diff --git a/nanobot/agent/autocompact.py b/nanobot/agent/autocompact.py
index 6af614d35..3526ae16e 100644
--- a/nanobot/agent/autocompact.py
+++ b/nanobot/agent/autocompact.py
@@ -134,10 +134,21 @@ class AutoCompact:
         if entry:
             return session, self._format_summary(entry[0], entry[1])
         # Cold path: summary persisted in session metadata (process restarted).
+        # Persisted metadata may outlive schema changes; a malformed summary must
+        # not abort turn preparation.
         meta = session.metadata.get("_last_summary")
         if isinstance(meta, dict):
-            return session, self._format_summary(
-                cast(str, meta["text"]),
-                datetime.fromisoformat(cast(str, meta["last_active"])),
-            )
+            summary_meta = cast(dict[str, object], meta)
+            text = summary_meta.get("text")
+            if isinstance(text, str) and text:
+                raw_last_active = summary_meta.get("last_active")
+                try:
+                    last_active = (
+                        datetime.fromisoformat(raw_last_active)
+                        if isinstance(raw_last_active, str)
+                        else session.updated_at
+                    )
+                except ValueError:
+                    last_active = session.updated_at
+                return session, self._format_summary(text, last_active)
         return session, None
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_autocompact_unit.py b/tests/agent/test_autocompact_unit.py
index e73daa452..f9c26c014 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_autocompact_unit.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_autocompact_unit.py
@@ -592,6 +592,58 @@ class TestPrepareSession:
         assert summary is not None
         assert "Cold summary." in summary
 
+    def test_cold_path_tolerates_malformed_last_active(self):
+        """A malformed persisted last_active must not raise on the turn path.
+
+        prepare_session runs from _compact_session on every turn. Persisted
+        _last_summary can be hand-edited or written by another version, so a bad
+        last_active should degrade gracefully (mirror estimate_session_prompt_tokens
+        and _archive) instead of crashing the turn.
+        """
+        ac = _make_autocompact(ttl=0)
+        fallback = datetime(2026, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
+        session = _make_session(
+            metadata={
+                "_last_summary": {"text": "Cold summary.", "last_active": "not-a-date"},
+            },
+            updated_at=fallback,
+        )
+
+        result_session, summary = ac.prepare_session(session, "cli:test")
+
+        assert result_session is session
+        assert summary is not None
+        assert "Cold summary." in summary
+        assert fallback.isoformat() in summary
+
+    def test_cold_path_tolerates_missing_last_active(self):
+        """A _last_summary dict without last_active must not raise."""
+        ac = _make_autocompact(ttl=0)
+        fallback = datetime(2026, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
+        session = _make_session(
+            metadata={"_last_summary": {"text": "Cold summary."}},
+            updated_at=fallback,
+        )
+
+        result_session, summary = ac.prepare_session(session, "cli:test")
+
+        assert result_session is session
+        assert summary is not None
+        assert "Cold summary." in summary
+        assert fallback.isoformat() in summary
+
+    def test_cold_path_missing_text_returns_none(self):
+        """A _last_summary without a non-empty string text yields no summary."""
+        ac = _make_autocompact()
+        session = _make_session(metadata={
+            "_last_summary": {"last_active": datetime(2026, 1, 1).isoformat()},
+        })
+
+        result_session, summary = ac.prepare_session(session, "cli:test")
+
+        assert result_session is session
+        assert summary is None
+
     def test_no_summary_available_returns_none(self):
         """When no summary is available, should return (session, None)."""
         ac = _make_autocompact()