diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a7ae0c66ade..2ce8d426b47 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Runtime/install: lower the supported Node 22 floor to `22.14+` while continuing to recommend Node 24, so npm installs and self-updates do not strand Node 22.14 users on older releases.
 - CLI/update: preflight the target npm package `engines.node` before `openclaw update` runs a global package install, so outdated Node runtimes fail with a clear upgrade message instead of attempting an unsupported latest release.
 - Tests/security audit: isolate audit-test home and personal skill resolution so local `~/.agents/skills` installs no longer make maintainer prep runs fail nondeterministically. (#54473) thanks @huntharo
+- Memory/QMD: preserve explicit custom collection names for shared paths outside the agent workspace so `memory_search` stops appending `-<agentId>` to externally managed QMD collections. (#52539) Thanks @lobsrice and @vincentkoc.
 
 ## 2026.3.24-beta.1
 
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
index 6f57ae9f0c8..9a6782e954c 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
@@ -1747,6 +1747,46 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     await manager.close();
   });
 
+  it("uses explicit external custom collection names verbatim at query time", async () => {
+    const sharedMirrorDir = path.join(tmpRoot, "shared-notion-mirror");
+    await fs.mkdir(sharedMirrorDir);
+    cfg = {
+      ...cfg,
+      memory: {
+        backend: "qmd",
+        qmd: {
+          includeDefaultMemory: false,
+          update: { interval: "0s", debounceMs: 60_000, onBoot: false },
+          paths: [{ path: sharedMirrorDir, pattern: "**/*.md", name: "notion-mirror" }],
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+
+    spawnMock.mockImplementation((_cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "search") {
+        const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
+        emitAndClose(child, "stdout", "[]");
+        return child;
+      }
+      return createMockChild();
+    });
+
+    const { manager, resolved } = await createManager();
+
+    await manager.search("test", { sessionKey: "agent:main:slack:dm:u123" });
+    const maxResults = resolved.qmd?.limits.maxResults;
+    if (!maxResults) {
+      throw new Error("qmd maxResults missing");
+    }
+    const searchCalls = spawnMock.mock.calls
+      .map((call: unknown[]) => call[1] as string[])
+      .filter((args: string[]) => args[0] === "search");
+    expect(searchCalls).toEqual([
+      ["search", "test", "--json", "-n", String(maxResults), "-c", "notion-mirror"],
+    ]);
+    await manager.close();
+  });
+
   it("runs qmd query per collection when query mode has multiple collection filters", async () => {
     cfg = {
       ...cfg,
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
index 07f6d079265..9b944760f22 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { resolveAgentWorkspaceDir } from "../../../../src/agents/agent-scope.js";
@@ -111,6 +113,66 @@ describe("resolveMemoryBackendConfig", () => {
     expect(devNames.has("workspace-dev")).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("preserves explicit custom collection names for paths outside the workspace", () => {
+    const cfg = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: { workspace: "/workspace/root" },
+        list: [
+          { id: "main", default: true, workspace: "/workspace/root" },
+          { id: "dev", workspace: "/workspace/dev" },
+        ],
+      },
+      memory: {
+        backend: "qmd",
+        qmd: {
+          includeDefaultMemory: true,
+          paths: [{ path: "/shared/notion-mirror", name: "notion-mirror", pattern: "**/*.md" }],
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+    const mainResolved = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId: "main" });
+    const devResolved = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId: "dev" });
+    const mainNames = new Set(
+      (mainResolved.qmd?.collections ?? []).map((collection) => collection.name),
+    );
+    const devNames = new Set(
+      (devResolved.qmd?.collections ?? []).map((collection) => collection.name),
+    );
+    expect(mainNames.has("memory-dir-main")).toBe(true);
+    expect(devNames.has("memory-dir-dev")).toBe(true);
+    expect(mainNames.has("notion-mirror")).toBe(true);
+    expect(devNames.has("notion-mirror")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps symlinked workspace paths agent-scoped when deciding custom collection names", async () => {
+    const tmpRoot = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "qmd-backend-config-"));
+    const workspaceDir = path.join(tmpRoot, "workspace");
+    const workspaceAliasDir = path.join(tmpRoot, "workspace-alias");
+    try {
+      await fs.mkdir(workspaceDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.symlink(workspaceDir, workspaceAliasDir);
+      const cfg = {
+        agents: {
+          defaults: { workspace: workspaceDir },
+          list: [{ id: "main", default: true, workspace: workspaceDir }],
+        },
+        memory: {
+          backend: "qmd",
+          qmd: {
+            includeDefaultMemory: false,
+            paths: [{ path: workspaceAliasDir, name: "workspace", pattern: "**/*.md" }],
+          },
+        },
+      } as OpenClawConfig;
+      const resolved = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId: "main" });
+      const names = new Set((resolved.qmd?.collections ?? []).map((collection) => collection.name));
+      expect(names.has("workspace-main")).toBe(true);
+      expect(names.has("workspace")).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      await fs.rm(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("resolves qmd update timeout overrides", () => {
     const cfg = {
       agents: { defaults: { workspace: "/tmp/memory-test" } },
@@ -283,6 +345,25 @@ describe("memorySearch.extraPaths integration", () => {
     expect(paths).toContain(resolveComparablePath("/agent-only"));
   });
 
+  it("keeps unnamed extra paths agent-scoped even when they resolve outside the workspace", () => {
+    const cfg = {
+      memory: { backend: "qmd" },
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          workspace: "/workspace/root",
+          memorySearch: {
+            extraPaths: ["/shared/path"],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+    const result = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId: "my-agent" });
+    const customCollections = (result.qmd?.collections ?? []).filter(
+      (collection) => collection.kind === "custom",
+    );
+    expect(customCollections.map((collection) => collection.name)).toContain("custom-1-my-agent");
+  });
+
   it("matches per-agent memorySearch.extraPaths using normalized agent ids", () => {
     const cfg = {
       memory: { backend: "qmd" },
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
index 27cb8df9268..8d69d7b2f8b 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { resolveAgentWorkspaceDir } from "../../../../src/agents/agent-scope.js";
 import { parseDurationMs } from "../../../../src/cli/parse-duration.js";
@@ -115,6 +116,23 @@ function scopeCollectionBase(base: string, agentId: string): string {
   return `${base}-${sanitizeName(agentId)}`;
 }
 
+function canonicalizePathForContainment(rawPath: string): string {
+  const resolved = path.resolve(rawPath);
+  try {
+    return path.normalize(fs.realpathSync.native(resolved));
+  } catch {
+    return path.normalize(resolved);
+  }
+}
+
+function isPathInsideRoot(candidatePath: string, rootPath: string): boolean {
+  const relative = path.relative(
+    canonicalizePathForContainment(rootPath),
+    canonicalizePathForContainment(candidatePath),
+  );
+  return relative === "" || (!relative.startsWith("..") && !path.isAbsolute(relative));
+}
+
 function ensureUniqueName(base: string, existing: Set<string>): string {
   let name = sanitizeName(base);
   if (!existing.has(name)) {
@@ -252,7 +270,11 @@ function resolveCustomPaths(
       return;
     }
     seenRoots.add(dedupeKey);
-    const baseName = scopeCollectionBase(entry.name?.trim() || `custom-${index + 1}`, agentId);
+    const explicitName = entry.name?.trim();
+    const baseName =
+      explicitName && !isPathInsideRoot(resolved, workspaceDir)
+        ? explicitName
+        : scopeCollectionBase(explicitName || `custom-${index + 1}`, agentId);
     const name = ensureUniqueName(baseName, existing);
     collections.push({
       name,