diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
index f6a276d566e..9b843723a2b 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/pty-connection.ts
@@ -334,7 +334,6 @@ import {
 } from './renderer-owned-agent-status-registry'
 import type { DirectSshPaneRetryAttempt } from '@/store/slices/direct-ssh-terminal-recovery'
 import { directSshAuthoritiesEqual } from '@/store/slices/direct-ssh-terminal-authority-ledger'
-import { flattenRetainedSlice } from '@/lib/flatten-retained-slice'
 
 const pendingSpawnByPaneKey = new Map<string, Promise<string | null>>()
 const SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED_ERROR = 'SSH_SESSION_EXPIRED'
@@ -6777,9 +6776,7 @@ export function connectPanePty(
       if (rawLength !== chunk.data.length) {
         return null
       }
-      // Why flatten: this tail outlives the chunk it was cut from once queued, and a raw slice
-      // would pin the whole original chunk in the output queue (STA-3567).
-      return flattenRetainedSlice(chunk.data.slice(offset))
+      return chunk.data.slice(offset)
     }
 
     type RestoredSnapshotReconciliation =
@@ -6829,9 +6826,7 @@ export function connectPanePty(
         // Why: renderer-only OSC stripping makes raw seq offsets unmappable onto cleaned text; refetch instead of risking duplicate output.
         return { action: 'force-fresh-restore' }
       }
-      // Why flatten: same as above - the trimmed tail is handed to the output queue, and a raw
-      // slice would keep the entire pre-trim payload alive behind it (STA-3567).
-      const sliced = flattenRetainedSlice(data.slice(restoredSnapshotBaselineSeq - startSeq))
+      const sliced = data.slice(restoredSnapshotBaselineSeq - startSeq)
       return {
         action: 'write',
         data: sliced,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.test.ts
index 667b3f6555a..0faa13255e7 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.test.ts
@@ -1693,6 +1693,34 @@ describe('pane terminal output scheduler', () => {
       return process.memoryUsage().heapUsed
     }
 
+    it('does not pin the parent when a producer enqueues a slice', async () => {
+      vi.useFakeTimers()
+      const { writeTerminalOutput } = await loadScheduler()
+
+      // Why a slice: agent-status-osc.ts and the restore-overlap trims hand the scheduler
+      // strings cut from a much larger buffer. The queue must own its copy rather than
+      // trusting every producer to flatten first (STA-3567 review round 2).
+      const KEEP_CHARS = 64 * 1024
+      const sinks = Array.from({ length: TERMINALS }, () => ({
+        write: (_data: string, callback?: () => void) => callback?.()
+      }))
+
+      const baseline = collect()
+
+      for (const [index, sink] of sinks.entries()) {
+        const parent = String.fromCharCode(65 + index) + 'q'.repeat(CHUNK_CHARS - 1)
+        writeTerminalOutput(sink, parent.slice(parent.length - KEEP_CHARS), {
+          foreground: false,
+          latencySensitive: false
+        })
+      }
+
+      const retainedBytes = collect() - baseline
+
+      // 8 x 64 KB of real payload must not keep 8 x 2 MB of parents alive.
+      expect(retainedBytes).toBeLessThan(4 * 1024 * 1024)
+    })
+
     it('drops the parent chunk once only a small tail is still queued', async () => {
       vi.useFakeTimers()
       const { writeTerminalOutput } = await loadScheduler()
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.ts
index 3ba46995f69..f0c6b94ffc8 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/pane-manager/pane-terminal-output-scheduler.ts
@@ -698,12 +698,14 @@ function enqueueChunk(
     ackCredit?: () => void
   }
 ): void {
+  // Why copy at the boundary: producers hand us slices and concatenations that pin far more than
+  // they measure - restore-overlap trims and OSC status stripping both do - and the queue holds
+  // this string long after the parent is otherwise dead. Owning our copy is what makes
+  // retainedChars true, and it costs ~0.1ms per 512KB against a ~30MB/s sustained drain.
+  const owned = flattenRetainedSlice(data)
   entry.chunks.push({
-    data,
-    // Why data.length is the truth here: callers must hand the queue a string that owns its own
-    // storage. A caller passing a slice of a much larger buffer would understate what the queue
-    // pins, so producers flatten overlap-trimmed payloads before they reach the scheduler.
-    retainedChars: data.length,
+    data: owned,
+    retainedChars: owned.length,
     foreground: options?.foreground === true,
     forceForegroundRefresh: options?.forceForegroundRefresh === true,
     followupForegroundRefresh: options?.followupForegroundRefresh === true,