diff --git a/agent/system.go b/agent/system.go
index 1649625aa..33831580f 100644
--- a/agent/system.go
+++ b/agent/system.go
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func (a *Agent) getSystemStats(cacheTimeMs uint16) system.Stats {
 	a.systemInfo.MemPct = systemStats.MemPct
 	a.systemInfo.DiskPct = systemStats.DiskPct
 	a.systemInfo.Battery = systemStats.Battery
-	a.systemInfo.Uptime, _ = host.Uptime()
+	a.systemInfo.Uptime, _ = getUptime()
 	a.systemInfo.BandwidthBytes = systemStats.Bandwidth[0] + systemStats.Bandwidth[1]
 	a.systemInfo.Threads = a.systemDetails.Threads
 
diff --git a/agent/uptime_linux.go b/agent/uptime_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a91ee8107
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/uptime_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"math"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4/host"
+)
+
+// uptimeFilePath is a variable so tests can point it at a fixture.
+var uptimeFilePath = "/proc/uptime"
+
+// getUptime returns the system uptime in seconds.
+//
+// This reads /proc/uptime instead of using host.Uptime(), which calls the
+// sysinfo(2) syscall. Inside an LXC container lxcfs virtualizes /proc/uptime
+// but cannot intercept a syscall, so sysinfo(2) reports the host's uptime
+// rather than the container's.
+//
+// Falls back to host.Uptime() if /proc/uptime is missing or unparseable, so
+// behavior is unchanged anywhere the file isn't available.
+func getUptime() (uint64, error) {
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(uptimeFilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return host.Uptime()
+	}
+	fields := strings.Fields(string(data))
+	if len(fields) == 0 {
+		return host.Uptime()
+	}
+	seconds, err := strconv.ParseFloat(fields[0], 64)
+	if err != nil ||
+		math.IsNaN(seconds) ||
+		math.IsInf(seconds, 0) ||
+		seconds < 0 ||
+		seconds >= 1<<64 {
+		return host.Uptime()
+	}
+	return uint64(seconds), nil
+}
diff --git a/agent/uptime_linux_test.go b/agent/uptime_linux_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6123702b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/uptime_linux_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestGetUptimeFromProc(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		contents string
+		want     uint64
+	}{
+		{"typical", "12345.67 98765.43\n", 12345},
+		{"zero", "0.00 0.00\n", 0},
+		{"no trailing newline", "42.99 7.00", 42},
+		{"single field", "600.5", 600},
+		{"large value", "266030.12 1000000.00\n", 266030},
+	}
+
+	prev := uptimeFilePath
+	t.Cleanup(func() { uptimeFilePath = prev })
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "uptime")
+			if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(tt.contents), 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			uptimeFilePath = path
+
+			got, err := getUptime()
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("getUptime() returned error: %v", err)
+			}
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("getUptime() = %d, want %d", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func writeUptime(contents string) func(t *testing.T) string {
+	return func(t *testing.T) string {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "uptime")
+		if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(contents), 0o644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return path
+	}
+}
+
+// Malformed, missing, or out-of-range input must fall back to host.Uptime()
+// rather than returning a bogus value, so the agent still reports something sane.
+func TestGetUptimeFallsBack(t *testing.T) {
+	prev := uptimeFilePath
+	t.Cleanup(func() { uptimeFilePath = prev })
+
+	for _, tt := range []struct {
+		name    string
+		prepare func(t *testing.T) string
+	}{
+		{"missing file", func(t *testing.T) string {
+			return filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "does-not-exist")
+		}},
+		{"empty file", func(t *testing.T) string {
+			path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "uptime")
+			if err := os.WriteFile(path, nil, 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			return path
+		}},
+		{"unparseable", func(t *testing.T) string {
+			path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "uptime")
+			if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("not-a-number 1.0\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			return path
+		}},
+		{"NaN", writeUptime("NaN 1.0\n")},
+		{"positive infinity", writeUptime("+Inf 1.0\n")},
+		{"negative infinity", writeUptime("-Inf 1.0\n")},
+		{"negative", writeUptime("-42.5 1.0\n")},
+		{"exceeds uint64 range", writeUptime("1e20 1.0\n")},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			uptimeFilePath = tt.prepare(t)
+
+			got, err := getUptime()
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("getUptime() returned error: %v", err)
+			}
+			if got == 0 {
+				t.Error("getUptime() = 0, expected fallback to host.Uptime()")
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/agent/uptime_stub.go b/agent/uptime_stub.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..063de751c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/uptime_stub.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+//go:build !linux
+
+package agent
+
+import "github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4/host"
+
+// getUptime returns the system uptime in seconds.
+func getUptime() (uint64, error) {
+	return host.Uptime()
+}