diff --git a/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e17ed9abea2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { EventEmitter } from 'events'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type { Socket } from 'net'
+import { UnixSocketTransport } from './unix-socket-transport'
+
+class FakeSocket extends EventEmitter {
+  destroyed = false
+  writable = true
+  readonly writes: string[] = []
+
+  setEncoding(): void {}
+  setNoDelay(): void {}
+  setTimeout(): void {}
+
+  write(data: string): boolean {
+    this.writes.push(data)
+    return true
+  }
+
+  destroy(): this {
+    if (!this.destroyed) {
+      this.destroyed = true
+      this.writable = false
+      this.emit('close')
+    }
+    return this
+  }
+}
+
+type UnixSocketTransportInternals = {
+  handleConnection(socket: Socket): void
+}
+
+describe('UnixSocketTransport', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+  })
+
+  it('clears request keepalive timers when the socket closes before a reply', () => {
+    const transport = new UnixSocketTransport({
+      endpoint: '/tmp/orca-runtime-rpc-test.sock',
+      kind: 'unix',
+      keepaliveIntervalMs: 100
+    })
+    const socket = new FakeSocket()
+    let aborted = false
+
+    transport.onMessage((_msg, _reply, context) => {
+      context?.signal?.addEventListener(
+        'abort',
+        () => {
+          aborted = true
+        },
+        { once: true }
+      )
+      context?.startKeepalive()
+    })
+
+    ;(transport as unknown as UnixSocketTransportInternals).handleConnection(
+      socket as unknown as Socket
+    )
+    socket.emit('data', '{"id":"pending","method":"wait"}\n')
+
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(100)
+    expect(socket.writes).toHaveLength(1)
+
+    socket.destroy()
+    expect(aborted).toBe(true)
+
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(500)
+    expect(socket.writes).toHaveLength(1)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.ts b/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.ts
index 50c7d9822ca..07866b6ae3d 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/rpc/unix-socket-transport.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export class UnixSocketTransport implements RpcTransport {
     // completing one dispatch does not abort any other dispatch still running
     // on the same socket — future-proofing for a persistent CLI socket that
     // multiplexes sequential requests.
-    const inflight = new Set<AbortController>()
+    const inflight = new Set<() => void>()
 
     socket.setEncoding('utf8')
     socket.setNoDelay(true)
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ export class UnixSocketTransport implements RpcTransport {
       socket.destroy()
     })
     socket.on('close', () => {
-      for (const ctrl of inflight) {
-        ctrl.abort()
+      for (const cleanup of inflight) {
+        cleanup()
       }
       inflight.clear()
     })
@@ -151,29 +151,37 @@ export class UnixSocketTransport implements RpcTransport {
   // Why: the keepalive timer is opt-in per request via `startKeepalive()`.
   // Short RPCs never call it and pay no timer overhead; only long-poll
   // handlers (e.g. orchestration.check --wait) arm it. See §3.1.
-  private dispatchMessage(
-    socket: Socket,
-    rawMessage: string,
-    inflight: Set<AbortController>
-  ): void {
+  private dispatchMessage(socket: Socket, rawMessage: string, inflight: Set<() => void>): void {
     let replied = false
     let keepaliveTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null
-    // Why: per-dispatch AbortController so completing one request does not
-    // abort any sibling request running on the same connection. The
-    // connection-level `socket.on('close')` iterates `inflight` to cancel all
-    // outstanding dispatches at once.
+    // Why: each dispatch needs its own abort signal and keepalive timer
+    // cleanup. Socket close runs every cleanup without touching sibling
+    // dispatches that already replied on the same connection.
     const abortController = new AbortController()
-    inflight.add(abortController)
+    let cleanedUp = false
+    const cleanupDispatch = (abort: boolean): void => {
+      if (cleanedUp) {
+        return
+      }
+      cleanedUp = true
+      if (keepaliveTimer) {
+        clearInterval(keepaliveTimer)
+        keepaliveTimer = null
+      }
+      if (abort) {
+        abortController.abort()
+      }
+      inflight.delete(abortDispatch)
+    }
+    const abortDispatch = (): void => cleanupDispatch(true)
+    inflight.add(abortDispatch)
 
     const reply = (response: string): void => {
       if (replied) {
         return
       }
       replied = true
-      inflight.delete(abortController)
-      if (keepaliveTimer) {
-        clearInterval(keepaliveTimer)
-      }
+      cleanupDispatch(false)
       if (!socket.destroyed && socket.writable) {
         socket.write(`${response}\n`)
       }
@@ -185,6 +193,7 @@ export class UnixSocketTransport implements RpcTransport {
       }
       keepaliveTimer = setInterval(() => {
         if (replied || socket.destroyed || !socket.writable) {
+          cleanupDispatch(socket.destroyed || !socket.writable)
           return
         }
         socket.write('{"_keepalive":true}\n')