diff --git a/internal/config/client_helpers_test.go b/internal/config/client_helpers_test.go
index e414a05..18b6a28 100644
--- a/internal/config/client_helpers_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/client_helpers_test.go
@@ -77,3 +77,45 @@ func TestCreateConfigHelpersNormalizeHosts(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected default port on host built from fields, got %q", fromFields.Host)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestStripDefaultPort(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		host        string
+		defaultPort string
+		want        string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "removes default PVE port",
+			host:        "https://pve.local:8006",
+			defaultPort: defaultPVEPort,
+			want:        "https://pve.local",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "keeps non-default port",
+			host:        "https://pve.local:8443",
+			defaultPort: defaultPVEPort,
+			want:        "https://pve.local:8443",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "preserves http scheme when removing port",
+			host:        "http://pve.local:8006",
+			defaultPort: defaultPVEPort,
+			want:        "http://pve.local",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "returns trimmed host unchanged when parse fails",
+			host:        "://bad",
+			defaultPort: defaultPVEPort,
+			want:        "://bad",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := StripDefaultPort(tt.host, tt.defaultPort); got != tt.want {
+				t.Fatalf("StripDefaultPort(%q, %q) = %q, want %q", tt.host, tt.defaultPort, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/monitoring/monitor.go b/internal/monitoring/monitor.go
index c0cd442..cd00dfd 100644
--- a/internal/monitoring/monitor.go
+++ b/internal/monitoring/monitor.go
@@ -5526,12 +5526,40 @@ func (m *Monitor) retryPVEPortFallback(ctx context.Context, instanceName string,
 
 	// Switch to the working host for the remainder of the poll (and future polls)
 	primaryHost := instanceCfg.Host
-	instanceCfg.Host = fallbackHost
+
+	// Persist with an explicit port to avoid re-normalization back to :8006 on reloads.
+	persistHost := fallbackHost
+	if parsed, err := url.Parse(fallbackHost); err == nil && parsed.Host != "" && parsed.Port() == "" {
+		port := "443"
+		if strings.EqualFold(parsed.Scheme, "http") {
+			port = "80"
+		}
+		parsed.Host = net.JoinHostPort(parsed.Hostname(), port)
+		persistHost = parsed.Scheme + "://" + parsed.Host
+	}
+
+	instanceCfg.Host = persistHost
 	m.pveClients[instanceName] = fallbackClient
+
+	// Update in-memory config so subsequent polls build clients against the working port.
+	for i := range m.config.PVEInstances {
+		if m.config.PVEInstances[i].Name == instanceName {
+			m.config.PVEInstances[i].Host = persistHost
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Persist to disk so restarts keep the working endpoint.
+	if m.persistence != nil {
+		if err := m.persistence.SaveNodesConfig(m.config.PVEInstances, m.config.PBSInstances, m.config.PMGInstances); err != nil {
+			log.Warn().Err(err).Str("instance", instanceName).Msg("Failed to persist fallback PVE host")
+		}
+	}
+
 	log.Warn().
 		Str("instance", instanceName).
 		Str("primary", primaryHost).
-		Str("fallback", fallbackHost).
+		Str("fallback", persistHost).
 		Msg("Primary PVE host failed; using fallback without default port")
 
 	return fallbackNodes, fallbackClient, nil