diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/src/worker-pool.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/src/worker-pool.ts
index 56ef66835..df5f78f01 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/src/worker-pool.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/src/worker-pool.ts
@@ -170,7 +170,43 @@ const WORKER_FILE = (() => {
 const WORKER_EXIT_GRACE_MS = 5_000;
 
 /**
- * Terminate a worker, closing its piped stdout/stderr FIRST.
+ * Upper bound on how long `terminateWorker` waits for a piped stream to
+ * emit `'close'` after `destroy()` before giving up and terminating
+ * anyway. A normal close lands within a tick; this only guards a wedged
+ * worker whose stream never closes, so teardown can never stall.
+ */
+const PIPE_CLOSE_GRACE_MS = 1_000;
+
+/**
+ * Destroy one worker stdio pipe and resolve once it has ACTUALLY closed
+ * — or immediately if the stream is absent / already destroyed, and at
+ * the latest after `PIPE_CLOSE_GRACE_MS` so a stream that never emits
+ * `'close'` can't stall the caller.
+ */
+async function closePipe(stream: Worker['stdout']): Promise<void> {
+  if (!stream || stream.destroyed) return;
+  await new Promise<void>((resolveClosed) => {
+    const done = (): void => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      stream.off('close', done);
+      resolveClosed();
+    };
+    const timer = setTimeout(done, PIPE_CLOSE_GRACE_MS);
+    stream.once('close', done);
+    try {
+      stream.destroy();
+    } catch {
+      // `destroy()` is not expected to throw synchronously, but guard so
+      // a faulty stream still settles (clearing the timer + listener)
+      // instead of leaking the promise, the timer, and the listener.
+      done();
+    }
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Terminate a worker, closing its piped stdout/stderr FIRST and WAITING
+ * for them to actually close before killing the thread.
  *
  * Mitigates a windows-latest-only crash: `worker.terminate()` abruptly
  * kills the thread while its stdio named pipes are still live, and
@@ -179,16 +215,21 @@ const WORKER_EXIT_GRACE_MS = 5_000;
  * `uncaughtException` / `unhandledRejection` / `process.exit`, so the
  * only way that child can "exit unexpectedly" is a native fault). It
  * surfaced only in the high-terminate-churn `worker-pool-e2e` suite.
- * Closing our read end first makes the pipe teardown deterministic and
- * removes that race — and is sound teardown hygiene on every platform.
+ *
+ * `destroy()` alone is NOT enough: it only *initiates* the close, which
+ * completes on a later tick, so a `terminate()` called synchronously
+ * after it still races the in-flight teardown. Awaiting each pipe's
+ * `'close'` SERIALIZES the two — by the time we terminate, the pipes are
+ * already gone and there is no concurrent teardown left to fault.
+ * Bounded by `PIPE_CLOSE_GRACE_MS` so a wedged worker can't stall here.
+ *
  * Trailing worker output is intentionally dropped (the worker is being
  * killed); `destroy()` errors are swallowed by the `ignorePipeError`
  * listeners wired in `spawnWorker`. Returns `terminate()`'s promise so
  * callers can chain `.then` / `.catch` / `.finally` unchanged.
  */
-async function terminateWorker(worker: Worker): Promise<number> {
-  worker.stdout?.destroy();
-  worker.stderr?.destroy();
+export async function terminateWorker(worker: Worker): Promise<number> {
+  await Promise.all([closePipe(worker.stdout), closePipe(worker.stderr)]);
   return worker.terminate();
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/regression-coverage.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/regression-coverage.test.ts
index 3e277ae92..10ce15623 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/regression-coverage.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/regression-coverage.test.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import path from 'node:path';
 import * as espree from 'espree';
 import { parseSync } from 'oxc-parser';
 
-import { WorkerPool } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
+import { WorkerPool, terminateWorker } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
 import { createSourceCode } from '../src/source-code/source-code.js';
 import { lintFile } from '../src/linter/ecma-language-plugin.js';
 import type { LoadedPlugins } from '../src/plugin/plugin-loader.js';
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool respawn rejection drains pendingQueue', () => {
     //    Pre-fix: pendingQueue stays full forever.
     //    Post-fix: drainQueueIfAllSlotsDegraded() in the reject
     //              callback resolves siblings with pool_degraded.
-    await internals.workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker);
 
     // 5. Race sibling against a generous-but-bounded timeout. Pre-fix
     //    the race resolves with 'timeout'; post-fix sibling settles
@@ -1167,7 +1167,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool shutdown does not wait for already-exited workers', () => {
     const internals = pool as any;
     // Terminate worker[0]; its 'exit' event fires now. With retryCap=0
     // the slot is NOT respawned — it stays in this.workers as dead.
-    await internals.workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker);
     // Drain pendingQueue cascade.
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 100));
 
@@ -1913,8 +1913,8 @@ describe('drainQueueIfAllSlotsDegraded does not fire during mid-respawn', () =>
 
     // Terminate both nearly simultaneously to trigger respawn race.
     await Promise.all([
-      internals.workers[0].worker.terminate(),
-      internals.workers[1].worker.terminate(),
+      terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker),
+      terminateWorker(internals.workers[1].worker),
     ]);
     void spawnCallNum;
 
@@ -2525,7 +2525,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool: worker crashing mid-init is correctly respawned', () => {
     const internals = pool as any;
     const originalSpawn = internals.spawnWorker.bind(internals);
     let firstSlot: {
-      worker: { terminate(): Promise<number> };
+      worker: import('node:worker_threads').Worker;
       id: number;
     } | null = null;
     let callIdx = 0;
@@ -2563,7 +2563,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool: worker crashing mid-init is correctly respawned', () => {
     // slot 0 in it. Pre-fix `this.workers` was empty until the final
     // assignment, so the respawn's findIndex returned -1 and the
     // replacement got terminated as an orphan.
-    await firstSlot!.worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(firstSlot!.worker);
 
     // Give the respawn a moment to complete.
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 500));
@@ -3006,7 +3006,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool: shutdown awaits in-flight respawn', () => {
     };
 
     // Crash the only worker → exit handler kicks off the (slow) respawn.
-    await internals.workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker);
     // Give the exit handler a tick to enter the respawn branch.
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
     expect(respawnStarted).toBe(true);
diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-queue.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-queue.test.ts
index 7af8a84e1..5b7e40a87 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-queue.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-queue.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, test, expect } from '@rstest/core';
 
-import { WorkerPool } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
+import { WorkerPool, terminateWorker } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
 import type { LintTask } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
 
 import {
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool end-to-end with a local fixture plugin', () => {
     // path is to terminate the worker (triggers a real 'exit') after
     // setting crashCount to the cap.
     internals.workers[0].crashCount = internals.opts.retryCap;
-    await internals.workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker);
 
     const result = await batchP;
     expect(result).toHaveLength(2);
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ describe('WorkerPool end-to-end with a local fixture plugin', () => {
     const firstBatch = pool.lintBatch([task('first.ts', 'const x = null;\n')]);
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 30));
     internals.workers[0].crashCount = internals.opts.retryCap;
-    await internals.workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    await terminateWorker(internals.workers[0].worker);
 
     const firstResult = await firstBatch;
     expect(firstResult).toHaveLength(1);
diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-resilience.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-resilience.test.ts
index 94fda46af..9d48e023f 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-resilience.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin-runner/tests/worker-pool-e2e-resilience.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { describe, test, expect } from '@rstest/core';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import type { Worker } from 'node:worker_threads';
 
-import { WorkerPool } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
+import { WorkerPool, terminateWorker } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
 import type { LintTask } from '../src/worker-pool.js';
 
 import {
@@ -124,11 +125,9 @@ describe('WorkerPool end-to-end with a local fixture plugin', () => {
     await pool.init();
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-    const workers = (pool as any).workers as Array<{
-      worker: { terminate(): Promise<number> };
-    }>;
+    const workers = (pool as any).workers as Array<{ worker: Worker }>;
     expect(workers.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    void workers[0].worker.terminate();
+    void terminateWorker(workers[0].worker);
 
     const shutdownStart = Date.now();
     await pool.shutdown();