diff --git a/bin/omarchy-hyprland-reload-guard b/bin/omarchy-hyprland-reload-guard
index 6110ceda..218da79e 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-hyprland-reload-guard
+++ b/bin/omarchy-hyprland-reload-guard
@@ -16,81 +16,54 @@ esac
 
 run_root="${OMARCHY_HYPRLAND_RELOAD_GUARD_RUN_ROOT:-/run/user}"
 state_dir="${OMARCHY_HYPRLAND_RELOAD_GUARD_STATE_DIR:-/run/omarchy/hyprland-reload-guard}"
-hyprctl_bin="${HYPRCTL:-}"
-
-if [[ -z $hyprctl_bin ]]; then
-  hyprctl_bin=/usr/bin/hyprctl
-  [[ -x $hyprctl_bin ]] || hyprctl_bin=$(command -v hyprctl || true)
-fi
-[[ -n $hyprctl_bin && -x $hyprctl_bin ]] || exit 0
+hyprctl_bin="${HYPRCTL:-/usr/bin/hyprctl}"
 
 hyprctl_instance() {
   local runtime_dir="$1"
   local signature="$2"
   shift 2
 
-  XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$runtime_dir" \
-    HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE="$signature" \
-    "$hyprctl_bin" --instance "$signature" "$@"
+  XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$runtime_dir" "$hyprctl_bin" --instance "$signature" "$@"
 }
 
 option_bool() {
   local runtime_dir="$1"
   local signature="$2"
   local option="$3"
-  local output=""
 
-  output=$(hyprctl_instance "$runtime_dir" "$signature" -j getoption "$option" 2>/dev/null) || return 1
-
-  if command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    jq -r 'if .bool == true then "true" else "false" end' <<<"$output"
-  elif [[ $output == *'"bool": true'* ]]; then
-    printf 'true\n'
-  else
-    printf 'false\n'
-  fi
+  hyprctl_instance "$runtime_dir" "$signature" -j getoption "$option" 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.bool'
 }
 
 instances() {
+  local instance_dir signature hypr_dir runtime_dir uid
+
   [[ -d $run_root ]] || return 0
 
-  find "$run_root" -mindepth 3 -maxdepth 3 -type d -path "$run_root/*/hypr/*" -print 2>/dev/null |
-    while IFS= read -r instance_dir; do
-      local signature hypr_dir runtime_dir uid
+  for instance_dir in "$run_root"/*/hypr/*; do
+    [[ -d $instance_dir ]] || continue
 
-      signature="${instance_dir##*/}"
-      hypr_dir="${instance_dir%/*}"
-      runtime_dir="${hypr_dir%/*}"
-      uid="${runtime_dir##*/}"
+    signature="${instance_dir##*/}"
+    hypr_dir="${instance_dir%/*}"
+    runtime_dir="${hypr_dir%/*}"
+    uid="${runtime_dir##*/}"
 
-      [[ $uid =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || continue
-      [[ -n $signature ]] || continue
+    [[ $uid =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || continue
 
-      printf '%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$runtime_dir" "$uid" "$signature"
-    done
-}
-
-state_file_for() {
-  local signature="$1"
-
-  printf '%s/%s\n' "$state_dir" "$signature"
+    printf '%s\t%s\n' "$runtime_dir" "$signature"
+  done
 }
 
 pause_instance() {
   local runtime_dir="$1"
-  local uid="$2"
-  local signature="$3"
-  local disable_autoreload suppress_errors state_file
+  local signature="$2"
+  local disable_autoreload suppress_errors state_file="$state_dir/$signature"
 
   mkdir -p "$state_dir"
-  state_file=$(state_file_for "$signature")
 
   if [[ ! -f $state_file ]]; then
     disable_autoreload=$(option_bool "$runtime_dir" "$signature" misc.disable_autoreload) || return 0
     suppress_errors=$(option_bool "$runtime_dir" "$signature" debug.suppress_errors) || return 0
-
-    printf '%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$uid" "$disable_autoreload" "$suppress_errors" >"$state_file"
-    chmod 0600 "$state_file" 2>/dev/null || true
+    printf '%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$runtime_dir" "$disable_autoreload" "$suppress_errors" >"$state_file"
   fi
 
   hyprctl_instance "$runtime_dir" "$signature" eval \
@@ -100,11 +73,10 @@ pause_instance() {
 
 resume_instance() {
   local state_file="$1"
-  local signature uid disable_autoreload suppress_errors runtime_dir
+  local signature="${state_file##*/}"
+  local runtime_dir disable_autoreload suppress_errors
 
-  signature="${state_file##*/}"
-  IFS=$'\t' read -r uid disable_autoreload suppress_errors <"$state_file" || return 0
-  runtime_dir="$run_root/$uid"
+  IFS=$'\t' read -r runtime_dir disable_autoreload suppress_errors <"$state_file" || return 0
 
   if [[ -d $runtime_dir ]]; then
     hyprctl_instance "$runtime_dir" "$signature" eval \
@@ -123,16 +95,16 @@ resume_instance() {
 
 case "$command" in
   pause)
-    while IFS=$'\t' read -r runtime_dir uid signature; do
-      pause_instance "$runtime_dir" "$uid" "$signature"
+    while IFS=$'\t' read -r runtime_dir signature; do
+      pause_instance "$runtime_dir" "$signature"
     done < <(instances)
     ;;
   resume)
     [[ -d $state_dir ]] || exit 0
-    find "$state_dir" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -print 2>/dev/null |
-      while IFS= read -r state_file; do
-        resume_instance "$state_file"
-      done
+    for state_file in "$state_dir"/*; do
+      [[ -f $state_file ]] || continue
+      resume_instance "$state_file"
+    done
     rmdir "$state_dir" 2>/dev/null || true
     ;;
 esac
diff --git a/test/shell.d/hyprland-reload-guard-test.sh b/test/shell.d/hyprland-reload-guard-test.sh
index 6effb703..6d8ccb12 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/hyprland-reload-guard-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/hyprland-reload-guard-test.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ mkdir -p "$runtime_dir/hypr/$signature"
 cat >"$fake_hyprctl" <<'BASH'
 #!/bin/bash
 
-printf '%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" "$HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE" "$*" >>"$FAKE_HYPRCTL_LOG"
+printf '%s\t%s\n' "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" "$*" >>"$FAKE_HYPRCTL_LOG"
 
 case "$*" in
   *'getoption misc.disable_autoreload'*)
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ FAKE_HYPRCTL_LOG="$hyprctl_log" \
 
 state_file="$state_dir/$signature"
 [[ -f $state_file ]] || fail "reload guard stores Hyprland state on pause"
-grep -Fx $'1000	false	false' "$state_file" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard records previous Hyprland reload settings"
+expected_state=$(printf '%s\tfalse\tfalse' "$runtime_dir")
+grep -Fx "$expected_state" "$state_file" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard records previous Hyprland reload settings"
 grep -F 'hl.config({ misc = { disable_autoreload = true }, debug = { suppress_errors = true } })' "$hyprctl_log" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard pauses autoreload with hyprctl eval"
 pass "reload guard pauses live Hyprland reloads"
 
@@ -55,6 +56,6 @@ FAKE_HYPRCTL_LOG="$hyprctl_log" \
   "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-hyprland-reload-guard" resume
 
 [[ ! -e $state_file ]] || fail "reload guard clears Hyprland state after resume"
-grep -F $'test-signature	--instance test-signature reload' "$hyprctl_log" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard forces one Hyprland reload after package transaction"
+grep -F -- '--instance test-signature reload' "$hyprctl_log" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard forces one Hyprland reload after package transaction"
 grep -F 'hl.config({ misc = { disable_autoreload = false }, debug = { suppress_errors = false } })' "$hyprctl_log" >/dev/null || fail "reload guard restores previous Hyprland reload settings"
 pass "reload guard resumes live Hyprland reloads"