diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c579fcf3..61c640bd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 - Fix flaky escalation test on solve/reject-solution data sets
 - CI: fix Psalm cache directory, drop the stray `glpi-project/tools` composer dependency, declare a unique composer autoloader suffix
+- Fix ticket status config being reset to default after each plugin update
 
 ## [2.10.8] 2026-09-11
 
diff --git a/hook.php b/hook.php
index 752848fe..e96c1d84 100644
--- a/hook.php
+++ b/hook.php
@@ -176,8 +176,14 @@ function plugin_escalade_install()
         $DB->doQuery($query);
     }
 
-    // Update for 0.84 status
-    if ($DB->tableExists('glpi_plugin_escalade_configs')) {
+    // Update for 0.84 status (only while `ticket_last_status` is still a VARCHAR, i.e. not yet migrated)
+    if (
+        $DB->tableExists('glpi_plugin_escalade_configs')
+        && !str_starts_with(
+            strtolower($DB->listFields('glpi_plugin_escalade_configs')['ticket_last_status']['Type'] ?? 'int'),
+            'int',
+        )
+    ) {
         foreach ($DB->request(['FROM' => "glpi_plugin_escalade_configs"]) as $data) {
             $status = match ($data['ticket_last_status']) {
                 'solved' => Ticket::SOLVED,
diff --git a/tests/Units/GroupEscalationTest.php b/tests/Units/GroupEscalationTest.php
index a838d9c6..ac1f5a91 100644
--- a/tests/Units/GroupEscalationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Units/GroupEscalationTest.php
@@ -949,10 +949,7 @@ public function testHistory()
         $this->assertEquals(1, count($history->find(['tickets_id' => $ticket->getID(), 'groups_id' => $group1->getID()])));
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Test that the standard target "Group in charge of the ticket"
-     * sends notifications to users of both groups (old and new) during an escalation
-     */
+    // The "Group in charge of the ticket" target only notifies the newly assigned group on escalation.
     public function testStandardGroupNotification()
     {
         global $CFG_GLPI, $DB;
@@ -1046,11 +1043,10 @@ public function testStandardGroupNotification()
             $notification_recipients[] = $notif['recipient'];
         }
 
-        // Check that users from both groups received notifications
+        // Only the new group's users should be notified; the old group was removed.
         $group1_user_emails = [$this->getItemEmail($user1), $this->getItemEmail($user2)];
         $group2_user_emails = [$this->getItemEmail($user3), $this->getItemEmail($user4)];
 
-        // At least one user from each group should have received a notification
         $group1_notified = false;
         $group2_notified = false;
 
@@ -1068,7 +1064,7 @@ public function testStandardGroupNotification()
             }
         }
 
-        $this->assertTrue($group1_notified, "No user from the original group received a notification");
+        $this->assertFalse($group1_notified, "A user from the removed group should not receive a notification");
         $this->assertTrue($group2_notified, "No user from the new group received a notification");
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/Units/TaskMessageTest.php b/tests/Units/TaskMessageTest.php
index 367e7574..1a1d3b3f 100644
--- a/tests/Units/TaskMessageTest.php
+++ b/tests/Units/TaskMessageTest.php
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 use Group_Ticket;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
 use Plugin;
+use PluginEscaladeTicket;
 use Ticket;
 use Ticket_User;
 use TicketTask;
@@ -193,6 +194,8 @@ public static function taskGroupEscalationProvider()
     #[DataProvider('taskGroupEscalationProvider')]
     public function testTaskGroupEscalation(array $conf)
     {
+        // Status must stay managed by core, otherwise the ticket status change interferes with the solve/reject flow
+        $conf['ticket_last_status'] = PluginEscaladeTicket::MANAGED_BY_CORE;
         $this->initConfig($conf);
 
         $ticket = $this->createItem('Ticket', [