diff --git a/agent/conf/agent.properties b/agent/conf/agent.properties
index 0dc5b8211e0d..964ed1e7c2b0 100644
--- a/agent/conf/agent.properties
+++ b/agent/conf/agent.properties
@@ -310,6 +310,22 @@ iscsi.session.cleanup.enabled=false
 # This parameter specifies if the host must be rebooted when something goes wrong with the heartbeat.
 #reboot.host.and.alert.management.on.heartbeat.timeout=true
 
+# Action taken by kvmheartbeat.sh / kvmspheartbeat.sh when a storage heartbeat
+# write fails persistently. Supersedes the legacy binary
+# 'reboot.host.and.alert.management.on.heartbeat.timeout' when set to a non-default value.
+#
+# Allowed values:
+#   reboot          - immediate sysrq-trigger reboot (default; original behavior)
+#   graceful-reboot - 'systemctl reboot' instead of sysrq; allows VMs to stop cleanly
+#   restart-agent   - restart cloudstack-agent only; running VMs are preserved
+#   log-only        - log + alert; take no automatic action (admin must investigate)
+#
+# The 'graceful-reboot', 'restart-agent', and 'log-only' actions are recommended
+# for setups using LINSTOR/DRBD or any local storage with replication, where
+# transient I/O contention can cause a heartbeat write to time out without the
+# host actually being unhealthy.
+#kvm.heartbeat.fence.action=reboot
+
 # Enables manually setting CPU's topology on KVM's VM.
 #enable.manually.setting.cpu.topology.on.kvm.vm=true
 
diff --git a/agent/src/main/java/com/cloud/agent/properties/AgentProperties.java b/agent/src/main/java/com/cloud/agent/properties/AgentProperties.java
index 3364f9708cf5..169f3d15834e 100644
--- a/agent/src/main/java/com/cloud/agent/properties/AgentProperties.java
+++ b/agent/src/main/java/com/cloud/agent/properties/AgentProperties.java
@@ -598,6 +598,25 @@ public class AgentProperties{
     public static final Property<Boolean> REBOOT_HOST_AND_ALERT_MANAGEMENT_ON_HEARTBEAT_TIMEOUT
         = new Property<>("reboot.host.and.alert.management.on.heartbeat.timeout", true);
 
+    /**
+     * Action taken by the KVM agent's storage heartbeat scripts (kvmheartbeat.sh / kvmspheartbeat.sh)
+     * when a heartbeat write fails persistently. Allowed values:
+     * <ul>
+     *   <li>{@code reboot} (default) — immediate sysrq-trigger reboot; original behavior</li>
+     *   <li>{@code graceful-reboot} — {@code systemctl reboot} instead of sysrq, lets VMs stop cleanly</li>
+     *   <li>{@code restart-agent} — restart cloudstack-agent only; running VMs preserved</li>
+     *   <li>{@code log-only} — log + alert, no automatic action</li>
+     * </ul>
+     * The non-default values are recommended for setups using LINSTOR/DRBD or other replicated
+     * local storage, where transient I/O contention can cause a heartbeat write to time out
+     * without the host actually being unhealthy.<br>
+     * Read by the heartbeat shell scripts directly from agent.properties.<br>
+     * Data type: String.<br>
+     * Default value: {@code reboot}
+     */
+    public static final Property<String> KVM_HEARTBEAT_FENCE_ACTION
+        = new Property<>("kvm.heartbeat.fence.action", "reboot");
+
     /**
      * Enables manually setting CPU's topology on KVM's VM. <br>
      * Data type: Boolean.<br>
diff --git a/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmheartbeat.sh b/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmheartbeat.sh
index 9b7eadada69f..4f8056922656 100755
--- a/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmheartbeat.sh
+++ b/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmheartbeat.sh
@@ -156,11 +156,43 @@ then
   exit 0
 elif [ "$cflag" == "1" ]
 then
-  /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmheartbeat.sh will reboot system because it was unable to write the heartbeat to the storage."
-  sync &
-  sleep 5
-  echo b > /proc/sysrq-trigger
-  exit $?
+  # Read fence action from agent.properties (default: reboot for backward compatibility).
+  # Allowed values: reboot | graceful-reboot | restart-agent | log-only
+  AGENT_PROPS="/etc/cloudstack/agent/agent.properties"
+  FENCE_ACTION="reboot"
+  if [ -r "$AGENT_PROPS" ]; then
+    val=$(grep -E '^[[:space:]]*kvm\.heartbeat\.fence\.action[[:space:]]*=' "$AGENT_PROPS" | tail -n 1 | cut -d= -f2- | tr -d '[:space:]')
+    [ -n "$val" ] && FENCE_ACTION="$val"
+  fi
+
+  case "$FENCE_ACTION" in
+    log-only)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'log-only' selected — taking no automatic action. Operator must investigate."
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    restart-agent)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'restart-agent' — restarting cloudstack-agent (running VMs preserved)."
+      sync &
+      sleep 2
+      systemctl restart cloudstack-agent
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+    graceful-reboot)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'graceful-reboot' — rebooting via systemctl (allows running VMs to stop cleanly)."
+      sync &
+      sleep 5
+      systemctl reboot
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+    reboot|*)
+      # Original behavior: immediate kernel-level reboot via sysrq-trigger
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmheartbeat.sh will reboot system because it was unable to write the heartbeat to the storage."
+      sync &
+      sleep 5
+      echo b > /proc/sysrq-trigger
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+  esac
 else
   write_hbLog
   exit $?
diff --git a/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmspheartbeat.sh b/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmspheartbeat.sh
index 3cb459e3e854..bc0294cfdfb7 100755
--- a/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmspheartbeat.sh
+++ b/scripts/vm/hypervisor/kvm/kvmspheartbeat.sh
@@ -58,9 +58,41 @@ deleteVMs() {
 
 if [ "$cflag" == "1" ]
 then
-  /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmspheartbeat.sh will reboot system because it was unable to write the heartbeat to the storage."
-  sync &
-  sleep 5
-  echo b > /proc/sysrq-trigger
-  exit $?
+  # Read fence action from agent.properties (default: reboot for backward compatibility).
+  # Allowed values: reboot | graceful-reboot | restart-agent | log-only
+  AGENT_PROPS="/etc/cloudstack/agent/agent.properties"
+  FENCE_ACTION="reboot"
+  if [ -r "$AGENT_PROPS" ]; then
+    val=$(grep -E '^[[:space:]]*kvm\.heartbeat\.fence\.action[[:space:]]*=' "$AGENT_PROPS" | tail -n 1 | cut -d= -f2- | tr -d '[:space:]')
+    [ -n "$val" ] && FENCE_ACTION="$val"
+  fi
+
+  case "$FENCE_ACTION" in
+    log-only)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmspheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'log-only' selected — taking no automatic action. Operator must investigate."
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    restart-agent)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmspheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'restart-agent' — restarting cloudstack-agent (running VMs preserved)."
+      sync &
+      sleep 2
+      systemctl restart cloudstack-agent
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+    graceful-reboot)
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmspheartbeat.sh: heartbeat write to storage failed; fence action 'graceful-reboot' — rebooting via systemctl (allows running VMs to stop cleanly)."
+      sync &
+      sleep 5
+      systemctl reboot
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+    reboot|*)
+      # Original behavior: immediate kernel-level reboot via sysrq-trigger
+      /usr/bin/logger -t heartbeat "kvmspheartbeat.sh will reboot system because it was unable to write the heartbeat to the storage."
+      sync &
+      sleep 5
+      echo b > /proc/sysrq-trigger
+      exit $?
+      ;;
+  esac
 fi