diff --git a/src/config/sessions/paths.test.ts b/src/config/sessions/paths.test.ts
index 3ca4cdb9b2..baa45079bf 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions/paths.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions/paths.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,42 @@ describe("session path safety", () => {
     expect(resolved).toBe(path.resolve(sessionsDir, "subdir/threaded-session.jsonl"));
   });
 
+  it("accepts absolute sessionFile paths that resolve within the sessions dir", () => {
+    const sessionsDir = "/tmp/openclaw/agents/main/sessions";
+
+    const resolved = resolveSessionFilePath(
+      "sess-1",
+      { sessionFile: "/tmp/openclaw/agents/main/sessions/abc-123.jsonl" },
+      { sessionsDir },
+    );
+
+    expect(resolved).toBe(path.resolve(sessionsDir, "abc-123.jsonl"));
+  });
+
+  it("accepts absolute sessionFile with topic suffix within the sessions dir", () => {
+    const sessionsDir = "/tmp/openclaw/agents/main/sessions";
+
+    const resolved = resolveSessionFilePath(
+      "sess-1",
+      { sessionFile: "/tmp/openclaw/agents/main/sessions/abc-123-topic-42.jsonl" },
+      { sessionsDir },
+    );
+
+    expect(resolved).toBe(path.resolve(sessionsDir, "abc-123-topic-42.jsonl"));
+  });
+
+  it("rejects absolute sessionFile paths outside the sessions dir", () => {
+    const sessionsDir = "/tmp/openclaw/agents/main/sessions";
+
+    expect(() =>
+      resolveSessionFilePath(
+        "sess-1",
+        { sessionFile: "/tmp/openclaw/agents/work/sessions/abc-123.jsonl" },
+        { sessionsDir },
+      ),
+    ).toThrow(/within sessions directory/);
+  });
+
   it("uses agent sessions dir fallback for transcript path", () => {
     const resolved = resolveSessionTranscriptPath("sess-1", "main");
     expect(resolved.endsWith(path.join("agents", "main", "sessions", "sess-1.jsonl"))).toBe(true);
diff --git a/src/config/sessions/paths.ts b/src/config/sessions/paths.ts
index f123390a55..a630f68c2f 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions/paths.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions/paths.ts
@@ -77,12 +77,14 @@ function resolvePathWithinSessionsDir(sessionsDir: string, candidate: string): s
     throw new Error("Session file path must not be empty");
   }
   const resolvedBase = path.resolve(sessionsDir);
-  const resolvedCandidate = path.resolve(resolvedBase, trimmed);
-  const relative = path.relative(resolvedBase, resolvedCandidate);
-  if (relative.startsWith("..") || path.isAbsolute(relative)) {
+  // Normalize absolute paths that are within the sessions directory.
+  // Older versions stored absolute sessionFile paths in sessions.json;
+  // convert them to relative so the containment check passes.
+  const normalized = path.isAbsolute(trimmed) ? path.relative(resolvedBase, trimmed) : trimmed;
+  if (!normalized || normalized.startsWith("..") || path.isAbsolute(normalized)) {
     throw new Error("Session file path must be within sessions directory");
   }
-  return resolvedCandidate;
+  return path.resolve(resolvedBase, normalized);
 }
 
 export function resolveSessionTranscriptPathInDir(