diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
index 2dcd7dcc..2afc21c4 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
@@ -870,6 +870,9 @@ impl NvencCudaEncoder {
                 e,
             ));
         }
+        // The handshake with the kernel module just succeeded — from here on, an
+        // `NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION` in this process cannot be a driver version skew.
+        nvenc_status::note_session_opened();
         let wmax = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_WIDTH_MAX);
         let hmax = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_HEIGHT_MAX);
         let yuv444 = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_SUPPORT_YUV444_ENCODE);
@@ -1067,6 +1070,7 @@ impl NvencCudaEncoder {
             }
             return Err(nvenc_status::call_err("open_encode_session_ex", e));
         }
+        nvenc_status::note_session_opened();
 
         let mut cfg = match self.build_config(enc, bitrate) {
             Ok(cfg) => cfg,
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/nvenc_status.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/nvenc_status.rs
index 367d999f..b7344c08 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/nvenc_status.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/nvenc_status.rs
@@ -8,27 +8,77 @@
 //! means and what the operator should do, and folds that cause into the `anyhow::Error` at
 //! construction, so every downstream `{e:#}` log (the encode-recovery loop, session teardown) says
 //! the useful thing without extra plumbing.
+//!
+//! One status needs process state to explain honestly: the driver reports BOTH "your headers are
+//! newer than my kernel module" and "I can no longer hand this process a session" as
+//! `NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION`. [`note_session_opened`] latches the fact that a session already
+//! opened here, which tells the two apart — see [`explain`].
+
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
 
 use nvidia_video_codec_sdk::sys::nvEncodeAPI as nv;
 
+/// Latched the first time `nvEncOpenEncodeSessionEx` succeeds in this process (the caps probe, a
+/// real session open, or the Windows availability probe — every one of them completes the
+/// userspace↔kernel-module handshake).
+///
+/// The load-time gate (`NvEncodeAPIGetMaxSupportedVersion`, both backends' `load_api`) can NOT
+/// serve this purpose: it is a pure userspace query, so the genuine "updated the driver, didn't
+/// reboot" skew sails through it and fails later, at the open. Only a session that actually opened
+/// proves the kernel module agreed.
+static SESSION_OPENED: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);
+
+/// Record that an NVENC session opened. Call right after every successful
+/// `open_encode_session_ex`, so [`explain`] can rule a version skew out for the rest of the
+/// process.
+pub(super) fn note_session_opened() {
+    SESSION_OPENED.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+}
+
+/// The two very different failures the driver reports as `NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION`, split on
+/// whether a session has already opened here (`session_opened`). Pure, so both halves are testable
+/// without touching the process-wide latch.
+fn invalid_version(session_opened: bool) -> String {
+    if session_opened {
+        // Same status, opposite cause: a session ALREADY opened in this process, so the driver's
+        // kernel module accepted this exact build's version word minutes ago. A version skew is
+        // static — it cannot come and go — so "update the driver / reboot" is the wrong advice
+        // here, and following it costs the operator a reboot per stream (2026-07 field report: one
+        // stream works, the next fails at the caps probe, forever, until the PROCESS restarts).
+        // What is left is per-process driver state: a resource the last session did not give back,
+        // or a wedged/lost device. Say that, and point at the cheap fix.
+        // Worded for ANY call (`explain` also serves `lock_bitstream`); `call_err` already names
+        // the entry point ahead of this text, so it must not assume the session open.
+        return "this process already opened an NVENC session successfully, so this is NOT a driver \
+                version mismatch — that cannot come and go within a process, and a reboot is not \
+                the fix. The NVIDIA driver state in THIS process is exhausted or wedged: restart \
+                the Punktfunk host service to clear it, and please report this with the host log \
+                so it can be fixed properly"
+            .to_string();
+    }
+    // No session has ever opened here, so the version word really is in question. Either the
+    // driver is genuinely older than our headers, or (the sneaky case) the userspace
+    // `libnvidia-encode` reports a new-enough version to the pre-flight probe but the running
+    // kernel module is older and rejects the session — the classic "updated the driver, didn't
+    // reboot" skew. Both heal the same way.
+    format!(
+        "the NVIDIA driver is older than this build's NVENC headers (needs NVENC API {}.{} or \
+         newer), or the userspace and kernel-module driver versions are mismatched — common right \
+         after a driver update without a reboot. Update the NVIDIA driver, or reboot if you just \
+         updated it (a host restart is the usual fix).",
+        nv::NVENCAPI_MAJOR_VERSION,
+        nv::NVENCAPI_MINOR_VERSION,
+    )
+}
+
 /// A one-line, operator-actionable cause for an NVENC status. Does not repeat the raw code —
 /// callers print that alongside (see [`call_err`]). Public for the few sites that build a
 /// `String`/`format!` error instead of an `anyhow::Error`.
 pub(super) fn explain(status: nv::NVENCSTATUS) -> String {
     match status {
-        // The one this whole module exists for: a version word the driver rejects. Either the
-        // driver is genuinely older than our headers, or (the sneaky case) the userspace
-        // `libnvidia-encode` reports a new-enough version to the pre-flight probe but the running
-        // kernel module is older and rejects the session — the classic "updated the driver, didn't
-        // reboot" skew. Both heal the same way.
-        nv::NVENCSTATUS::NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION => format!(
-            "the NVIDIA driver is older than this build's NVENC headers (needs NVENC API {}.{} or \
-             newer), or the userspace and kernel-module driver versions are mismatched — common \
-             right after a driver update without a reboot. Update the NVIDIA driver, or reboot if \
-             you just updated it (a host restart is the usual fix).",
-            nv::NVENCAPI_MAJOR_VERSION,
-            nv::NVENCAPI_MINOR_VERSION,
-        ),
+        nv::NVENCSTATUS::NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION => {
+            invalid_version(SESSION_OPENED.load(Ordering::Relaxed))
+        }
         nv::NVENCSTATUS::NV_ENC_ERR_NO_ENCODE_DEVICE => {
             "this GPU exposes no usable NVENC engine — it has no hardware video encoder, or NVENC is \
              disabled on this card"
@@ -110,3 +160,49 @@ pub(super) fn is_param_rejection(err: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
 pub(super) fn call_err(call: &str, status: nv::NVENCSTATUS) -> anyhow::Error {
     anyhow::Error::new(NvCallError(status)).context(format!("NVENC {call} failed"))
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// Before any session has opened, the version word IS in question — keep the skew advice.
+    #[test]
+    fn invalid_version_before_any_session_blames_the_driver_version() {
+        let msg = invalid_version(false);
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("older than this build's NVENC headers"),
+            "{msg}"
+        );
+        assert!(msg.contains("reboot if you just updated it"), "{msg}");
+    }
+
+    /// Once a session has opened here, a skew is impossible — the message must stop sending
+    /// operators to reboot (2026-07 field report: one stream per boot, forever).
+    #[test]
+    fn invalid_version_after_a_session_blames_process_state_not_the_driver() {
+        let msg = invalid_version(true);
+        assert!(msg.contains("NOT a driver version mismatch"), "{msg}");
+        assert!(msg.contains("restart the Punktfunk host service"), "{msg}");
+        assert!(
+            !msg.contains("older than this build's NVENC headers"),
+            "must not repeat the version-skew advice: {msg}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !msg.contains("Update the NVIDIA driver"),
+            "must not tell the operator to update a driver that just worked: {msg}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The latch is one-way and only touches this status.
+    #[test]
+    fn note_session_opened_latches() {
+        note_session_opened();
+        assert!(SESSION_OPENED.load(Ordering::Relaxed));
+        note_session_opened();
+        assert!(SESSION_OPENED.load(Ordering::Relaxed));
+        assert_eq!(
+            explain(nv::NVENCSTATUS::NV_ENC_ERR_OUT_OF_MEMORY),
+            "the GPU is out of memory"
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
index 8c84c0b8..82083af2 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
@@ -642,6 +642,9 @@ impl NvencD3d11Encoder {
                 e,
             ));
         }
+        // The handshake with the kernel-mode driver just succeeded — from here on, an
+        // `NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_VERSION` in this process cannot be a driver version skew.
+        nvenc_status::note_session_opened();
         let wmax = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_WIDTH_MAX);
         let hmax = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_HEIGHT_MAX);
         let ten_bit = self.get_cap(enc, nv::NV_ENC_CAPS::NV_ENC_CAPS_SUPPORT_10BIT_ENCODE);
@@ -802,6 +805,7 @@ impl NvencD3d11Encoder {
             }
             return Err(nvenc_status::call_err("open_encode_session_ex", e));
         }
+        nvenc_status::note_session_opened();
 
         let mut cfg = match self.build_config(enc, bitrate) {
             Ok(cfg) => cfg,
@@ -1788,6 +1792,9 @@ fn probe_encode_cap(codec: Codec, cap: nv::NV_ENC_CAPS) -> bool {
             }
             return false;
         }
+        // Availability probe, but a real session open all the same: it proves the driver accepted
+        // this build's version word, which is what rules a skew out later (see `nvenc_status`).
+        nvenc_status::note_session_opened();
         let mut param = nv::NV_ENC_CAPS_PARAM {
             version: nv::NV_ENC_CAPS_PARAM_VER,
             capsToQuery: cap,
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/lib.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/lib.rs
index c51777ae..84f125a6 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/lib.rs
@@ -1488,7 +1488,9 @@ mod nvenc;
 #[path = "enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs"]
 mod nvenc_cuda;
 // Actionable `NVENCSTATUS` → cause mapping shared by both direct-NVENC backends, so a failed
-// session open logs "update/reboot the driver" instead of the old misleading "(no NVIDIA GPU?)".
+// session open names its real cause instead of the old misleading "(no NVIDIA GPU?)" — including
+// splitting the two opposite failures the driver reports as the SAME `INVALID_VERSION` (a genuine
+// driver skew vs. this process's driver state going bad after a session already opened).
 #[cfg(all(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "windows"), feature = "nvenc"))]
 #[path = "enc/nvenc_status.rs"]
 mod nvenc_status;