diff --git a/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.test.ts
index 8ec87f7f9c3..5918eec3a6c 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.test.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ function installHost(options: {
   stuck?: Set<string>
   /** Sessions the host drops without death evidence, so the observation is `unverifiable`. */
   unverifiable?: Set<string>
+  /** Sessions whose child dies and is recorded dead, but whose close then fails past that point. */
+  settledThenThrows?: Set<string>
   /** Blocks every close, to exercise the shared sweep budget without fake timers. */
   closeGate?: Promise<void>
 }): { closed: string[] } {
@@ -74,6 +76,9 @@ function installHost(options: {
         record.lease.claimStatus = 'released'
         record.lease.deathEvidence = { kind: 'exit-observed', detail: 'closed', observedAt: 1 }
       }
+      if (options.settledThenThrows?.has(sessionId)) {
+        throw new Error('the event sink could not be flushed')
+      }
     }
   }
   // `observeStructuredWorker` reads the record through the same host, so keep them consistent.
@@ -201,6 +206,28 @@ describe('worktree teardown and structured agent sessions', () => {
     warn.mockRestore()
   })
 
+  it('takes the proof when a failed close is re-observed as exited', async () => {
+    // `closeStructuredAgentSessionChild` reports `stopped: false` for anything that throws past its
+    // own observation, and for a record whose death evidence lands after it read. The re-read here
+    // can still PROVE the exit — refusing a delete over a child that is demonstrably gone is the
+    // defect this whole sweep exists to remove, so the proof has to win over the close's verdict.
+    const retired: string[] = []
+    const runtime = {
+      stopTerminalsForWorktree: async () => ({ stopped: 0 }),
+      retireStructuredAgentSessionTabFromSnapshot: (sessionId: string) => {
+        retired.push(sessionId)
+        return true
+      }
+    } as never
+    installHost({ records: [record('s1', WORKTREE)], settledThenThrows: new Set(['s1']) })
+    await expect(
+      killAllProcessesForWorktree(WORKTREE, { ...destructiveDeps(), runtime })
+    ).resolves.toMatchObject({ structuredStopped: 1 })
+    // Retired here because the close gave up before its own retirement step, and a chat tab left
+    // behind re-attaches a released session pointing at a workspace that is about to be deleted.
+    expect(retired).toEqual(['s1'])
+  })
+
   it('leaves the best-effort reconciliation paths alone', async () => {
     // Those callers repair state and delete nothing, so a refusal there would wedge a repair.
     installHost({ records: [record('s1', WORKTREE)] })
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.ts b/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.ts
index 81876f46285..2996ff988dc 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/structured-session-worktree-teardown.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import { STILL_LIVE_DETAIL_PREFIX } from '../../shared/worktree/removal'
 import { getStructuredAgentSessionHost } from '../native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-registry'
 import { observeStructuredWorker } from './structured-worker-authority'
 import { closeStructuredAgentSessionChild } from './structured-agent-session-close'
+import { retireSettledStructuredWorkerTab } from './structured-agent-session-tab-retirement'
 import type { OrcaRuntimeService } from './orca-runtime'
 
 export type LiveStructuredSessionInWorkspace = {
@@ -165,7 +166,16 @@ export async function closeStructuredSessionsForWorktree(
     // Re-observed rather than reusing the close's own reason string: what the user is asked to
     // waive is the state AFTER the attempt, and a close that threw never reached an observation.
     const status = observeStructuredWorker({ sessionId: session.sessionId }).status
-    unstopped.push({ ...session, status: status === 'live' ? 'live' : 'unverifiable' })
+    if (status === 'exited') {
+      // The re-read can PROVE the exit a failed close could not — it threw past its own
+      // observation, or the record's death evidence landed after it read. Refusing on a child
+      // that is demonstrably gone is the defect this sweep exists to remove, so take the proof
+      // and run the retirement `closeStructuredAgentSessionChild` skipped when it gave up.
+      retireSettledStructuredWorkerTab(session.sessionId, runtime)
+      closed += 1
+      continue
+    }
+    unstopped.push({ ...session, status })
   }
   return { closed, unstopped }
 }