diff --git a/src/ucode/agents/claude.py b/src/ucode/agents/claude.py
index d5bcd6f..d0d0380 100644
--- a/src/ucode/agents/claude.py
+++ b/src/ucode/agents/claude.py
@@ -398,10 +398,10 @@ def _ensure_mlflow_cli() -> bool:
         return False
 
     print_note(f"{'Replacing' if current else 'Installing'} the mlflow CLI ({MLFLOW_CLI_SPEC})...")
-    # --force replaces an existing (out-of-range) uv-managed mlflow in place.
-    cmd = ["uv", "tool", "install", MLFLOW_CLI_SPEC]
-    if current:
-        cmd.append("--force")
+    # Always --force: it installs fresh when absent and replaces in place when
+    # present. Keying it on `current` broke when an mlflow existed but its
+    # version couldn't be parsed — uv still errors "Executable already exists".
+    cmd = ["uv", "tool", "install", "--force", MLFLOW_CLI_SPEC]
     try:
         subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, timeout=600)
     except (OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired) as exc:
diff --git a/tests/test_tracing.py b/tests/test_tracing.py
index 9170f5f..088b2e1 100644
--- a/tests/test_tracing.py
+++ b/tests/test_tracing.py
@@ -650,7 +650,9 @@ def test_installs_when_missing(self, monkeypatch):
         cmd = run.call_args[0][0]
         assert cmd[:3] == ["uv", "tool", "install"]
         assert claude.MLFLOW_CLI_SPEC in cmd
-        assert "--force" not in cmd
+        # Always --force so an unparseable-version mlflow on disk doesn't trip
+        # uv's "Executable already exists" error.
+        assert "--force" in cmd
 
     def test_force_replaces_when_below_minimum(self, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setattr(claude, "_installed_mlflow_version", lambda: (3, 4))