diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
index 0a3fc323..17f8a97f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
@@ -151,12 +151,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run Smoke Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
@@ -244,12 +238,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run E2E Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
@@ -337,12 +325,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run Integration Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
@@ -387,12 +369,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run Integration Tests Multi-Root (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/push-check.yml b/.github/workflows/push-check.yml
index e00f0aaf..a0dab018 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/push-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/push-check.yml
@@ -152,12 +152,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run Smoke Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
@@ -245,12 +239,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run E2E Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
@@ -338,12 +326,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Compile Tests
         run: npm run compile-tests
 
-      - name: Configure Test Settings
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p .vscode-test/user-data/User
-          echo '{"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true}' > .vscode-test/user-data/User/settings.json
-        shell: bash
-
       - name: Run Integration Tests (Linux)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
diff --git a/.vscode-test.mjs b/.vscode-test.mjs
index 79b6d242..23d18eb9 100644
--- a/.vscode-test.mjs
+++ b/.vscode-test.mjs
@@ -1,8 +1,22 @@
 import { defineConfig } from '@vscode/test-cli';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as os from 'os';
 import * as path from 'path';
 
-// Explicit user data directory - ensures VS Code reads our settings.json
-const userDataDir = path.resolve('.vscode-test/user-data');
+// Keep this path short: macOS caps Unix-domain socket paths at 103 chars and
+// VS Code creates `<userDataDir>/<x.y>-main.sock`. An in-workspace location
+// (e.g. /Users/runner/work/<repo>/<repo>/.vscode-test/user-data) overflows.
+const userDataDir = path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'vsct-ud');
+
+// Seed user settings.json so the extension actually activates: without
+// `python.useEnvironmentsExtension=true` it short-circuits during activation
+// and the smoke/e2e/integration tests see no registered managers.
+const userDir = path.join(userDataDir, 'User');
+fs.mkdirSync(userDir, { recursive: true });
+fs.writeFileSync(
+    path.join(userDir, 'settings.json'),
+    JSON.stringify({ 'python.useEnvironmentsExtension': true }) + '\n',
+);
 
 export default defineConfig([
     {
diff --git a/src/managers/common/fastPath.ts b/src/managers/common/fastPath.ts
index aa69bd29..81370210 100644
--- a/src/managers/common/fastPath.ts
+++ b/src/managers/common/fastPath.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
+import * as fs from 'fs';
 import { Uri } from 'vscode';
 import { GetEnvironmentScope, PythonEnvironment, PythonEnvironmentApi } from '../../api';
 import { traceError, traceVerbose, traceWarn } from '../../common/logging';
@@ -48,6 +49,28 @@ export function getProjectFsPathForScope(api: Pick<PythonEnvironmentApi, 'getPyt
     return api.getPythonProject(scope)?.uri.fsPath ?? scope.fsPath;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Cheap local existence check on the persisted path. If the cached interpreter has
+ * been deleted/renamed/moved we can short-circuit before spawning PET (which holds
+ * the cache mutex and can take up to the spawn timeout to fail).
+ *
+ * Returns true if the path exists (or if the check itself errors — in which case we
+ * fall through to the normal resolve so we don't introduce a new failure mode).
+ */
+async function persistedPathExists(persistedPath: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    try {
+        await fs.promises.access(persistedPath);
+        return true;
+    } catch (err) {
+        const code = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException)?.code;
+        if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') {
+            return false;
+        }
+        // Unknown error (e.g. EACCES) — don't treat as missing; let resolve() decide.
+        return true;
+    }
+}
+
 /**
  * Attempts fast-path resolution for manager.get(): if full initialization hasn't completed yet
  * and there's a persisted environment for the workspace, resolve it directly via nativeFinder
@@ -100,6 +123,18 @@ export async function tryFastPathGet(opts: FastPathOptions): Promise<FastPathRes
         const persistedPath = await getGlobalPersistedPath();
 
         if (persistedPath) {
+            // Cheap local existence check — avoids spawning PET (and waiting on the
+            // bounded timeout) when the cached interpreter has been removed.
+            if (!(await persistedPathExists(persistedPath))) {
+                sendTelemetryEvent(EventNames.GLOBAL_ENV_CACHE, cacheStopWatch.elapsedTime, {
+                    managerLabel: opts.label,
+                    result: 'stale',
+                });
+                traceVerbose(
+                    `[${opts.label}] Fast path: persisted path '${persistedPath}' does not exist, falling through to slow path`,
+                );
+                return undefined;
+            }
             try {
                 const resolved = await opts.resolve(persistedPath);
                 if (resolved) {
@@ -136,6 +171,14 @@ export async function tryFastPathGet(opts: FastPathOptions): Promise<FastPathRes
         const persistedPath = await opts.getPersistedPath(opts.getProjectFsPath(scope));
 
         if (persistedPath) {
+            // Cheap local existence check — avoids spawning PET (and waiting on the
+            // bounded timeout) when the cached interpreter has been removed.
+            if (!(await persistedPathExists(persistedPath))) {
+                traceVerbose(
+                    `[${opts.label}] Fast path: persisted path '${persistedPath}' does not exist, falling through to slow path`,
+                );
+                return undefined;
+            }
             try {
                 const resolved = await opts.resolve(persistedPath);
                 if (resolved) {
diff --git a/src/test/managers/common/fastPath.unit.test.ts b/src/test/managers/common/fastPath.unit.test.ts
index ad01753d..4c6bb17a 100644
--- a/src/test/managers/common/fastPath.unit.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/managers/common/fastPath.unit.test.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ interface FastPathTestOptions {
 
 function createOpts(overrides?: Partial<FastPathOptions>): FastPathTestOptions {
     const setInitialized = sinon.stub();
-    const persistedPath = path.resolve('persisted', 'path');
+    const persistedPath = __filename;
     return {
         opts: {
             initialized: undefined,
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
     });
 
     test('returns resolved env for global scope when getGlobalPersistedPath returns a path', async () => {
-        const globalPath = path.resolve('usr', 'bin', 'python3');
+        const globalPath = __filename;
         const resolve = sinon.stub().resolves(createMockEnv(globalPath));
         const { opts } = createOpts({
             scope: undefined,
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
     });
 
     test('reports stale when global cached path resolves to undefined', async () => {
-        const globalPath = path.resolve('usr', 'bin', 'python3');
+        const globalPath = __filename;
         const { opts } = createOpts({
             scope: undefined,
             getGlobalPersistedPath: sinon.stub().resolves(globalPath),
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
     });
 
     test('returns undefined for global scope when cached path resolve fails', async () => {
-        const globalPath = path.resolve('usr', 'bin', 'python3');
+        const globalPath = __filename;
         const { opts } = createOpts({
             scope: undefined,
             getGlobalPersistedPath: sinon.stub().resolves(globalPath),
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
     });
 
     test('global scope fast path starts background init when initialized is undefined', async () => {
-        const globalPath = path.resolve('usr', 'bin', 'python3');
+        const globalPath = __filename;
         const startBackgroundInit = sinon.stub().resolves();
         const { opts, setInitialized } = createOpts({
             scope: undefined,
@@ -201,6 +201,37 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
         assert.strictEqual(result, undefined);
     });
 
+    test('skips resolve and falls through when workspace persisted path no longer exists on disk', async () => {
+        const missingPath = path.resolve('does', 'not', 'exist', 'python-missing');
+        const resolve = sinon.stub().resolves(createMockEnv(missingPath));
+        const { opts } = createOpts({
+            getPersistedPath: sinon.stub().resolves(missingPath),
+            resolve,
+        });
+        const result = await tryFastPathGet(opts);
+
+        assert.strictEqual(result, undefined, 'Should fall through when cached path is missing');
+        assert.ok(resolve.notCalled, 'Should not invoke resolve (and thus PET) when path is missing');
+    });
+
+    test('skips resolve and reports stale when global persisted path no longer exists on disk', async () => {
+        const missingPath = path.resolve('does', 'not', 'exist', 'python-missing');
+        const resolve = sinon.stub().resolves(createMockEnv(missingPath));
+        const { opts } = createOpts({
+            scope: undefined,
+            getGlobalPersistedPath: sinon.stub().resolves(missingPath),
+            resolve,
+        });
+        const result = await tryFastPathGet(opts);
+
+        assert.strictEqual(result, undefined, 'Should fall through when cached global path is missing');
+        assert.ok(resolve.notCalled, 'Should not invoke resolve (and thus PET) when path is missing');
+        assert.ok(sendTelemetryStub.calledOnce, 'Should send telemetry for stale global cache');
+        const [eventName, , props] = sendTelemetryStub.firstCall.args;
+        assert.strictEqual(eventName, EventNames.GLOBAL_ENV_CACHE);
+        assert.strictEqual(props.result, 'stale');
+    });
+
     test('calls getProjectFsPath with the scope Uri', async () => {
         const scope = Uri.file(path.resolve('my', 'project'));
         const getProjectFsPath = sinon.stub().returns(scope.fsPath);
@@ -214,7 +245,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
     test('passes project fsPath to getPersistedPath', async () => {
         const projectPath = path.resolve('project', 'path');
         const getProjectFsPath = sinon.stub().returns(projectPath);
-        const getPersistedPath = sinon.stub().resolves(path.resolve('persisted'));
+        const getPersistedPath = sinon.stub().resolves(__filename);
         const { opts } = createOpts({
             getProjectFsPath,
             getPersistedPath,
@@ -266,7 +297,7 @@ suite('tryFastPathGet', () => {
         const getPersistedPath = sinon.stub().callsFake(
             () =>
                 new Promise<string | undefined>((resolve) => {
-                    releasePersistedRead = () => resolve(path.resolve('persisted', 'path'));
+                    releasePersistedRead = () => resolve(__filename);
                 }),
         );
         const { opts, setInitialized } = createOpts({ getPersistedPath });
diff --git a/src/test/managers/fastPath.get.unit.test.ts b/src/test/managers/fastPath.get.unit.test.ts
index 5ad62c74..62a48a88 100644
--- a/src/test/managers/fastPath.get.unit.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/managers/fastPath.get.unit.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
 import * as assert from 'assert';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import { Uri } from 'vscode';
@@ -284,6 +285,9 @@ suite('Manager get() fast path', () => {
     setup(() => {
         sandbox = sinon.createSandbox();
         sandbox.stub(windowApis, 'withProgress').callsFake((_opts, cb) => cb(undefined as never, undefined as never));
+        // fastPath.ts now does a real fs.access on the persisted path; these tests use
+        // synthetic paths that don't exist on disk, so pretend every path is present.
+        sandbox.stub(fs.promises, 'access').resolves();
     });
 
     teardown(() => {