side (pruned by GitHub after being offline too long, deleted
+# manually, etc), the stored credentials are dead and the container
+# crash-loops forever without ever re-registering, even though a perfectly
+# good ACCESS_TOKEN is sitting in the environment.
+#
+# This preflight asks GitHub whether the persisted runner still exists. Only
+# a definitive 404 wipes the persisted registration, which makes the upstream
+# entrypoint fall through to a fresh ACCESS_TOKEN registration (and store the
+# new credentials back into the persist dir). Transient errors, missing
+# variables, or unparseable state leave everything untouched, so behavior is
+# never worse than upstream's.
+#
+# Intentionally not using set -e: preflight must never block runner startup.
+
+log() { echo "[preflight] $*"; }
+
+preflight() {
+  local dir="${CONFIGURED_ACTIONS_RUNNER_FILES_DIR:-}"
+  [ -n "$dir" ] || return 0
+  [ -f "$dir/.runner" ] || return 0
+  if [ -z "${ACCESS_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
+    log "ACCESS_TOKEN not set; cannot validate persisted registration, leaving as-is"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # .runner is JSON written by the runner itself; it may carry a UTF-8 BOM.
+  local agent_id
+  agent_id=$(sed '1s/^\xEF\xBB\xBF//' "$dir/.runner" | jq -r '.agentId // empty' 2>/dev/null)
+  if [ -z "$agent_id" ]; then
+    log "could not read agentId from $dir/.runner; leaving as-is"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  local github_host="${GITHUB_HOST:-github.com}"
+  local api_base
+  if [ "$github_host" = "github.com" ]; then
+    api_base="https://api.github.com"
+  else
+    api_base="https://${github_host}/api/v3"
+  fi
+
+  local api_path
+  case "${RUNNER_SCOPE:-repo}" in
+    org)
+      if [ -z "${ORG_NAME:-}" ]; then
+        log "RUNNER_SCOPE=org but ORG_NAME unset; leaving as-is"
+        return 0
+      fi
+      api_path="orgs/${ORG_NAME}/actions/runners/${agent_id}"
+      ;;
+    ent*)
+      log "enterprise scope validation not implemented; leaving as-is"
+      return 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      # repo scope: REPO_URL looks like https://<host>/<owner>/<repo>
+      local repo_path="${REPO_URL#*://*/}"
+      if [ -z "$repo_path" ] || [ "$repo_path" = "${REPO_URL:-}" ]; then
+        log "cannot parse REPO_URL; leaving as-is"
+        return 0
+      fi
+      api_path="repos/${repo_path}/actions/runners/${agent_id}"
+      ;;
+  esac
+
+  # Bounded timeouts so a DNS/TLS/network stall can't block runner startup;
+  # a timeout falls into the default case below and leaves the config as-is.
+  local status
+  status=$(curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' \
+    --connect-timeout 5 --max-time 15 \
+    -H "Authorization: token ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
+    -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+    "${api_base}/${api_path}" 2>/dev/null)
+
+  case "$status" in
+    200)
+      log "persisted runner agentId=${agent_id} still registered; reusing stored credentials"
+      ;;
+    404)
+      log "persisted runner agentId=${agent_id} no longer exists on ${github_host};" \
+        "wiping persisted registration to force fresh ACCESS_TOKEN registration"
+      rm -f "$dir/.runner" "$dir/.credentials" "$dir/.credentials_rsaparams"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      log "could not validate persisted runner (HTTP ${status:-none}); leaving as-is"
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+preflight
+exec /entrypoint.sh "$@"