diff --git a/Sources/ExpanderEngine/Voice/Recognition/WhisperServerSetup.swift b/Sources/ExpanderEngine/Voice/Recognition/WhisperServerSetup.swift
index a0b4773..0f74511 100644
--- a/Sources/ExpanderEngine/Voice/Recognition/WhisperServerSetup.swift
+++ b/Sources/ExpanderEngine/Voice/Recognition/WhisperServerSetup.swift
@@ -126,8 +126,18 @@ public enum WhisperServerSetup {
     /// The stock server exposes a GET page at its request-path root; it does not provide a
     /// `/health` route. For the default `/inference` endpoint this is `/`, while a custom
     /// endpoint such as `/api/inference` is probed at `/api/`.
+    ///
+    /// The parent path is computed here rather than with `URL.deletingLastPathComponent()`:
+    /// on macOS 14 that call turns a root path `/` into `/../`, so the probe for a spawned
+    /// child (`http://127.0.0.1:<port>/`) left the root it is bound to.
     static func readinessProbeURL(for endpoint: URL) -> URL {
-        endpoint.deletingLastPathComponent()
+        guard var components = URLComponents(url: endpoint, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false) else {
+            return endpoint
+        }
+        var segments = components.percentEncodedPath.split(separator: "/")
+        if !segments.isEmpty { segments.removeLast() }
+        components.percentEncodedPath = segments.isEmpty ? "/" : "/" + segments.joined(separator: "/") + "/"
+        return components.url ?? endpoint
     }
 
     /// Readiness URL for a `whisper-server` this controller has just spawned.
diff --git a/Tests/DevTypeAppTests/UIPerformanceReuseTests.swift b/Tests/DevTypeAppTests/UIPerformanceReuseTests.swift
index d405fcb..b796f19 100644
--- a/Tests/DevTypeAppTests/UIPerformanceReuseTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/DevTypeAppTests/UIPerformanceReuseTests.swift
@@ -50,7 +50,12 @@ final class UIPerformanceReuseTests: XCTestCase {
 
         XCTAssertEqual(prefs.reloadAllCount, 1, "viewDidLoad, viewWillAppear and show() each reloaded")
         // The tab selected on open is populated by being built, then left alone by the pass.
-        XCTAssertEqual(prefs.paneReloadCounts[.ai], 1, "first AI presentation reloaded twice")
+        // Before macOS 26 the AI tab is hidden and `select(.ai)` presents General instead.
+        let presented: PreferencesTab = PreferencesTab.visibleCases.contains(.ai) ? .ai : .general
+        XCTAssertEqual(prefs.paneReloadCounts[presented], 1, "first \(presented) presentation reloaded twice")
+        if presented != .ai {
+            XCTAssertNil(prefs.paneReloadCounts[.ai], "a hidden AI tab must not be built or read")
+        }
     }
 
     func testFirstAdvancedPresentationDoesNotReloadTwice() throws {
diff --git a/Tests/ExpanderEngineTests/WhisperServerSetupTests.swift b/Tests/ExpanderEngineTests/WhisperServerSetupTests.swift
index d3330ad..6b34c3e 100644
--- a/Tests/ExpanderEngineTests/WhisperServerSetupTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/ExpanderEngineTests/WhisperServerSetupTests.swift
@@ -178,6 +178,27 @@ final class WhisperServerSetupTests: XCTestCase {
         )
     }
 
+    /// The probe path is computed, not left to `deletingLastPathComponent`, whose answer for a
+    /// root or empty path differs by OS (macOS 14 turns `/` into `/../`). Every shape lands
+    /// on an explicit request-path root and keeps host, port and percent-encoding.
+    func testReadinessProbeIsAnExplicitRootForEveryPathShape() {
+        let cases: [(String, String)] = [
+            ("http://127.0.0.1:8080", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/"),
+            ("http://127.0.0.1:8080/", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/"),
+            ("http://127.0.0.1:8080//", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/"),
+            ("http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/inference/", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/"),
+            ("http://127.0.0.1:8080/a%20b/inference", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/a%20b/"),
+            ("http://[::1]:9090/inference", "http://[::1]:9090/")
+        ]
+        for (endpoint, expected) in cases {
+            XCTAssertEqual(
+                WhisperServerSetup.readinessProbeURL(for: URL(string: endpoint)!).absoluteString,
+                expected,
+                endpoint
+            )
+        }
+    }
+
     /// The spawned child is bound to 127.0.0.1 even when the saved endpoint says localhost or ::1.
     func testSpawnedChildProbeURLUsesTheBoundLoopbackAddress() {
         XCTAssertEqual(