diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DriverInstanceActor.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DriverInstanceActor.cs
index 866a48f0..780ec925 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DriverInstanceActor.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Drivers/DriverInstanceActor.cs
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     public static readonly TimeSpan DefaultReconnectInterval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10);
 
     public sealed record InitializeRequested(string DriverConfigJson);
-    public sealed record InitializeSucceeded;
-    public sealed record InitializeFailed(string Reason);
+    public sealed record InitializeSucceeded(int Generation);
+    public sealed record InitializeFailed(string Reason, int Generation);
     public sealed record DisconnectObserved(string Reason);
     public sealed record ApplyDelta(string DriverConfigJson, CorrelationId Correlation);
     public sealed record ApplyResult(bool Success, string? Reason, CorrelationId Correlation);
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     private readonly ILoggingAdapter _log = Context.GetLogger();
     private string? _currentConfigJson;
 
+    /// <summary>Monotonic token tagging each <see cref="InitializeAsync"/> attempt. An init result is
+    /// honoured only when its generation matches the latest; an older result is from a superseded attempt
+    /// (e.g. an <see cref="ApplyDelta"/> adopted a new config mid-(re)connect) and is dropped. Touched only
+    /// on the actor thread, so no lock is needed.</summary>
+    private int _initGeneration;
+
     /// <summary>
     ///     Timestamps of recent Faulted-state transitions; used to compute the 5-minute error count.
     ///     No lock needed — every read/write site runs inside an Akka message handler, which is
@@ -222,8 +228,10 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         // "write timeout". Synchronous Receive: Sender.Tell on the actor thread is safe (#4a-instance).
         Receive<WriteAttribute>(_ =>
             Sender.Tell(new WriteAttributeResult(false, "driver not connected")));
-        Receive<InitializeSucceeded>(_ =>
+        Receive<ApplyDelta>(AdoptConfigDuringInit);
+        Receive<InitializeSucceeded>(msg =>
         {
+            if (msg.Generation != _initGeneration) return;
             _log.Info("DriverInstance {Id}: connected", _driverInstanceId);
             Become(Connected);
             PublishHealthSnapshot();
@@ -232,6 +240,7 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         });
         Receive<InitializeFailed>(msg =>
         {
+            if (msg.Generation != _initGeneration) return;
             _log.Warning("DriverInstance {Id}: initialize failed: {Reason}", _driverInstanceId, msg.Reason);
             RecordFault();
             Become(Reconnecting);
@@ -306,8 +315,10 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         // timeout on an inbound write to a transiently-down driver). Synchronous Receive (#4a-instance).
         Receive<WriteAttribute>(_ =>
             Sender.Tell(new WriteAttributeResult(false, "driver not connected")));
-        Receive<InitializeSucceeded>(_ =>
+        Receive<ApplyDelta>(AdoptConfigDuringInit);
+        Receive<InitializeSucceeded>(msg =>
         {
+            if (msg.Generation != _initGeneration) return;
             Timers.Cancel("retry-connect");
             _log.Info("DriverInstance {Id}: reconnected", _driverInstanceId);
             Become(Connected);
@@ -338,21 +349,36 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     private void InitializeAsync(string driverConfigJson)
     {
         _currentConfigJson = driverConfigJson;
+        var generation = ++_initGeneration;
         var self = Self;
         _ = Task.Run(async () =>
         {
             try
             {
                 await _driver.InitializeAsync(driverConfigJson, CancellationToken.None);
-                self.Tell(new InitializeSucceeded());
+                self.Tell(new InitializeSucceeded(generation));
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                self.Tell(new InitializeFailed(ex.Message));
+                self.Tell(new InitializeFailed(ex.Message, generation));
             }
         });
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Adopt a new config while not connected: ApplyDelta in Connecting/Reconnecting re-inits
+    /// immediately with the new config. <see cref="InitializeAsync"/> swaps <c>_currentConfigJson</c> and
+    /// bumps the generation, so the in-flight (old-config) init is superseded and its result is dropped.
+    /// The actor stays in its current state; the new init's result drives the next transition. In
+    /// Reconnecting the retry timer is left running — if this immediate attempt fails it keeps retrying
+    /// the new config (a redundant concurrent attempt is deduped by the generation guard).</summary>
+    private void AdoptConfigDuringInit(ApplyDelta msg)
+    {
+        _log.Info("DriverInstance {Id}: ApplyDelta during (re)connect — adopting new config, re-initialising now",
+            _driverInstanceId);
+        InitializeAsync(msg.DriverConfigJson);
+        Sender.Tell(new ApplyResult(true, "config adopted; reinitializing", msg.Correlation));
+    }
+
     private async Task HandleApplyDeltaAsync(ApplyDelta msg)
     {
         var replyTo = Sender;
diff --git a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DriverInstanceActorTests.cs b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DriverInstanceActorTests.cs
index bc5230fc..e8ae7e92 100644
--- a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DriverInstanceActorTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/Drivers/DriverInstanceActorTests.cs
@@ -259,6 +259,69 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActorTests : RuntimeActorTestBase
         parent.ExpectNoMsg(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(300));
     }
 
+    /// <summary>A driver stuck Reconnecting (init failing on a bad config) adopts a corrected config
+    /// delivered via ApplyDelta and connects on it — no node restart. Closes pending.md #7.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ApplyDelta_while_Reconnecting_adopts_new_config_and_connects()
+    {
+        const string bad = "{\"v\":\"bad\"}";
+        const string good = "{\"v\":\"good\"}";
+        var driver = new SubscribableStubDriver
+        {
+            InitBehavior = cfg => cfg == good ? Task.CompletedTask : throw new InvalidOperationException("bad-cfg"),
+        };
+        var parent = CreateTestProbe();
+        var actor = parent.ChildActorOf(DriverInstanceActor.Props(driver, reconnectInterval: TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50)));
+
+        actor.Tell(new DriverInstanceActor.SetDesiredSubscriptions(new[] { "tag-a" }, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(100)));
+
+        actor.Tell(new DriverInstanceActor.InitializeRequested(bad));
+        AwaitCondition(() => driver.InitializeCount >= 2, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+        driver.SubscribeCount.ShouldBe(0);
+
+        var correlation = CorrelationId.NewId();
+        var reply = await actor.Ask<DriverInstanceActor.ApplyResult>(
+            new DriverInstanceActor.ApplyDelta(good, correlation), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+        reply.Success.ShouldBeTrue();
+        reply.Correlation.ShouldBe(correlation);
+
+        AwaitCondition(() => driver.SubscribeCount >= 1, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+        driver.InitConfigs.ShouldContain(good);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>A stale InitializeSucceeded from an old (superseded) config cannot hijack the state:
+    /// while a gated old-config init is pending in Connecting, an ApplyDelta adopts a new config; the
+    /// old init completing afterwards is ignored, and only the new config drives Connected.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ApplyDelta_supersedes_in_flight_init_so_stale_result_is_ignored()
+    {
+        const string v1 = "{\"v\":1}";
+        const string v2 = "{\"v\":2}";
+        var gate1 = new TaskCompletionSource(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
+        var gate2 = new TaskCompletionSource(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
+        var driver = new SubscribableStubDriver
+        {
+            InitBehavior = cfg => cfg == v1 ? gate1.Task : gate2.Task,
+        };
+        var parent = CreateTestProbe();
+        var actor = parent.ChildActorOf(DriverInstanceActor.Props(driver, reconnectInterval: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)));
+        actor.Tell(new DriverInstanceActor.SetDesiredSubscriptions(new[] { "tag-a" }, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(100)));
+
+        actor.Tell(new DriverInstanceActor.InitializeRequested(v1));
+        AwaitCondition(() => driver.InitConfigs.Contains(v1), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
+        await actor.Ask<DriverInstanceActor.ApplyResult>(
+            new DriverInstanceActor.ApplyDelta(v2, CorrelationId.NewId()), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+        AwaitCondition(() => driver.InitConfigs.Contains(v2), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
+        gate1.SetResult();
+        parent.ExpectNoMsg(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(400));
+        driver.SubscribeCount.ShouldBe(0);
+
+        gate2.SetResult();
+        AwaitCondition(() => driver.SubscribeCount >= 1, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+    }
+
     private class StubDriver : IDriver
     {
         /// <summary>Gets or sets a value indicating whether initialization should throw.</summary>
@@ -268,6 +331,13 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActorTests : RuntimeActorTestBase
         /// <summary>Gets the number of times reinitialization was called.</summary>
         public int ReinitializeCount;
 
+        private readonly object _initConfigsLock = new();
+        /// <summary>Every config string passed to <see cref="InitializeAsync"/>, in call order.</summary>
+        public List<string> InitConfigs { get; } = new();
+        /// <summary>Optional per-config init behaviour. When set, it fully owns the init outcome for that
+        /// config (await/throw); <see cref="InitializeShouldThrow"/> is ignored. Null ⇒ legacy behaviour.</summary>
+        public Func<string, Task>? InitBehavior { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>Gets the driver instance ID.</summary>
         public string DriverInstanceId => "stub-driver-1";
         /// <summary>Gets the driver type.</summary>
@@ -276,11 +346,12 @@ public sealed class DriverInstanceActorTests : RuntimeActorTestBase
         /// <summary>Initializes the driver with the specified configuration JSON.</summary>
         /// <param name="driverConfigJson">The driver configuration JSON.</param>
         /// <param name="cancellationToken">Cancellation token for the operation.</param>
-        public Task InitializeAsync(string driverConfigJson, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+        public async Task InitializeAsync(string driverConfigJson, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
             Interlocked.Increment(ref InitializeCount);
+            lock (_initConfigsLock) InitConfigs.Add(driverConfigJson);
+            if (InitBehavior is not null) { await InitBehavior(driverConfigJson); return; }
             if (InitializeShouldThrow) throw new InvalidOperationException("stub-init-fail");
-            return Task.CompletedTask;
         }
 
         /// <summary>Reinitializes the driver with the specified configuration JSON.</summary>