diff --git a/scripts/container-doctor.sh b/scripts/container-doctor.sh
index 456cc08d..d9768e6a 100755
--- a/scripts/container-doctor.sh
+++ b/scripts/container-doctor.sh
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ fix_orphaned_conmon() {
         return 1
     fi
 
+    # Doctor runs as root but containers are rootless under archipelago user.
+    # Must check container existence using the rootless podman database.
+    local PODMANCMD="sudo -u archipelago XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 podman"
+
     for pid in $pids; do
         # Extract container ID from conmon args
         local cid
@@ -77,8 +81,8 @@ fix_orphaned_conmon() {
         if [ -z "$cid" ]; then
             continue
         fi
-        # Check if container still exists
-        if ! podman inspect "$cid" &>/dev/null; then
+        # Check if container still exists in rootless podman
+        if ! $PODMANCMD inspect "$cid" &>/dev/null; then
             local port_info
             port_info=$(ss -tlnp 2>/dev/null | grep "pid=$pid" | grep -oP ':\K\d+' | head -3 | tr '\n' ',' | sed 's/,$//')
             log "Killing orphaned conmon pid=$pid (ports: ${port_info:-none})"