diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fbaa05e9..28a9e41f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ per the process in [`docs/dev/releasing.md`](docs/dev/releasing.md).
   than its labelled span never reads as a complete one. Both surfaces read one shared roll-up, so
   they cannot drift apart.
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **A local→remote node switch now actually retires the node container (#795).** Switching
+  `tari.mode` (or `monero.mode`) to `remote` and running `apply` dropped the node's compose
+  profile as promised — but compose never stops the running container of a profile-disabled
+  service, and while it survived, any other change in the same apply (the Tari memory cap
+  re-renders on every switch) recreated the very node the switch had just turned off, leaving it
+  running offline against a remote-mode config. `apply` and `upgrade` now stop and remove every
+  container whose profile the new configuration switched off — the bundled nodes and the two
+  payout-confirmation wallets — before recreating anything. On-disk chain data is untouched, as
+  the preview always said.
+
 ### Dependencies
 
 - Dashboard Python group (#788): `aiohttp` 3.14.3, `grpcio` 1.83.0 (floors still satisfy the
diff --git a/pithead b/pithead
index 45d7328b..c510dfe6 100755
--- a/pithead
+++ b/pithead
@@ -189,6 +189,31 @@ compose_up_checked() {
     return "$rc"
 }
 
+# Stop and remove the containers of services whose compose profile is NOT active in the committed
+# .env (#795). Compose does not retire these on its own: a profile-disabled service is not an
+# orphan (`up --remove-orphans` ignores it), and a service whose container still exists is treated
+# as enabled again by newer compose — so after a local→remote node switch, the next resolved-config
+# diff (e.g. a memory-cap change riding in the SAME apply) recreated the very node the switch had
+# just turned off, leaving it running offline against a remote-mode config. Called after the .env
+# commit and before `compose up` on the paths that re-render .env (apply, upgrade); keyed off the
+# committed .env rather than this run's diff so an interrupted apply's retry (the #125 marker
+# path) still converges. Removing a container never touches its bind-mounted on-disk data.
+remove_deactivated_profile_containers() {
+    local profiles pair svc token
+    profiles=$(env_get COMPOSE_PROFILES)
+    # Every profile-gated service in docker-compose.yml, as service:profile.
+    for pair in monerod:local_node tari:local_tari wallet-rpc:payout_confirm tari-wallet:tari_payout_confirm; do
+        svc=${pair%%:*}
+        token=${pair##*:}
+        case ",$profiles," in *",$token,"*) continue ;; esac
+        # --profile makes the switched-off service visible to compose for these two commands.
+        [ -n "$(docker compose --profile "$token" ps -aq "$svc" 2>/dev/null)" ] || continue
+        log "Removing the $svc container — it is switched off in this configuration (its on-disk data is kept)."
+        docker compose --profile "$token" rm -sf "$svc" >/dev/null 2>&1 ||
+            warn "Could not remove the $svc container — remove it by hand with 'docker rm -f $svc', then re-run '$0 apply'."
+    done
+}
+
 stack_up() {
     log "Starting stack..."
     warn_missing_data_dirs
@@ -431,6 +456,9 @@ stack_upgrade() {
     # One-time move of the dashboard data out of the install dir (#455) — after the .env commit
     # (a failed move is retried on re-run) and before the recreate mounts the new location.
     migrate_dashboard_data
+    # upgrade re-renders .env from config.json (above), so a mode switch staged in config.json can
+    # land here instead of apply — retire any node the new profile set switched off (#795).
+    remove_deactivated_profile_containers
     # Source checkout: rebuild the images from build/. Release install: pull the new published images
     # instead — force a re-pull so a moved tag is refreshed (#44).
     if is_source_checkout; then
@@ -5224,8 +5252,12 @@ apply() {
     # commit above (never before the operator said yes) and under the marker, so a failed move is
     # retried; the recreate below then mounts the migrated directory.
     migrate_dashboard_data
-    # Compose recreates only the services whose resolved config changed; --remove-orphans
-    # drops monerod when a local→remote switch deactivates the local_node profile.
+    # A node (or payout-wallet) whose profile this config switched off must be retired HERE —
+    # compose won't do it (#795): it is not an orphan, and its surviving container would make the
+    # `up` below recreate it off an unrelated env change (a memory cap) in this same apply.
+    remove_deactivated_profile_containers
+    # Compose recreates only the services whose resolved config changed; --remove-orphans still
+    # covers services dropped from docker-compose.yml itself across releases.
     if ! compose_up_checked -d --remove-orphans; then
         warn "Config files were updated but containers were NOT recreated ('docker compose up' failed)."
         warn "Fix the cause shown above, then re-run '$0 apply' (it will retry the recreate) — or '$0 up'."
diff --git a/tests/stack/run.sh b/tests/stack/run.sh
index 611bce22..56921565 100755
--- a/tests/stack/run.sh
+++ b/tests/stack/run.sh
@@ -59,6 +59,14 @@ case "$*" in
   "exec tor cat /var/lib/tor/tari/hostname")   echo "taria.onion" ;;
   "exec tor cat /var/lib/tor/p2pool/hostname") echo "p2pa.onion" ;;
   "exec p2pool cat /proc/1/cmdline") printf '%s' "${P2POOL_PROC1:-}" ;;  # #273: tests set the running p2pool argv
+  # Fake per-service container state (#795): a flag file per service under $FAKE_CONTAINERS.
+  # `compose --profile X ps -aq svc` answers a cid while the file exists; `rm -sf svc` deletes it.
+  "compose --profile "*" ps -aq "*)
+    _svc="$*"; _svc="${_svc##* }"
+    if [ -n "${FAKE_CONTAINERS:-}" ] && [ -e "$FAKE_CONTAINERS/$_svc" ]; then echo "cid-$_svc"; fi ;;
+  "compose --profile "*" rm -sf "*)
+    _svc="$*"; _svc="${_svc##* }"
+    [ -z "${FAKE_CONTAINERS:-}" ] || rm -f "$FAKE_CONTAINERS/$_svc" ;;
   *hash-password*)
     # Fake `caddy hash-password` (#8): a per-password digest so enable/change paths differ, and it
     # never echoes the plaintext back (real bcrypt doesn't either) — keeps the leak checks honest.
@@ -3384,6 +3392,51 @@ out="$(cd "$V" && PATH="$V/bin:$PATH" ./pithead apply -y 2>&1)"
 assert_rc "invalid tari.mode rejected" "$?" "1"
 assert_contains "invalid tari.mode message" "$out" "tari.mode must be"
 
+echo "== black-box: local→remote switch retires the deactivated node container (#795) =="
+# A mode switch drops the node's profile token from COMPOSE_PROFILES, but compose never stops the
+# running container of a profile-disabled service: it is not an orphan (`up --remove-orphans`
+# ignores it), and while the container survives, newer compose treats the service as enabled
+# again — live, the TARI_MEM_LIMIT diff that rides every tari switch (auto-calc → the remote-mode
+# placeholder) recreated the very node the switch had just removed, leaving a full minotari node
+# running offline against a remote-mode config. apply must end the run with the container ABSENT.
+# The docker stub models container state as flag files under $FAKE_CONTAINERS (see make_stubs).
+FAKECT="$V/containers-795"
+SWLOG="$V/switch-docker.log"
+
+# Baseline: both nodes local, both node containers "running".
+seed_env
+printf '{ "monero": {"mode":"local","wallet_address":"%s","node_username":"u","node_password":"p"}, "tari":{"wallet_address":"T"}, "p2pool":{"pool":"main"}, "dashboard":{"secure":true,"host":"box.lan"} }\n' "$WALLET" >"$V/config.json"
+out="$(cd "$V" && PATH="$V/bin:$PATH" ./pithead apply -y 2>&1)"
+assert_rc "both-local baseline applies cleanly" "$?" "0"
+mkdir -p "$FAKECT"
+touch "$FAKECT/monerod" "$FAKECT/tari"
+
+# (1) tari local→remote: the run must end with the tari container gone and monerod untouched.
+printf '{ "monero": {"mode":"local","wallet_address":"%s","node_username":"u","node_password":"p"}, "tari":{"wallet_address":"T","mode":"remote","remote":{"host":"tari.example.com"}}, "p2pool":{"pool":"main"}, "dashboard":{"secure":true,"host":"box.lan"} }\n' "$WALLET" >"$V/config.json"
+: >"$SWLOG"
+out="$(cd "$V" && FAKE_CONTAINERS="$FAKECT" DOCKER_LOG="$SWLOG" PATH="$V/bin:$PATH" ./pithead apply -y 2>&1)"
+assert_rc "tari local→remote switch applies cleanly" "$?" "0"
+[ ! -e "$FAKECT/tari" ] && ok "tari container is ABSENT after the switch" || bad "tari container is ABSENT after the switch" "container survived apply"
+[ -e "$FAKECT/monerod" ] && ok "monerod container untouched by the tari switch" || bad "monerod container untouched by the tari switch" "monerod was removed"
+assert_contains "operator is told the tari container is removed" "$out" "Removing the tari container"
+# Ordering: the removal must land BEFORE the recreate `up`, or compose resurrects the node off
+# the TARI_MEM_LIMIT diff riding this same apply.
+seq="$(grep -oE 'compose --profile local_tari rm -sf tari|compose up' "$SWLOG" | tr '\n' ',')"
+assert_eq "tari removal precedes the recreate up" "$seq" "compose --profile local_tari rm -sf tari,compose up,"
+
+# (2) monerod has the same hole on ITS local→remote switch — same guard, same end state.
+printf '{ "monero": {"mode":"remote","remote":{"host":"node.example"},"wallet_address":"%s","node_username":"u","node_password":"p"}, "tari":{"wallet_address":"T","mode":"remote","remote":{"host":"tari.example.com"}}, "p2pool":{"pool":"main"}, "dashboard":{"secure":true,"host":"box.lan"} }\n' "$WALLET" >"$V/config.json"
+out="$(cd "$V" && FAKE_CONTAINERS="$FAKECT" PATH="$V/bin:$PATH" ./pithead apply -y 2>&1)"
+assert_rc "monero local→remote switch applies cleanly" "$?" "0"
+[ ! -e "$FAKECT/monerod" ] && ok "monerod container is ABSENT after the switch" || bad "monerod container is ABSENT after the switch" "container survived apply"
+assert_contains "operator is told the monerod container is removed" "$out" "Removing the monerod container"
+
+# (3) Steady remote state: a later unrelated apply finds no deactivated container and stays quiet.
+printf '{ "monero": {"mode":"remote","remote":{"host":"node.example"},"wallet_address":"%s","node_username":"u","node_password":"p"}, "tari":{"wallet_address":"T","mode":"remote","remote":{"host":"tari.example.com"}}, "p2pool":{"pool":"main"}, "proxy":{"donate_level":1}, "dashboard":{"secure":true,"host":"box.lan"} }\n' "$WALLET" >"$V/config.json"
+out="$(cd "$V" && FAKE_CONTAINERS="$FAKECT" PATH="$V/bin:$PATH" ./pithead apply -y 2>&1)"
+assert_rc "steady remote-mode apply stays clean" "$?" "0"
+assert_not_contains "no removal message when nothing is running" "$out" "Removing the "
+
 echo "== black-box: monero.rpc_lan_access + prep_blocks_threads reflect into .env (#523) =="
 # The rendered .env must match the config input. rpc_lan_access gates the monerod RPC bind: default
 # (unset) keeps it localhost-only; true opens it to the LAN. prep_blocks_threads overrides the