diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/bin/node-setup-common.sh b/ui/desktop/src/bin/node-setup-common.sh
index 97c3551d5ac0..16eee6854714 100755
--- a/ui/desktop/src/bin/node-setup-common.sh
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/bin/node-setup-common.sh
@@ -57,9 +57,39 @@ log "Updated PATH to include ~/.config/goose/mcp-hermit/bin."
 log "Checking for hermit in PATH."
 which hermit >> "$LOG_FILE"
 
-# Initialize hermit
-log "Initializing hermit."
-hermit init >> "$LOG_FILE"
+# Check if hermit environment is already initialized (only run init on first setup)
+if [ ! -f bin/activate-hermit ]; then
+    log "Hermit environment not yet initialized. Setting up hermit."
+
+    # Fix hermit self-update lock issues on Linux by using temp binary for init only
+    if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]]; then
+        log "Creating temp dir with bin subdirectory for hermit copy to avoid self-update locks."
+        HERMIT_TMP_DIR="/tmp/hermit_tmp_$$/bin"
+        mkdir -p "$HERMIT_TMP_DIR"
+        cp ~/.config/goose/mcp-hermit/bin/hermit "$HERMIT_TMP_DIR/hermit"
+        chmod +x "$HERMIT_TMP_DIR/hermit"
+        export PATH="$HERMIT_TMP_DIR:$PATH"
+        HERMIT_CLEANUP_DIR="/tmp/hermit_tmp_$$"
+    fi
+
+    # Initialize hermit
+    log "Initializing hermit."
+    hermit init >> "$LOG_FILE"
+
+    # Clean up temp dir if it was created
+    if [[ -n "${HERMIT_CLEANUP_DIR:-}" ]]; then
+        log "Cleaning up temporary hermit binary directory."
+        rm -rf "$HERMIT_CLEANUP_DIR"
+    fi
+else
+    log "Hermit environment already initialized. Skipping init."
+fi
+
+# Activate the environment with output redirected to log
+if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]]; then
+    log "Activating hermit environment."
+    { . bin/activate-hermit; } >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1
+fi
 
 # Install Node.js using hermit
 log "Installing Node.js with hermit."