diff --git a/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe.go b/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe.go
index ad3360a4b6..4c2361bb3b 100644
--- a/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe.go
+++ b/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe.go
@@ -168,10 +168,14 @@ func itoa(n int) string {
 }
 
 func head(port int) (status int, isHtml, up bool) {
+	// A fresh Transport is built (and discarded) on every tick, so keep-alive
+	// would leak an idle connection + its readLoop goroutine per tick for the
+	// life of the daemon instead of being reused.
 	client := &http.Client{
 		Timeout: HeadTimeout,
 		Transport: &http.Transport{
-			DialContext: DialLoopback,
+			DialContext:       DialLoopback,
+			DisableKeepAlives: true,
 		},
 	}
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("HEAD", "http://loopback:"+itoa(port)+"/", nil)
diff --git a/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe_test.go b/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ec12384da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/sandbox/daemon-go/internal/probe/probe_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package probe
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"runtime"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// TestHeadDoesNotLeakKeepAliveGoroutine guards against regressing to a
+// per-tick Transport that leaves an idle keep-alive connection (and its
+// readLoop goroutine) open forever, since head() is called repeatedly for
+// the life of the daemon.
+func TestHeadDoesNotLeakKeepAliveGoroutine(t *testing.T) {
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(200)
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	port, err := strconv.Atoi(srv.URL[len("http://127.0.0.1:"):])
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse port from %q: %v", srv.URL, err)
+	}
+
+	before := runtime.NumGoroutine()
+
+	for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+		status, _, up := head(port)
+		if !up || status != 200 {
+			t.Fatalf("head() = status=%d up=%v, want 200/true", status, up)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Idle keep-alive readLoop goroutines don't exit synchronously; give them
+	// a moment, then assert we haven't accumulated one per call.
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	for {
+		if runtime.NumGoroutine() <= before+5 {
+			return
+		}
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			t.Fatalf("goroutine count grew from %d to %d after 20 head() calls — keep-alive connections are leaking",
+				before, runtime.NumGoroutine())
+		}
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+}