diff --git a/actions/setup/setup.sh b/actions/setup/setup.sh
index 3b3f10293fb..92968eb518e 100755
--- a/actions/setup/setup.sh
+++ b/actions/setup/setup.sh
@@ -91,8 +91,31 @@ debug_log "Safe-output custom tokens support: ${SAFE_OUTPUT_CUSTOM_TOKENS_ENABLE
 create_dir "${DESTINATION}"
 debug_log "Created directory: ${DESTINATION}"
 
-# Remove and recreate /tmp/gh-aw directory to ensure a clean state
-rm -rf /tmp/gh-aw
+# Remove and recreate /tmp/gh-aw directory to ensure a clean state.
+# On persistent runners, a previous AWF run may leave this directory (or subdirectories
+# like sandbox/firewall/) owned by root. Plain rm -rf fails with EACCES in that case,
+# so we fall back to sudo rm -rf which is available passwordless on GitHub-hosted runners.
+if [ -d /tmp/gh-aw ] && [ ! -w /tmp/gh-aw ]; then
+  debug_log "/tmp/gh-aw exists but is not writable (likely root-owned from prior run); using sudo to remove"
+  if command -v sudo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    sudo -n rm -rf /tmp/gh-aw
+  else
+    echo "::error::/tmp/gh-aw exists but is not writable, and sudo is not available to reclaim it."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+elif [ -d /tmp/gh-aw ]; then
+  # Directory is writable — but subdirectories may not be (e.g., sandbox/firewall/ owned by root).
+  # Attempt plain rm first; if it fails, escalate to sudo.
+  if ! rm -rf /tmp/gh-aw 2>/dev/null; then
+    debug_log "/tmp/gh-aw has non-writable children (likely root-owned from prior AWF run); using sudo to remove"
+    if command -v sudo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      sudo -n rm -rf /tmp/gh-aw
+    else
+      echo "::error::/tmp/gh-aw contains non-writable children, and sudo is not available to reclaim it."
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
 mkdir -p /tmp/gh-aw
 debug_log "Created /tmp/gh-aw directory"
 
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support.go b/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support.go
index a2dfcb50b32..e62dbb5dd33 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support.go
@@ -143,14 +143,22 @@ func generateFirewallLogParsingStep(workflowName string, workflowData *WorkflowD
 		"        run: |",
 	}
 
-	// When sudo is false (network isolation mode), AWF runs rootless so firewall files
-	// are not owned by root — skip the sudo chmod permission-fix step.
+	// When sudo is false (network isolation mode), AWF runs rootless but Docker
+	// containers still write files as non-runner UIDs (e.g., Squid writes as UID 13).
+	// AWF's own post-run cleanup (fixArtifactPermissionsForRootless) normally handles
+	// this, but if AWF is killed by timeout or OOM, the cleanup never runs.
+	// Use a non-sudo chmod as a best-effort fallback for artifact upload accessibility.
 	if !isAWFNetworkIsolationEnabled(workflowData) {
 		stepLines = append(stepLines,
 			"          # Fix permissions on firewall logs/audit dirs so they can be uploaded as artifacts",
 			"          # AWF runs with sudo, creating files owned by root",
 			fmt.Sprintf("          sudo chmod -R a+rX %s 2>/dev/null || true", firewallDir),
 		)
+	} else {
+		stepLines = append(stepLines,
+			"          # Best-effort permission fix for artifact upload (AWF cleanup may not have run)",
+			fmt.Sprintf("          sudo -n chmod -R a+rX %[1]s 2>/dev/null || chmod -R a+rX %[1]s 2>/dev/null || true", firewallDir),
+		)
 	}
 
 	stepLines = append(stepLines,
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support_test.go b/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support_test.go
index 34258d8f157..51a311a46b8 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/engine_firewall_support_test.go
@@ -300,7 +300,12 @@ func TestGenerateFirewallLogParsingStepNetworkIsolationOmitsSudo(t *testing.T) {
 	stepContent := strings.Join(step, "\n")
 
 	if strings.Contains(stepContent, "sudo chmod") {
-		t.Error("Expected firewall log parsing step to omit sudo chmod when sudo is false (network isolation mode)")
+		t.Error("Expected firewall log parsing step to use non-sudo chmod when network isolation is enabled")
+	}
+
+	// Should contain best-effort non-sudo chmod for artifact upload
+	if !strings.Contains(stepContent, "chmod -R a+rX") {
+		t.Error("Expected firewall log parsing step to contain best-effort chmod for artifact upload even in network-isolation mode")
 	}
 
 	// Should still contain the awf logs summary logic