diff --git a/docs/inference/configure-inference-timeouts.mdx b/docs/inference/configure-inference-timeouts.mdx
index 643b65efc17..ef08e3bdeba 100644
--- a/docs/inference/configure-inference-timeouts.mdx
+++ b/docs/inference/configure-inference-timeouts.mdx
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ Use the error location to select the correct setting.
 
 The readiness timeout does not govern inference requests or provider validation.
 
+Set each value to a whole number of seconds; a fractional value is rounded.
+NemoClaw falls back to the default shown above for any value it cannot use, including a negative one — a negative budget is treated as an invalid setting rather than as a request to give up immediately.
+
 ## Increase the OpenClaw Request Timeout
 
 <AgentOnly variant="openclaw">
diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/env-int.test.ts b/src/lib/onboard/env-int.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4ffce04e156
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/env-int.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// `envInt` backs the poll counts, poll intervals and readiness budgets used
+// across onboarding and gateway recovery. A negative override used to be
+// clamped to 0, which is the most damaging reading available for every one of
+// those knobs, while any other invalid value already fell back (#7881).
+
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { envInt } from "./env";
+
+const FALLBACK = 30;
+
+function read(value: string | undefined): number {
+  return envInt("NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB", FALLBACK, { NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB: value });
+}
+
+describe("envInt override parsing", () => {
+  it.each([
+    "-1",
+    "-30",
+    "-0.4",
+    "-1e3",
+  ])("falls back instead of collapsing a negative override (%s) to zero", (value) => {
+    expect(read(value)).toBe(FALLBACK);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    "abc",
+    "NaN",
+    "Infinity",
+    "-Infinity",
+  ])("keeps falling back for a non-finite override (%s)", (value) => {
+    expect(read(value)).toBe(FALLBACK);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["unset", undefined],
+    ["empty", ""],
+  ])("keeps falling back for an %s override", (_label, value) => {
+    expect(read(value)).toBe(FALLBACK);
+  });
+
+  it("still accepts an explicit zero", () => {
+    // Regression lock: callers that read 0 as "disabled" or clamp it upward
+    // themselves must keep seeing 0, so this fix cannot change their meaning.
+    expect(read("0")).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["3", 3],
+    ["0.4", 0],
+    ["2.6", 3],
+    ["600", 600],
+  ])("keeps rounding a valid override (%s)", (value, expected) => {
+    expect(read(value)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+
+  it("uses the supplied env map rather than the process environment", () => {
+    // Both assertions need a conflicting process value to have any teeth: with
+    // `process.env` unset, an implementation that ignored the supplied map
+    // would return the fallback here and still pass.
+    vi.stubEnv("NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB", "999");
+    try {
+      expect(envInt("NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB", FALLBACK, { NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB: "7" })).toBe(7);
+      expect(envInt("NEMOCLAW_TEST_KNOB", FALLBACK, {})).toBe(FALLBACK);
+    } finally {
+      vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/env.ts b/src/lib/onboard/env.ts
index d59bbb3fda3..0466ce4039a 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard/env.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/env.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,14 @@ export function envInt(
   const raw = env[name];
   if (raw === undefined || raw === "") return fallback;
   const n = Number(raw);
-  return Number.isFinite(n) ? Math.max(0, Math.round(n)) : fallback;
+  // A negative override is invalid input, not a request for zero. Clamping it
+  // to 0 picked the most damaging reading available for these knobs -- an
+  // empty poll loop, a zero-second readiness budget, a timeout that expires
+  // before its first attempt -- while any other unparseable value already fell
+  // back to the caller's default. Treat both the same way, which is what the
+  // sibling `readNonNegativeNumberEnv` has always done (#7881).
+  if (!Number.isFinite(n) || n < 0) return fallback;
+  return Math.round(n);
 }
 
 /** Inference timeout (seconds) for local providers (Ollama, vLLM, NIM). */
diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/sandbox-readiness-tracing.test.ts b/src/lib/onboard/sandbox-readiness-tracing.test.ts
index 3c74ffaa53b..452ef12bc62 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard/sandbox-readiness-tracing.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/sandbox-readiness-tracing.test.ts
@@ -404,13 +404,21 @@ describe("getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls env contract", () => {
 
   it("clamps to a minimum of 1 poll", () => {
     expect(getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls({ [SANDBOX_READY_ERROR_DEBOUNCE_ENV]: "0" })).toBe(1);
-    expect(getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls({ [SANDBOX_READY_ERROR_DEBOUNCE_ENV]: "-5" })).toBe(1);
     // envInt rounds 0.4 -> 0, then the clamp lifts it to 1.
     expect(getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls({ [SANDBOX_READY_ERROR_DEBOUNCE_ENV]: "0.4" })).toBe(
       1,
     );
   });
 
+  it("falls back for a negative override instead of clamping it to the minimum", () => {
+    // A negative is invalid input, so it reaches the documented default the
+    // same way "abc" does above, rather than silently becoming the smallest
+    // legal debounce (#7881).
+    expect(getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls({ [SANDBOX_READY_ERROR_DEBOUNCE_ENV]: "-5" })).toBe(
+      30,
+    );
+  });
+
   it("rounds fractional env values (envInt semantics)", () => {
     expect(getSandboxReadyErrorDebouncePolls({ [SANDBOX_READY_ERROR_DEBOUNCE_ENV]: "2.6" })).toBe(
       3,