diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.test.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.test.ts
index 25c2dc5593..e330e251e8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.test.ts
@@ -609,7 +609,13 @@ describe('detectSelfKillCommand', () => {
   it('detects kill commands using pgrep selectors for qwen-code hosts', () => {
     expect(detectSelfKillCommand('kill -9 $(pgrep node)')).toBe(true);
     expect(detectSelfKillCommand('kill $(pgrep -f node)')).toBe(true);
+    expect(detectSelfKillCommand('kill -9 $(pgrep node | head -1)')).toBe(true);
+    expect(detectSelfKillCommand('kill -9 `pgrep node | head -1`')).toBe(true);
     expect(detectSelfKillCommand('pgrep node | xargs kill')).toBe(true);
+    expect(detectSelfKillCommand('pgrep node | xargs sudo kill')).toBe(true);
+    expect(detectSelfKillCommand('pgrep node | xargs -I {} kill -9 {}')).toBe(
+      true,
+    );
   });
 
   it('detects taskkill inline and dash-prefixed image options', () => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.ts
index 0fba60c995..6e5476fb97 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/shell-utils.ts
@@ -208,6 +208,8 @@ export function splitCommands(command: string): string[] {
   let currentCommand = '';
   let inSingleQuotes = false;
   let inDoubleQuotes = false;
+  let inBackticks = false;
+  let substitutionDepth = 0;
   let i = 0;
 
   const previousNonWhitespaceChar = (index: number): string | undefined => {
@@ -235,13 +237,42 @@ export function splitCommands(command: string): string[] {
       continue;
     }
 
-    if (char === "'" && !inDoubleQuotes) {
+    if (!inSingleQuotes && char === '`') {
+      inBackticks = !inBackticks;
+    } else if (
+      !inSingleQuotes &&
+      !inBackticks &&
+      char === '$' &&
+      nextChar === '('
+    ) {
+      substitutionDepth++;
+      currentCommand += '$(';
+      i += 2;
+      continue;
+    } else if (!inBackticks && substitutionDepth > 0 && char === ')') {
+      substitutionDepth--;
+    } else if (
+      !inBackticks &&
+      substitutionDepth === 0 &&
+      char === "'" &&
+      !inDoubleQuotes
+    ) {
       inSingleQuotes = !inSingleQuotes;
-    } else if (char === '"' && !inSingleQuotes) {
+    } else if (
+      !inBackticks &&
+      substitutionDepth === 0 &&
+      char === '"' &&
+      !inSingleQuotes
+    ) {
       inDoubleQuotes = !inDoubleQuotes;
     }
 
-    if (!inSingleQuotes && !inDoubleQuotes) {
+    if (
+      !inSingleQuotes &&
+      !inDoubleQuotes &&
+      !inBackticks &&
+      substitutionDepth === 0
+    ) {
       if (
         (char === '&' && nextChar === '&') ||
         (char === '|' && (nextChar === '|' || nextChar === '&'))
@@ -460,6 +491,28 @@ const PKILL_OPTIONS_WITH_VALUES = new Set([
   '--euid',
 ]);
 
+const XARGS_OPTIONS_WITH_VALUES = new Set([
+  '-I',
+  '-n',
+  '-P',
+  '-s',
+  '-E',
+  '-d',
+  '-L',
+  '-l',
+  '-a',
+  '-J',
+  '-R',
+  '--replace',
+  '--max-args',
+  '--max-procs',
+  '--max-chars',
+  '--eof',
+  '--delimiter',
+  '--max-lines',
+  '--arg-file',
+]);
+
 export const SHELL_SELF_KILL_REJECTION =
   'Blocked: this command may terminate the running qwen-code process because it targets all node/qwen-code processes. Use task_stop for managed background shells, or kill a specific PID instead.';
 
@@ -773,6 +826,34 @@ function pgrepSubstitutionArgs(segment: string): string[] {
       continue;
     }
 
+    if (char === '`') {
+      let end = index + 1;
+      let innerEscaped = false;
+      for (; end < segment.length; end++) {
+        const innerChar = segment[end]!;
+        if (innerEscaped) {
+          innerEscaped = false;
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (innerChar === '\\') {
+          innerEscaped = true;
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (innerChar === '`') break;
+      }
+      if (end >= segment.length) {
+        break;
+      }
+
+      const inner = segment.slice(index + 1, end).trim();
+      const match = inner.match(/^pgrep\b(.*)$/i);
+      if (match) {
+        args.push(match[1] ?? '');
+      }
+      index = end;
+      continue;
+    }
+
     if (char !== '$' || segment[index + 1] !== '(') {
       continue;
     }
@@ -813,7 +894,10 @@ function xargsInvokesKill(segment: string | undefined): boolean {
     return false;
   }
 
-  const command = tokens.slice(1).find((token) => !isOptionToken(token));
+  const commandTokens = unwrapExecutionPrefixes(
+    commandArguments(tokens, XARGS_OPTIONS_WITH_VALUES),
+  );
+  const command = commandTokens.find((token) => !isOptionToken(token));
   return normalizeExecutableName(command ?? '') === 'kill';
 }