diff --git a/scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh b/scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh
index 423ef36..f1f5eb9 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh
@@ -336,21 +336,21 @@ install_client_helm() {
   # decide. The same clientId is a normal re-run/upgrade and passes through.
   # Check ANY namespace: a fresh install lands in `tracebloc`, but an install
   # from an older installer version may be in a different namespace. Enumerate
-  # client-chart releases and read each clientId. jq is already used elsewhere
-  # in the installer; if it's somehow absent, fall back to the `tracebloc` ns.
+  # client-chart releases WITHOUT jq — jq is not a guaranteed prerequisite here,
+  # and a jq-only enumeration whose fallback checked a single namespace would miss
+  # an older release under the fixed `tracebloc` namespace once the minted slug
+  # differs, forking a second release. helm's NAME/NAMESPACE are the first two
+  # columns and never contain whitespace, and the CHART column matches
+  # `client-<ver>` — the same jq-free parse _chart_version uses.
   local existing_id="" existing_ns="" _gvf _rel _ns _id
   _gvf="$(mktemp)"
-  if has jq; then
-    while IFS=$'\t' read -r _rel _ns; do
-      [[ -z "$_rel" ]] && continue
-      if helm get values "$_rel" -n "$_ns" > "$_gvf" 2>/dev/null; then
-        _id="$(_extract_yaml_value "$_gvf" clientId)"
-        [[ -n "$_id" ]] && { existing_id="$_id"; existing_ns="$_ns"; break; }
-      fi
-    done < <(helm list -A -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | select((.chart // "") | startswith("client-")) | "\(.name)\t\(.namespace)"')
-  elif helm get values "$TB_NAMESPACE" -n "$TB_NAMESPACE" > "$_gvf" 2>/dev/null; then
-    existing_id="$(_extract_yaml_value "$_gvf" clientId)"; existing_ns="$TB_NAMESPACE"
-  fi
+  while read -r _rel _ns; do
+    [[ -z "$_rel" ]] && continue
+    if helm get values "$_rel" -n "$_ns" > "$_gvf" 2>/dev/null; then
+      _id="$(_extract_yaml_value "$_gvf" clientId)"
+      [[ -n "$_id" ]] && { existing_id="$_id"; existing_ns="$_ns"; break; }
+    fi
+  done < <(helm list -A 2>/dev/null | awk '/[[:space:]]client-[0-9]/ { print $1, $2 }')
   rm -f "$_gvf"
   if [[ -n "$existing_id" && "$existing_id" != "$TB_CLIENT_ID" ]]; then
     echo ""
diff --git a/scripts/manifest.sha256 b/scripts/manifest.sha256
index e3886c5..f82394a 100644
--- a/scripts/manifest.sha256
+++ b/scripts/manifest.sha256
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ fd8d37d698c242ab081095625aa430bb91971db646e35393a02bbadd41325898  scripts/lib/gp
 2e64a2c47bdd14c861f8b5e86b06d1dfe4eb349ea6f76d9d22ecf3bb1ec12e04  scripts/lib/setup-linux.sh
 dd2e1f517b0f6bb665eacebfb7885c6a81443f69c2ebc772433a6baed53c7a8e  scripts/lib/cluster.sh
 5de1afac8b1062a7f8d0691b46ad39ccdc2287e0e422b53c48628ecfd47d852e  scripts/lib/gpu-plugins.sh
-b469e666eb1c0c90c46540f5242456ddcc0bd7bca372cef0fcb8e8390ab94c84  scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh
+a9ce18716756c113b750edcc45cca894bde81d234a4320cfb4655a266bdb070b  scripts/lib/install-client-helm.sh
 c5e0ed7aab268c91a131f09d753998cd5a2836a315b8d51428926f82387ad632  scripts/lib/install-cli.sh
 d596c1f048cf9b40d5d4aaf57aca3846fa21af9a5ac083fb7e507fb6b78a8790  scripts/lib/provision.sh
 58bd83c06ca16e1d9346700a3f6bcafc67f20130f0bc1f160d2faedab19fd2cf  scripts/lib/summary.sh
diff --git a/scripts/tests/install-client-helm.bats b/scripts/tests/install-client-helm.bats
index f2026c6..b6a25d0 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/install-client-helm.bats
+++ b/scripts/tests/install-client-helm.bats
@@ -314,7 +314,11 @@ setup() {
   _ensure_helm_runnable() { :; }
   # an existing release reports a different clientId -> must block before upgrade
   helm() {
-    if [ "$1" = list ]; then echo '[{"name":"oldrel","namespace":"default","chart":"client-1.4.3"}]'; return 0; fi
+    if [ "$1" = list ]; then
+      printf '%s\n' 'NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION' \
+                    'oldrel default 1 2026-01-01 deployed client-1.4.3 1.4.3'
+      return 0
+    fi
     if [ "$1" = get ] && [ "$2" = values ]; then echo 'clientId: "otherclient"'; return 0; fi
     record "helm $*"; return 0
   }
@@ -333,7 +337,11 @@ setup() {
   _ensure_release_dirs() { :; }
   _ensure_helm_runnable() { :; }
   helm() {
-    if [ "$1" = list ]; then echo '[{"name":"tracebloc","namespace":"tracebloc","chart":"client-1.4.3"}]'; return 0; fi
+    if [ "$1" = list ]; then
+      printf '%s\n' 'NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION' \
+                    'tracebloc tracebloc 1 2026-01-01 deployed client-1.4.3 1.4.3'
+      return 0
+    fi
     if [ "$1" = get ] && [ "$2" = values ]; then echo 'clientId: "sameid"'; return 0; fi
     record "helm $*"; return 0
   }
@@ -354,7 +362,40 @@ setup() {
   # existing release in place, NOT fork a second one under 'acme-corp'.
   export TB_NAMESPACE=acme-corp
   helm() {
-    if [ "$1" = list ]; then echo '[{"name":"tracebloc","namespace":"tracebloc","chart":"client-1.4.3"}]'; return 0; fi
+    if [ "$1" = list ]; then
+      printf '%s\n' 'NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION' \
+                    'tracebloc tracebloc 1 2026-01-01 deployed client-1.4.3 1.4.3'
+      return 0
+    fi
+    if [ "$1" = get ] && [ "$2" = values ]; then echo 'clientId: "sameid"'; return 0; fi
+    record "helm $*"; return 0
+  }
+  verify_credentials() { printf valid; }
+  run install_client_helm <<< $'sameid\nmypw'
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  run mock_calls
+  [[ "$output" == *"helm upgrade --install tracebloc"* ]]   # reused existing namespace
+  [[ "$output" != *"acme-corp"* ]]                          # no second release forked
+}
+
+@test "install_client_helm: different-namespace reconcile works WITHOUT jq (Bugbot #284)" {
+  HOST_DATA_DIR="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/data"; mkdir -p "$HOST_DATA_DIR"
+  _ensure_tracebloc_dirs() { :; }
+  _ensure_release_dirs() { :; }
+  _ensure_helm_runnable() { :; }
+  # Regression for the 2nd Bugbot finding on #284: the guard must enumerate ALL
+  # namespaces without jq. On a jq-less host the old fallback only checked the
+  # minted slug namespace, missed the existing `tracebloc` release, and forked a
+  # second release under the slug. Report jq absent + feed only tabular `helm
+  # list` output — the guard must still find `tracebloc` and upgrade it in place.
+  has() { [ "$1" = jq ] && return 1; command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; }
+  export TB_NAMESPACE=acme-corp
+  helm() {
+    if [ "$1" = list ]; then
+      printf '%s\n' 'NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION' \
+                    'tracebloc tracebloc 1 2026-01-01 deployed client-1.4.3 1.4.3'
+      return 0
+    fi
     if [ "$1" = get ] && [ "$2" = values ]; then echo 'clientId: "sameid"'; return 0; fi
     record "helm $*"; return 0
   }