diff --git a/crates/goose-cli/src/session/mod.rs b/crates/goose-cli/src/session/mod.rs
index 0622550092..5a3bfc05d5 100644
--- a/crates/goose-cli/src/session/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-cli/src/session/mod.rs
@@ -507,9 +507,10 @@ impl CliSession {
 
     async fn run_interactive(&mut self, prompt: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
         // Advertise mid-run steering in the thinking spinner when the steer
-        // reader will be active (interactive tty session).
+        // reader will be active (interactive tty session on a platform that
+        // supports mid-run stdin reading).
         output::set_steer_hint_enabled(
-            std::io::stdin().is_terminal() && std::io::stdout().is_terminal(),
+            cfg!(unix) && std::io::stdin().is_terminal() && std::io::stdout().is_terminal(),
         );
         if let Some(prompt) = prompt {
             let msg = Message::user().with_text(&prompt);
@@ -1210,7 +1211,9 @@ impl CliSession {
             && std::io::stdin().is_terminal()
             && std::io::stdout().is_terminal();
         let (steer_control, mut steer_rx) = steer::spawn_steer_reader(steer_enabled);
-        if steer_enabled {
+        // Only advertise steering when a reader actually started (it does
+        // not on non-unix platforms even when `steer_enabled` is true).
+        if steer_control.is_active() {
             output::render_steer_hint();
         }
 
diff --git a/crates/goose-cli/src/session/steer.rs b/crates/goose-cli/src/session/steer.rs
index 929a4857f1..ba94a2922a 100644
--- a/crates/goose-cli/src/session/steer.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-cli/src/session/steer.rs
@@ -67,6 +67,15 @@ pub fn spawn_steer_reader(enabled: bool) -> (SteerControl, mpsc::UnboundedReceiv
     )
 }
 
+impl SteerControl {
+    /// Whether a reader thread is actually running. False when steering was
+    /// disabled or the platform does not support mid-run stdin reading
+    /// (non-unix), in which case no steering UI should be shown.
+    pub fn is_active(&self) -> bool {
+        self.handle.is_some()
+    }
+}
+
 pub struct SteerControl {
     stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
     paused: Arc<AtomicBool>,