diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 4e4f65cf0..d3e04eab4 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ Detailed list of changes
 
 - Fix a regression that broke writing to the clipboard using the OSC 5522 protocol (:iss:`7858`)
 
+- macOS: Fix a regression in the previous release that caused kitty to fail to run after an unclean shutdown/crash (:iss:`7846`)
+
 0.36.2 [2024-09-06]
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/kitty/launcher/main.c b/kitty/launcher/main.c
index 9330ef627..f10e40366 100644
--- a/kitty/launcher/main.c
+++ b/kitty/launcher/main.c
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ run_embedded(RunData *run_data) {
 fail:
     PyConfig_Clear(&config);
     if (PyStatus_IsExit(status)) return status.exitcode;
+    single_instance_main(-1, NULL, NULL);
     Py_ExitStatusException(status);
 }
 
@@ -462,5 +463,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[], char* envp[]) {
     if (num < 0 || num >= PATH_MAX) { fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create path to kitty lib\n"); return 1; }
     RunData run_data = {.exe = exe, .exe_dir = exe_dir, .lib_dir = lib, .argc = argc, .argv = argv, .lc_ctype = lc_ctype};
     ret = run_embedded(&run_data);
+    single_instance_main(-1, NULL, NULL);
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/launcher/single-instance.c b/kitty/launcher/single-instance.c
index b43340939..0e06a804c 100644
--- a/kitty/launcher/single-instance.c
+++ b/kitty/launcher/single-instance.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define NO_SINGLE_BYTE_CHARSETS
 #include "../charsets.c"
 
-#define fail_on_errno(msg) { perror(msg); exit(1); }
+#define fail_on_errno(msg) { perror(msg); do_exit(1); }
 
 void
 log_error(const char *fmt, ...) {
@@ -39,6 +39,37 @@ log_error(const char *fmt, ...) {
     va_end(ar);
 }
 
+typedef struct cleanup_data {
+    int fd1, fd2;
+    bool close_fd1, close_fd2;
+    char path1[sizeof(struct sockaddr_un) + 16], path2[sizeof(struct sockaddr_un) + 16];
+} cleanup_data;
+
+struct {
+    cleanup_data si, notify;
+} cleanup_entries = {0};
+
+static void
+do_cleanup(cleanup_data *d) {
+    if (d->path1[0]) unlink(d->path1);
+    if (d->path2[0]) unlink(d->path2);
+    if (d->close_fd1) safe_close(d->fd1, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+    if (d->close_fd2) safe_close(d->fd2, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+}
+
+static void
+cleanup(void) {
+    do_cleanup(&cleanup_entries.notify);
+    do_cleanup(&cleanup_entries.si);
+}
+
+static void
+do_exit(int code) {
+    cleanup();
+    exit(code);
+}
+
+
 #ifndef __APPLE__
 static bool
 is_ok_tmpdir(const char *x) {
@@ -79,11 +110,10 @@ get_socket_dir(char *output, size_t output_capacity) {
 }
 
 static void
-set_single_instance_socket(int fd, const char *socket_path) {
+set_single_instance_socket(int fd) {
     if (listen(fd, 5) != 0) fail_on_errno("Failed to listen on single instance socket");
     char buf[256];
-    if (socket_path && socket_path[0]) snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d:%s", fd, socket_path);
-    else snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d", fd);
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d", fd);
     setenv("KITTY_SI_DATA", buf, 1);
 }
 
@@ -159,8 +189,9 @@ read_till_eof(FILE *f, membuf *m) {
     fclose(f);
 }
 
+
 static bool
-bind_unix_socket(int s, const char *basename, struct sockaddr_un *addr) {
+bind_unix_socket(int s, const char *basename, struct sockaddr_un *addr, cleanup_data *cleanup) {
     addr->sun_family = AF_UNIX;
     const size_t blen = strlen(basename);
     // First try abstract socket
@@ -173,9 +204,28 @@ bind_unix_socket(int s, const char *basename, struct sockaddr_un *addr) {
     const size_t dlen = strlen(addr->sun_path);
     if (snprintf(addr->sun_path + dlen, sizeof(addr->sun_path) - dlen, "/%s", basename) < blen + 1) {
         fprintf(stderr, "Socket directory has path too long for single instance socket file %s\n", addr->sun_path);
-        exit(1);
+        do_exit(1);
+    }
+    // First lock the socket file using a separate lock file
+    char lock_file_path[sizeof(addr->sun_path) + 16];
+    snprintf(lock_file_path, sizeof(lock_file_path), "%s.lock", addr->sun_path);
+    int fd = safe_open(lock_file_path, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC | O_CLOEXEC, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR);
+    if (fd == -1) return false;
+    cleanup->close_fd2 = true; cleanup->fd2 = fd;
+    snprintf(cleanup->path2, sizeof(cleanup->path2), "%s", lock_file_path);
+    if (safe_lockf(fd, F_TLOCK, 0) != 0) {
+        int saved_errno = errno;
+        safe_close(fd, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+        errno = saved_errno;
+        if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EACCES) errno = EADDRINUSE;  // client
+        return false;
+    }
+    // First unlink the socket file and then try to bind it.
+    if (unlink(addr->sun_path) != 0 && errno != ENOENT) return false;
+    if (safe_bind(s, (struct sockaddr*)addr, sizeof(*addr)) > -1) {
+        snprintf(cleanup->path1, sizeof(cleanup->path1), "%s", addr->sun_path);
+        return true;
     }
-    if (safe_bind(s, (struct sockaddr*)addr, sizeof(*addr)) > -1) return true;
     return false;
 }
 
@@ -193,6 +243,7 @@ extern char **environ;
 
 static void
 talk_to_instance(int s, struct sockaddr_un *server_addr, int argc, char *argv[], const CLIOptions *opts) {
+    cleanup_entries.si.path2[0] = 0; cleanup_entries.si.path1[0] = 0;
     membuf session_data = {0};
     if (opts->session && opts->session[0]) {
         if (strcmp(opts->session, "none") == 0) {
@@ -235,10 +286,11 @@ talk_to_instance(int s, struct sockaddr_un *server_addr, int argc, char *argv[],
     int notify_socket = -1;
     if (opts->wait_for_single_instance_window_close) {
         notify_socket = create_unix_socket();
+        cleanup_entries.notify.fd1 = notify_socket; cleanup_entries.notify.close_fd1 = true;
         struct sockaddr_un server_addr;
         char addr[128];
         snprintf(addr, sizeof(addr), "kitty-os-window-close-notify-%d-%d", getpid(), geteuid());
-        if (!bind_unix_socket(notify_socket, addr, &server_addr)) fail_on_errno("Failed to bind notification socket");
+        if (!bind_unix_socket(notify_socket, addr, &server_addr, &cleanup_entries.notify)) fail_on_errno("Failed to bind notification socket");
         size_t len = strlen(server_addr.sun_path);
         if (len == 0) len = 1 + strlen(server_addr.sun_path +1);
         if (listen(notify_socket, 5) != 0) fail_on_errno("Failed to listen on notify socket");
@@ -282,15 +334,17 @@ talk_to_instance(int s, struct sockaddr_un *server_addr, int argc, char *argv[],
 
 void
 single_instance_main(int argc, char *argv[], const CLIOptions *opts) {
+    if (argc == -1) { cleanup(); return; }
     struct sockaddr_un server_addr;
     char addr_buf[sizeof(server_addr.sun_path)-1];
     if (opts->instance_group) snprintf(addr_buf, sizeof(addr_buf), "kitty-ipc-%d-%s", geteuid(), opts->instance_group);
     else snprintf(addr_buf, sizeof(addr_buf), "kitty-ipc-%d", geteuid());
 
     int s = create_unix_socket();
-    if (!bind_unix_socket(s, addr_buf, &server_addr)) {
-        if (errno == EADDRINUSE) { talk_to_instance(s, &server_addr, argc, argv, opts); exit(0); }
+    cleanup_entries.si.fd1 = s; cleanup_entries.si.close_fd1 = true;
+    if (!bind_unix_socket(s, addr_buf, &server_addr, &cleanup_entries.si)) {
+        if (errno == EADDRINUSE) { talk_to_instance(s, &server_addr, argc, argv, opts); do_exit(0); }
         else fail_on_errno("Failed to bind single instance socket");
-    } else set_single_instance_socket(s, server_addr.sun_path);
+    } else set_single_instance_socket(s);
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/main.py b/kitty/main.py
index bb93cec90..71ddeafca 100644
--- a/kitty/main.py
+++ b/kitty/main.py
@@ -485,16 +485,7 @@ def _main() -> None:
     if cli_opts.single_instance:
         si_data = os.environ.pop('KITTY_SI_DATA', '')
         if si_data:
-            import atexit
-            fdnum, sep, socket_path = si_data.partition(':')
-            talk_fd = int(fdnum)
-            def cleanup_si() -> None:
-                with suppress(OSError):
-                    os.close(talk_fd)
-                with suppress(OSError):
-                    if sep and socket_path:
-                        os.unlink(socket_path)
-            atexit.register(cleanup_si)
+            talk_fd = int(si_data)
     bad_lines: list[BadLine] = []
     opts = create_opts(cli_opts, accumulate_bad_lines=bad_lines)
     setup_environment(opts, cli_opts)
diff --git a/kitty/safe-wrappers.h b/kitty/safe-wrappers.h
index 00188aa75..604c5e2ff 100644
--- a/kitty/safe-wrappers.h
+++ b/kitty/safe-wrappers.h
@@ -10,6 +10,16 @@
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+static inline int
+safe_lockf(int fd, int function, off_t size) {
+    while (true) {
+        int ret = lockf(fd, function, size);
+        if (ret != 0 && (errno == EINTR)) continue;
+        return ret;
+    }
+}
 
 static inline int
 safe_connect(int socket_fd, struct sockaddr *addr, socklen_t addrlen) {