diff --git a/android/java/apk_for_test.flags b/android/java/apk_for_test.flags
index 8ff675c3d02..71268116454 100644
--- a/android/java/apk_for_test.flags
+++ b/android/java/apk_for_test.flags
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@
 -keep class org.chromium.chrome.browser.tasks.ReturnToChromeUtil {
     *** shouldShowNtpAsHomeSurfaceAtStartup(...);
     *** createNewTabAndShowHomeSurfaceUi(...);
-    *** showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp(...);
+    *** setInitialOverviewStateOnResumeWithNtp(...);
 }
 
 -keep class org.chromium.chrome.browser.IntentHandler {
diff --git a/android/java/org/chromium/chrome/browser/tasks/BraveReturnToChromeUtil.java b/android/java/org/chromium/chrome/browser/tasks/BraveReturnToChromeUtil.java
index 597080b8253..84105c49798 100644
--- a/android/java/org/chromium/chrome/browser/tasks/BraveReturnToChromeUtil.java
+++ b/android/java/org/chromium/chrome/browser/tasks/BraveReturnToChromeUtil.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import org.chromium.chrome.browser.ntp.BraveFreshNtpHelper;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.preferences.ChromeSharedPreferences;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tab.Tab;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabCreator;
+import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabModel;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabModelSelector;
 import org.chromium.url.GURL;
 
@@ -149,15 +150,39 @@ public final class BraveReturnToChromeUtil {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Shows the home surface UI on the given NTP. This is a wrapper around the upstream method that
-     * adds a null check for homeSurfaceTracker to prevent crashes when the tracker is not
-     * initialized.
+     * Sets the initial overview state on resume with NTP. Wraps the upstream method to handle the
+     * case where homeSurfaceTracker is null (not yet initialized during warm startup). When null,
+     * we pass a temporary no-op HomeSurfaceTracker to avoid the NPE in upstream's
+     * homeSurfaceTracker.isHomeSurfaceTab() call. This is safe because the temporary tracker's
+     * isHomeSurfaceTab() always returns false (no home surface tab set), which causes upstream to
+     * call updateHomeSurfaceAndTrackingTabs() on the throwaway instance — effectively a no-op that
+     * doesn't interfere with the real tracker created later in ChromeTabbedActivity initialization.
+     * The no-op tracker is also safe when passed through to upstream's showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp() and
+     * createNewTabAndShowHomeSurfaceUi() in the else branch — those methods only call
+     * updateHomeSurfaceAndTrackingTabs() on it, which again just sets fields on the throwaway. The
+     * real tracker (ChromeTabbedActivity.mHomeSurfaceTracker) is created independently and flows
+     * into NewTabPage via NativePageFactory, so subsequent reads are unaffected.
+     *
+     * <p>Note: unlike upstream's shouldShowNtpAsHomeSurfaceAtStartup which bails out on activity
+     * recreate (isFromRecreate check), we intentionally allow the NTP to show in recreate scenarios
+     * (e.g., rotation, process death restore, foldable transitions). This is because our
+     * inactivity-based NTP logic should still apply — if the user was away for 1+ hours, we want
+     * the NTP shown regardless of whether the activity was recreated on return.
      */
-    static void showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp(
-            Tab ntpTab, Tab lastActiveTab, @Nullable HomeSurfaceTracker homeSurfaceTracker) {
+    public static boolean setInitialOverviewStateOnResumeWithNtp(
+            boolean isIncognito,
+            boolean shouldShowNtpHomeSurfaceOnStartup,
+            TabModel currentTabModel,
+            TabCreator tabCreator,
+            @Nullable HomeSurfaceTracker homeSurfaceTracker) {
         if (homeSurfaceTracker == null) {
-            return;
+            homeSurfaceTracker = new HomeSurfaceTracker();
         }
-        ReturnToChromeUtil.showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp(ntpTab, lastActiveTab, homeSurfaceTracker);
+        return ReturnToChromeUtil.setInitialOverviewStateOnResumeWithNtp(
+                isIncognito,
+                shouldShowNtpHomeSurfaceOnStartup,
+                currentTabModel,
+                tabCreator,
+                homeSurfaceTracker);
     }
 }
diff --git a/android/javatests/org/chromium/chrome/browser/BytecodeTest.java b/android/javatests/org/chromium/chrome/browser/BytecodeTest.java
index 8f2771bbb05..92f23838e92 100644
--- a/android/javatests/org/chromium/chrome/browser/BytecodeTest.java
+++ b/android/javatests/org/chromium/chrome/browser/BytecodeTest.java
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.AsyncTabParamsManager;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.IncognitoStateProvider;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabCreator;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabCreatorManager;
+import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabModel;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tabmodel.TabModelSelector;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tasks.HomeSurfaceTracker;
 import org.chromium.chrome.browser.tasks.tab_management.TabGroupCreationUiDelegate;
@@ -751,11 +752,13 @@ public class BytecodeTest {
         Assert.assertTrue(
                 methodExists(
                         "org/chromium/chrome/browser/tasks/ReturnToChromeUtil",
-                        "showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp",
+                        "setInitialOverviewStateOnResumeWithNtp",
                         MethodModifier.STATIC,
-                        void.class,
-                        Tab.class,
-                        Tab.class,
+                        boolean.class,
+                        boolean.class,
+                        boolean.class,
+                        TabModel.class,
+                        TabCreator.class,
                         HomeSurfaceTracker.class));
         Assert.assertTrue(
                 methodExists(
diff --git a/build/android/bytecode/java/org/brave/bytecode/BraveReturnToChromeUtilClassAdapter.java b/build/android/bytecode/java/org/brave/bytecode/BraveReturnToChromeUtilClassAdapter.java
index 574792de619..6e850028319 100644
--- a/build/android/bytecode/java/org/brave/bytecode/BraveReturnToChromeUtilClassAdapter.java
+++ b/build/android/bytecode/java/org/brave/bytecode/BraveReturnToChromeUtilClassAdapter.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class BraveReturnToChromeUtilClassAdapter extends BraveClassVisitor {
 
         changeMethodOwner(
                 sReturnToChromeUtilClassName,
-                "showHomeSurfaceUiOnNtp",
+                "setInitialOverviewStateOnResumeWithNtp",
                 sBraveReturnToChromeUtilClassName);
     }
 }