diff --git a/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c b/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c
index 376a082d51..1054c32184 100644
--- a/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c
+++ b/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c
@@ -643,6 +643,55 @@ can_use_shortcut (char **argv)
   return ret;
 }
 
+/* Best-effort check: read /proc/<pid>/environ and look for _PODMAN_PAUSE=1.
+   Returns 1 if found, 0 if not found or on any error.  */
+static int
+is_pause_process (long pid)
+{
+  cleanup_free char *environ_path = NULL;
+  cleanup_free char *buf = NULL;
+  cleanup_close int fd = -1;
+  const size_t buf_size = 4096;
+  ssize_t n;
+
+  if (asprintf (&environ_path, "/proc/%ld/environ", pid) < 0)
+    return 0;
+
+  buf = malloc (buf_size);
+  if (buf == NULL)
+    return 0;
+
+  fd = open (environ_path, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+  if (fd < 0)
+    return 0;
+
+  /* Read in chunks and search for the null-delimited key=value entry.  */
+  n = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (read (fd, buf, buf_size));
+  if (n <= 0)
+    return 0;
+
+  /* environ entries are separated by '\0'.  Search for "_PODMAN_PAUSE=1".  */
+  for (char *p = buf; p < buf + n; )
+    {
+      if (strcmp (p, "_PODMAN_PAUSE=1") == 0)
+        return 1;
+      p += strlen (p) + 1;
+    }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/* If the process referred to by pause.pid is not actually a pause process,
+   it means the PID was recycled.  Warn the user and remove the stale file.  */
+static void
+check_stale_pause_pid (long pid, const char *path)
+{
+  if (!is_pause_process (pid))
+    {
+      fprintf (stderr, "pause.pid file refers to PID %ld which is not a pause process, the process may have exited and the PID been recycled. Removing %s\n", pid, path);
+      unlink (path);
+    }
+}
+
 static int
 open_namespace (int pid_to_join, const char *ns_file)
 {
@@ -842,14 +891,23 @@ static void __attribute__((constructor)) init()
 
       userns_fd = open_namespace (pid, "user");
       if (userns_fd < 0)
-        return;
+        {
+          check_stale_pause_pid (pid, path);
+          return;
+        }
 
       mntns_fd = open_namespace (pid, "mnt");
       if (mntns_fd < 0)
-        return;
+        {
+          check_stale_pause_pid (pid, path);
+          return;
+        }
 
       if (setns (userns_fd, 0) < 0)
-        return;
+        {
+          check_stale_pause_pid (pid, path);
+          return;
+        }
 
       /* This is a fatal error we can't recover from since we have already joined the userns.  */
       join_namespace_or_die ("mnt", mntns_fd);
diff --git a/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.go b/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.go
index 8560b88632..cdbfdb5bfd 100644
--- a/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.go
@@ -422,6 +422,21 @@ func BecomeRootInUserNS(stateDir string) (bool, int, error) {
 	return becomeRootInUserNS(stateDir)
 }
 
+// isPauseProcess checks if the given PID has _PODMAN_PAUSE=1 in its environment.
+// It is a best-effort check; any errors are silently ignored and it returns false.
+func isPauseProcess(pid int) bool {
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(fmt.Sprintf("/proc/%d/environ", pid))
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, entry := range bytes.Split(data, []byte{0}) {
+		if string(entry) == "_PODMAN_PAUSE=1" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // TryJoinFromFilePaths attempts to join the namespaces of the pid files in paths.
 // This is useful when there are already running containers and we
 // don't have a pause process yet.  We can use the paths to the conmon
@@ -447,6 +462,12 @@ func TryJoinFromFilePaths(stateDir string, paths []string) (bool, int, error) {
 			if err == nil {
 				return joined, ret, nil
 			}
+			if !isPauseProcess(pid) {
+				logrus.Warningf("pause.pid file refers to PID %d which is not a pause process, the process may have exited and the PID been recycled. Removing %s", pid, path)
+				os.Remove(path)
+				lastErr = err
+				continue
+			}
 			lastErr = err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/test/system/550-pause-process.bats b/test/system/550-pause-process.bats
index 0fbf1b4f32..43e73bbab2 100644
--- a/test/system/550-pause-process.bats
+++ b/test/system/550-pause-process.bats
@@ -149,6 +149,37 @@ function _check_pause_process() {
     run_podman rm -f -t0 $cname1
 }
 
+# Test that podman detects and recovers from a stale pause.pid with a recycled PID
+@test "rootless podman recovers from stale pause.pid with recycled PID" {
+    skip_if_not_rootless "pause process is only used as rootless"
+    skip_if_remote "system migrate not supported via remote"
+
+    run_podman info
+
+    _check_pause_process
+
+    if [ -e $ns_handles_file ]; then
+        skip "ns_handles in use, not pause.pid"
+    fi
+
+    kill -9 $pause_pid
+
+    sleep 99999 &
+    local fake_pid=$!
+
+    echo -n $fake_pid > $pause_pid_file
+
+    run_podman info
+    assert "$output" =~ "pause.pid file refers to PID $fake_pid which is not a pause process" \
+           "podman should report stale pause.pid"
+    assert "$output" =~ "Removing.*pause.pid" \
+           "podman should report removing the stale pause.pid file"
+
+    kill $fake_pid 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    _check_pause_process
+}
+
 # regression test for https://issues.redhat.com/browse/RHEL-59620
 @test "rootless userns can unmount netns properly" {
     skip_if_not_rootless "pause process is only used as rootless"