diff --git a/bin/emu b/bin/emu
index 1392220..3dc1a59 100755
--- a/bin/emu
+++ b/bin/emu
@@ -66,8 +66,12 @@ cmd_list() {
         # line, so this cannot match the shell running it: that shell's
         # command line contains this pattern, and a `ps | awk` that matches
         # itself reports the size of the shell.
+        # Whole argument rather than a prefix, for the reason `cmd_up`
+        # gives: with both up, a substring match reported ai-app-2's size
+        # against ai-app, which is a number that looks entirely plausible.
         rss=$(ps -eo rss=,comm=,args= |
-            awk -v want="-avd $name" '$2 ~ /^qemu-system/ && index($0, want) {print int($1/1024); exit}')
+            awk -v want="-avd $name" '$2 ~ /^qemu-system/ &&
+                match($0, want "([[:space:]]|$)") {print int($1/1024); exit}')
         printf '  %-16s %-24s %s\n' "$serial" "$name" "${rss:+$rss MB}"
     done < <(running_avds "$adb")
     [ "$found" = true ] || echo "  (none attached)"
@@ -206,7 +210,15 @@ cmd_up() {
     # A stray process for this AVD that never registered with adb. The
     # bracketed first character keeps the pattern from matching the shell
     # running this script, which would kill it mid-flight.
-    pkill -f "[e]mulator.*-avd $avd" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    #
+    # The trailing boundary is the other half, and it is not decoration: an
+    # AVD name is a *prefix* of every longer one, so `-avd ai-app` matched
+    # `-avd ai-app-2` and starting one checkout's emulator silently killed
+    # another checkout's. That is the exact interference this whole tool
+    # exists to prevent, and it looked from the other side like an emulator
+    # dying on its own -- twice, on 2026-08-31, before the pattern was the
+    # suspect. Match the name as a whole argument, never as a prefix.
+    pkill -f "[e]mulator.*-avd $avd([[:space:]]|\$)" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
     log="/tmp/$avd-emulator.log"
     rm -f "$log"