diff --git a/src/providers/openai_compatible.py b/src/providers/openai_compatible.py
index e76f4617..b91076cc 100644
--- a/src/providers/openai_compatible.py
+++ b/src/providers/openai_compatible.py
@@ -7,11 +7,14 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import json
+import logging
 from abc import abstractmethod
 from typing import Any, Generator, Optional
 
 from .base import BaseProvider, ChatResponse, MessageInput, TextChunkCallback
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 def _apply_client_timeout(client: Any) -> Any:
     """Bound an OpenAI-SDK client's read timeout + retries (env-tunable).
@@ -567,12 +570,12 @@ def chat_stream_response(
         """Stream OpenAI-compatible chunks while rebuilding the final response.
 
         ESC-cancellation runs the SDK iteration on a daemon worker
-        thread that pushes chunks into a ``queue.Queue``. The main
-        thread polls the queue with a 100 ms timeout and re-checks
+        thread that pushes chunks into a bounded ``queue.Queue``. The
+        main thread polls the queue with a 100 ms timeout and re-checks
         ``guard.aborted`` between ticks. On abort the main thread
-        raises ``AbortError`` immediately and orphans the worker —
-        the worker dies when the underlying connection eventually
-        closes.
+        raises ``AbortError`` immediately; the worker notices the abort
+        (or the consumer's exit) at its next put attempt and stops
+        reading the stream.
 
         Why the worker indirection (vs. the simpler in-loop check
         used in earlier revisions): the OpenAI Python SDK uses sync
@@ -640,28 +643,59 @@ def chat_stream_response(
         # thread.
         #
         # Workaround: hoist the iteration onto a daemon worker thread
-        # that pushes chunks into a queue. The main thread polls the
-        # queue with a short timeout and re-checks ``guard.aborted``
-        # each tick. On abort we raise ``AbortError`` immediately and
-        # orphan the worker — it'll die when the underlying connection
-        # eventually closes (server-side, idle timeout, or the SDK's
-        # natural exhaustion). The cost is some wasted bandwidth on
-        # the orphaned read; the benefit is that the user's prompt
-        # comes back in ~100 ms regardless of LiteLLM/httpx behavior.
+        # that pushes chunks into a bounded queue. The main thread polls
+        # the queue with a short timeout and re-checks ``guard.aborted``
+        # each tick. On abort we raise ``AbortError`` immediately; the
+        # worker notices the abort (or the consumer's exit) at its next
+        # put attempt and stops reading the stream within one 0.25s
+        # poll. The benefit is that the user's prompt comes back in
+        # ~100 ms regardless of LiteLLM/httpx behavior.
         import queue as _queue
         import threading as _threading
 
         _DONE = object()
-        chunk_queue: _queue.Queue = _queue.Queue()
+        # Bounded (#278): after ESC the consumer stops draining, and a
+        # proxy that keeps sending bytes without closing the iterator
+        # would otherwise grow the queue without limit. 64 bounds the
+        # post-abort staleness to a trivial drain while giving the
+        # producer slack against transient consumer pauses.
+        chunk_queue: _queue.Queue = _queue.Queue(maxsize=64)
+        # Set when the consumer loop exits for ANY reason. Without it, a
+        # consumer that unwinds for a non-abort reason (on_text_chunk
+        # raising, KeyboardInterrupt) would leave the worker retrying a
+        # full queue forever — an immortal thread pinning the httpx
+        # connection open.
+        consumer_gone = _threading.Event()
+
+        def _put_or_drop_on_abort(item: Any) -> bool:
+            """Block until ``item`` is enqueued, or drop it once the
+            abort trips or the consumer exits (either way nobody will
+            drain it; keeping nothing alive is the point). Returns
+            False when dropped."""
+            while True:
+                if guard.aborted or consumer_gone.is_set():
+                    return False
+                try:
+                    chunk_queue.put(item, timeout=0.25)
+                    return True
+                except _queue.Full:
+                    continue
 
         def _drain_stream() -> None:
             try:
                 for c in stream:
-                    chunk_queue.put(c)
+                    if not _put_or_drop_on_abort(c):
+                        return  # stop reading; orphaned socket dies upstream
             except BaseException as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — surface to consumer
-                chunk_queue.put(exc)
+                if not _put_or_drop_on_abort(exc):
+                    # Abort won the race against a genuine error; the
+                    # consumer raises AbortError, so keep the loser
+                    # visible somewhere.
+                    logger.debug(
+                        "stream error dropped after abort", exc_info=exc
+                    )
             finally:
-                chunk_queue.put(_DONE)
+                _put_or_drop_on_abort(_DONE)
 
         worker = _threading.Thread(
             target=_drain_stream,
@@ -669,7 +703,14 @@ def _drain_stream() -> None:
             name=f"openai-stream-{id(stream)}",
         )
 
-        with guard.attach(stream):
+        import contextlib as _contextlib
+
+        with _contextlib.ExitStack() as _consumer_scope:
+            # Releases the worker (sets consumer_gone) no matter how the
+            # consumer loop exits — abort, callback error, or natural
+            # break — so a blocked put never outlives its consumer.
+            _consumer_scope.callback(consumer_gone.set)
+            _consumer_scope.enter_context(guard.attach(stream))
             worker.start()
             while True:
                 try:
diff --git a/tests/test_openai_compat_abort_signal.py b/tests/test_openai_compat_abort_signal.py
index 617d55ad..577ca90c 100644
--- a/tests/test_openai_compat_abort_signal.py
+++ b/tests/test_openai_compat_abort_signal.py
@@ -392,3 +392,98 @@ def test_normal_completion_still_captures_final_usage() -> None:
     # ``response.usage`` would be the default empty dict, and the
     # ``↓ N tokens`` REPL spinner would silently lose count.
     assert response.usage.get("total_tokens") == 15
+
+
+class _FirehoseStream:
+    """Pathological proxy (#278): keeps yielding after ESC, ignores
+    ``response.close()`` entirely, and never raises."""
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.yielded = 0
+        self.response = MagicMock()  # close() is a silent no-op
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        while True:
+            self.yielded += 1
+            time.sleep(0.001)
+            yield _FakeChunk(content="x")
+
+
+def test_firehose_stream_aborts_and_stops_accumulating() -> None:
+    """ESC against a stream that never goes quiet must still abort
+    promptly and bounded (#278): the worker stops enqueueing the moment
+    the abort trips, so the queue (bounded at 64) drains, the consumer
+    hits the Empty tick, and AbortError raises — instead of the queue
+    growing for as long as the proxy keeps sending."""
+    controller = AbortController()
+    stream = _FirehoseStream()
+    provider = _provider_with_stream(stream)
+
+    timer = threading.Timer(0.2, lambda: controller.abort("user_interrupt"))
+    timer.daemon = True
+    timer.start()
+
+    start = time.monotonic()
+    with pytest.raises(AbortError):
+        provider.chat_stream_response(
+            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
+            abort_signal=controller.signal,
+        )
+    elapsed = time.monotonic() - start
+    assert elapsed < 2.0, f"abort took {elapsed:.2f}s against a firehose stream"
+
+    # The worker must notice the abort and stop reading: the yield
+    # count settles (within the worker's 0.25s put-poll) instead of
+    # growing for as long as the proxy keeps sending.
+    time.sleep(0.6)
+    settled = stream.yielded
+    time.sleep(0.5)
+    assert stream.yielded == settled, "worker kept draining after abort"
+
+
+def test_backpressure_happy_path_preserves_order_and_content() -> None:
+    """A stream larger than the queue bound (64) with a slow consumer
+    exercises the Full -> retry path: no drops, no duplicates, no
+    reordering (#278)."""
+    pieces = [f"c{i:03d}," for i in range(150)]
+    stream = _FakeStream(pieces)
+    provider = _provider_with_stream(stream)
+
+    seen: list[str] = []
+
+    def _slow_chunk(piece: str) -> None:
+        seen.append(piece)
+        time.sleep(0.001)
+
+    response = provider.chat_stream_response(
+        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
+        on_text_chunk=_slow_chunk,
+        abort_signal=AbortController().signal,
+    )
+    assert response.content == "".join(pieces)
+    assert seen == pieces
+
+
+def test_consumer_crash_releases_worker() -> None:
+    """A consumer that dies for a NON-abort reason (on_text_chunk
+    raising) must not leave the worker retrying a full queue forever —
+    consumer_gone unblocks it and the stream stops being read (#278)."""
+    stream = _FirehoseStream()
+    provider = _provider_with_stream(stream)
+
+    def _exploding_chunk(_piece: str) -> None:
+        raise ValueError("ui callback bug")
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="ui callback bug"):
+        provider.chat_stream_response(
+            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
+            on_text_chunk=_exploding_chunk,
+            abort_signal=AbortController().signal,
+        )
+
+    # Worker must notice consumer_gone within one 0.25s put-poll and
+    # stop reading; the yield counter settles instead of growing.
+    time.sleep(0.6)
+    settled = stream.yielded
+    time.sleep(0.5)
+    assert stream.yielded == settled, "worker kept draining after consumer crash"