diff --git a/cmd/gcs/main.go b/cmd/gcs/main.go
index e45fa55d03..dff55a6154 100644
--- a/cmd/gcs/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gcs/main.go
@@ -388,35 +388,24 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("failed to initialize new runc runtime")
 	}
-	mux := bridge.NewBridgeMux()
-	b := bridge.Bridge{
-		Handler:  mux,
-		EnableV4: *v4,
-	}
+
+	publisher := &bridge.Publisher{}
 	h := hcsv2.NewHost(rtime, tport, initialEnforcer, logWriter)
 	// Initialize virtual pod support in the host
 	if err := h.InitializeVirtualPodSupport(virtualPodsControl); err != nil {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Warn("Virtual pod support initialization failed")
 	}
-	b.AssignHandlers(mux, h)
 
-	var bridgeIn io.ReadCloser
-	var bridgeOut io.WriteCloser
-	if *useInOutErr {
-		bridgeIn = os.Stdin
-		bridgeOut = os.Stdout
-	} else {
-		const commandPort uint32 = 0x40000000
-		bridgeCon, err := tport.Dial(commandPort)
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-				"port":          commandPort,
-				logrus.ErrorKey: err,
-			}).Fatal("failed to dial host vsock connection")
-		}
-		bridgeIn = bridgeCon
-		bridgeOut = bridgeCon
-	}
+	const commandPort uint32 = 0x40000000
+
+	// Reconnect loop: on each iteration we create a fresh bridge+mux, dial the
+	// host, and serve until the connection drops. After a live migration the
+	// vsock connection breaks; we re-dial and continue.
+	//
+	// During live migration the VM is frozen and only wakes up when the host
+	// shim is ready, so the vsock port should be immediately available. We
+	// use a tight retry interval instead of exponential backoff.
+	const reconnectInterval = 100 * time.Millisecond
 
 	event := cgroups1.MemoryThresholdEvent(*gcsMemLimitBytes, false)
 	gefd, err := gcsControl.RegisterMemoryEvent(event)
@@ -433,7 +422,6 @@ func main() {
 	oomFile := os.NewFile(oom, "cefd")
 	defer oomFile.Close()
 
-	// Setup OOM monitoring for virtual-pods cgroup
 	virtualPodsOom, err := virtualPodsControl.OOMEventFD()
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("failed to retrieve the virtual-pods cgroups oom eventfd")
@@ -441,7 +429,6 @@ func main() {
 	virtualPodsOomFile := os.NewFile(virtualPodsOom, "vp-oomfd")
 	defer virtualPodsOomFile.Close()
 
-	// time synchronization service
 	if !(*disableTimeSync) {
 		if err = startTimeSyncService(); err != nil {
 			logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("failed to start time synchronization service")
@@ -451,10 +438,44 @@ func main() {
 	go readMemoryEvents(startTime, gefdFile, "/gcs", int64(*gcsMemLimitBytes), gcsControl)
 	go readMemoryEvents(startTime, oomFile, "/containers", containersLimit, containersControl)
 	go readMemoryEvents(startTime, virtualPodsOomFile, "/containers/virtual-pods", containersLimit, virtualPodsControl)
-	err = b.ListenAndServe(bridgeIn, bridgeOut)
-	if err != nil {
-		logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-			logrus.ErrorKey: err,
-		}).Fatal("failed to serve gcs service")
+
+	for {
+		mux := bridge.NewBridgeMux()
+		b := bridge.Bridge{
+			Handler:   mux,
+			EnableV4:  *v4,
+			Publisher: publisher,
+		}
+		b.AssignHandlers(mux, h)
+		publisher.SetBridge(&b)
+
+		var bridgeIn io.ReadCloser
+		var bridgeOut io.WriteCloser
+		if *useInOutErr {
+			bridgeIn = os.Stdin
+			bridgeOut = os.Stdout
+		} else {
+			bridgeCon, dialErr := tport.Dial(commandPort)
+			if dialErr != nil {
+				logrus.WithError(dialErr).Warn("failed to dial host, retrying")
+				time.Sleep(reconnectInterval)
+				continue
+			}
+			bridgeIn = bridgeCon
+			bridgeOut = bridgeCon
+		}
+
+		logrus.Info("bridge connected, serving")
+
+		serveErr := b.ListenAndServe(bridgeIn, bridgeOut)
+		publisher.SetBridge(nil)
+
+		if b.ShutdownRequested() {
+			logrus.Info("bridge shutdown requested, exiting reconnect loop")
+			break
+		}
+
+		logrus.WithError(serveErr).Warn("bridge connection lost, will reconnect")
+		time.Sleep(reconnectInterval)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/guest/bridge/bridge.go b/internal/guest/bridge/bridge.go
index 4ea03ed104..f291093dee 100644
--- a/internal/guest/bridge/bridge.go
+++ b/internal/guest/bridge/bridge.go
@@ -189,6 +189,15 @@ type Bridge struct {
 	hasQuitPending atomic.Bool
 
 	protVer prot.ProtocolVersion
+
+	// Publisher is a stable notification sink that survives bridge recreation
+	// during live migration.
+	Publisher *Publisher
+}
+
+// ShutdownRequested returns true if the bridge has been asked to shut down.
+func (b *Bridge) ShutdownRequested() bool {
+	return b.hasQuitPending.Load()
 }
 
 // AssignHandlers creates and assigns the appropriate bridge
@@ -226,17 +235,20 @@ func (b *Bridge) AssignHandlers(mux *Mux, host *hcsv2.Host) {
 func (b *Bridge) ListenAndServe(bridgeIn io.ReadCloser, bridgeOut io.WriteCloser) error {
 	requestChan := make(chan *Request)
 	requestErrChan := make(chan error)
-	b.responseChan = make(chan bridgeResponse)
+	b.responseChan = make(chan bridgeResponse, 16)
 	responseErrChan := make(chan error)
 	b.quitChan = make(chan bool)
 
-	defer close(b.quitChan)
+	// Close order matters: quitChan must close first so PublishNotification
+	// and in-flight handlers see it before responseChan becomes invalid.
+	// responseChan is never explicitly closed — the response writer exits
+	// when quitChan closes and no more sends are possible.
+	defer bridgeIn.Close()
+	defer close(requestErrChan)
+	defer close(requestChan)
 	defer bridgeOut.Close()
 	defer close(responseErrChan)
-	defer close(b.responseChan)
-	defer close(requestChan)
-	defer close(requestErrChan)
-	defer bridgeIn.Close()
+	defer close(b.quitChan)
 
 	// Receive bridge requests and schedule them to be processed.
 	go func() {
@@ -440,7 +452,20 @@ func (b *Bridge) PublishNotification(n *prot.ContainerNotification) {
 		},
 		response: n,
 	}
-	b.responseChan <- resp
+	// Check quitChan first to avoid sending to a dead bridge.
+	select {
+	case <-b.quitChan:
+		logrus.WithField("containerID", n.ContainerID).
+			Warn("bridge quit, dropping notification")
+		return
+	default:
+	}
+	select {
+	case b.responseChan <- resp:
+	case <-b.quitChan:
+		logrus.WithField("containerID", n.ContainerID).
+			Warn("bridge quit, dropping notification")
+	}
 }
 
 // setErrorForResponseBase modifies the passed-in MessageResponseBase to
diff --git a/internal/guest/bridge/bridge_v2.go b/internal/guest/bridge/bridge_v2.go
index 800094e549..9b9178745d 100644
--- a/internal/guest/bridge/bridge_v2.go
+++ b/internal/guest/bridge/bridge_v2.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (b *Bridge) createContainerV2(r *Request) (_ RequestResponse, err error) {
 			Result:     0,
 			ResultInfo: "",
 		}
-		b.PublishNotification(notification)
+		b.Publisher.Publish(notification)
 	}()
 
 	return &prot.ContainerCreateResponse{}, nil
diff --git a/internal/guest/bridge/publisher.go b/internal/guest/bridge/publisher.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1db3db3b3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/guest/bridge/publisher.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package bridge
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/Microsoft/hcsshim/internal/guest/prot"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+)
+
+// Publisher provides a stable reference for container exit goroutines
+// to publish notifications through. It survives bridge recreation
+// during live migration — when the bridge is nil, notifications are dropped.
+type Publisher struct {
+	mu sync.Mutex
+	b  *Bridge
+}
+
+// SetBridge attaches or detaches the current bridge.
+// Pass nil to detach (notifications will be dropped until a new bridge is set).
+func (p *Publisher) SetBridge(b *Bridge) {
+	p.mu.Lock()
+	defer p.mu.Unlock()
+	p.b = b
+}
+
+// Publish sends a container notification to the current bridge.
+// If no bridge is connected, the notification is dropped with a warning.
+func (p *Publisher) Publish(n *prot.ContainerNotification) {
+	p.mu.Lock()
+	defer p.mu.Unlock()
+	if p.b == nil {
+		logrus.WithField("containerID", n.ContainerID).
+			Warn("bridge not connected, dropping container notification")
+		return
+	}
+	p.b.PublishNotification(n)
+}
diff --git a/internal/guest/bridge/publisher_test.go b/internal/guest/bridge/publisher_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19a9a17ac1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/guest/bridge/publisher_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package bridge
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/Microsoft/hcsshim/internal/guest/prot"
+)
+
+func TestPublisher_NilBridge(t *testing.T) {
+	p := &Publisher{}
+	// Should not panic when bridge is nil
+	p.Publish(&prot.ContainerNotification{
+		MessageBase: prot.MessageBase{ContainerID: "test"},
+	})
+}
+
+func TestPublisher_SetBridgeNil(t *testing.T) {
+	p := &Publisher{}
+	p.SetBridge(nil)
+	// Should not panic
+	p.Publish(&prot.ContainerNotification{
+		MessageBase: prot.MessageBase{ContainerID: "test"},
+	})
+}