diff --git a/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java b/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java
index 0a73221..5c532a6 100644
--- a/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java
+++ b/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageService.java
@@ -965,13 +965,41 @@ public final class MessageService {
             return new AskResult(AskOutcome.ANSWERED, answer);
         } catch (TimeoutException e) {
             log.debug("fleet_ask from {} went unanswered in {}ms", workerSession, timeoutMillis);
-            // fleetd #307: mark the task BEFORE clearAsyncQuestion(forgetTurn=true) below drops it out of
-            // asyncTasksByTurn and nulls its turnId — that forgetting is deliberate and stays (it is
-            // what keeps the target from staying BUSY forever), but it would otherwise also erase
-            // askAnsweredAsyncTasks' only signal that the worker's eventual real fleet_reply still
-            // belongs to this task, stranding it in the inbox with a false "never replied" verdict.
-            markAskTimedOut(ticket.turnId());
-            clearAsyncQuestion(ticket.turnId(), true);
+            // Only the fresh owner tears down the shared turn (mirrors the finally block below).
+            // A duplicate's own timeoutMillis says nothing about whether the SHARED ask is actually
+            // done — it must leave the close/forget bookkeeping to the fresh owner, exactly as it
+            // already leaves closeAsk to it.
+            if (ticket.fresh()) {
+                // fleetd #334: close the ask turn BEFORE forgetting this task's turnId mapping below.
+                // Before this fix the order was reversed — the mapping was forgotten here first, and
+                // rendezvous.closeAsk only ran afterward, in the shared finally. A primary's answer()
+                // call racing this exact timeout could then find rendezvous.askSession(turnId) still
+                // non-null (the ask still "answerable") after the Task mapping was already gone:
+                // answer()'s own asyncTasksByTurn lookup returned null, its task != null guard skipped
+                // the completion, and the async ticket sat at PENDING forever even though answer()
+                // itself reported the worker's real reply. Closing here first removes that window:
+                // any answer() call that still observes askSession(turnId) != null is necessarily
+                // racing a point BEFORE the forgetting below runs (both happen on this one thread, in
+                // this order, with nothing that yields in between), so the Task mapping is still there
+                // for it to find; any call that observes askSession(turnId) == null now correctly
+                // bails out STALE_TURN (see answer()'s own top check) before ever reaching
+                // asyncTasksByTurn. rendezvous.closeAsk is idempotent — a no-op once the turn is
+                // already removed, see its own javadoc — so the shared finally below re-running it
+                // for this same fresh call is harmless.
+                rendezvous.closeAsk(ticket.turnId());
+                if (askTimeoutRaceHookForTest != null) {
+                    // Test-only (fleetd #334): see the field's own javadoc.
+                    askTimeoutRaceHookForTest.run();
+                }
+                // fleetd #307: mark the task BEFORE clearAsyncQuestion(forgetTurn=true) below drops it
+                // out of asyncTasksByTurn and nulls its turnId — that forgetting is deliberate and
+                // stays (it is what keeps the target from staying BUSY forever), but it would
+                // otherwise also erase askAnsweredAsyncTasks' only signal that the worker's eventual
+                // real fleet_reply still belongs to this task, stranding it in the inbox with a false
+                // "never replied" verdict.
+                markAskTimedOut(ticket.turnId());
+                clearAsyncQuestion(ticket.turnId(), true);
+            }
             return new AskResult(AskOutcome.TIMED_OUT, null);
         } catch (ExecutionException e) {
             Throwable cause = e.getCause();
@@ -1070,19 +1098,28 @@ public final class MessageService {
                 // the chained ask deliberately left open.
                 //
                 // A null task is NOT only "this was never an async ticket". That reading was in this
-                // comment when #329 merged and it is wrong. A genuine async ticket also lands here
-                // with task == null, because ask()'s timeout path runs clearAsyncQuestion(turnId,
-                // true) — which drops the asyncTasksByTurn entry — in its catch block, while
-                // rendezvous.closeAsk(turnId) runs later, in its finally. Between those two the ask
-                // is still answerable but the map entry is already gone, so the lookup at :991
-                // returns null and this ticket is never completed. Measured on 2026-09-04: a probe
-                // firing only that first half before answer() runs printed
-                // "answer=REPLIED phase=PENDING reply=null" — the same stranded ticket #329 set out
-                // to fix, one step earlier in the same race. The probe used forgetTurnForTest, which
-                // omits ask()'s markAskTimedOut; that cannot change the outcome, because askTimedOut
-                // is read only by askAnsweredAsyncTasks, and reply() never reaches it while this
-                // method's own waiter is live. So #329 narrows this window rather than closing it.
-                // Open as fleetd #334 — do not read this guard as complete.
+                // comment when #329 merged and it is wrong; it is still not the whole story after
+                // #334. A genuine async ticket can still land here with task == null — a blocking
+                // (wait:true) send's fleet_ask never has a Task at all, so that case is expected and
+                // fine. What #334 fixed was a SECOND, unintended way to get here with task == null:
+                // ask()'s timeout path used to run clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true) — which drops the
+                // asyncTasksByTurn entry — in its catch block, while rendezvous.closeAsk(turnId) ran
+                // later, in its finally. Between those two the ask was still answerable but the map
+                // entry was already gone, so the lookup at :1053 returned null and this ticket was
+                // never completed. Measured on 2026-09-04: a probe firing only that first half before
+                // answer() ran printed "answer=REPLIED phase=PENDING reply=null" — the same stranded
+                // ticket #329 set out to fix, one step earlier in the same race; the probe used
+                // forgetTurnForTest, which omits ask()'s markAskTimedOut, and that omission does not
+                // change the outcome, because askTimedOut is read only by askAnsweredAsyncTasks, and
+                // reply() never reaches it while this method's own waiter is live. #334's fix
+                // reorders ask()'s timeout catch to run closeAsk before the forgetting (see the
+                // fresh-owner block there), which removes this path entirely rather than narrowing
+                // it further: once closeAsk has run, rendezvous.askSession(turnId) is null and
+                // answer() returns STALE_TURN from its own top check, before it ever reaches this
+                // lookup — see aLateAnswerDuringAskTimeoutTeardownStillCompletesTheAsyncTicket in
+                // MessageServiceTest, which pins the exact window with askTimeoutRaceHookForTest.
+                // So by the time this line runs, task == null means only the ordinary blocking-send
+                // case (or #329's own already-fixed race elsewhere) — not this one.
                 if (result.outcome() != Outcome.QUESTION && task != null) {
                     finishAsyncTask(task, result);
                 }
@@ -1479,6 +1516,29 @@ public final class MessageService {
         this.abandonCleanupHookForTest = hook;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Null in production; test seam for fleetd #334 — invoked from {@link #ask}'s {@code
+     * TimeoutException} catch, only for the fresh owner, right after {@code rendezvous.closeAsk}
+     * has run and before {@link #markAskTimedOut} / {@link #clearAsyncQuestion} forget this task's
+     * turnId mapping. A test installs this to call {@link #answer} for the very same {@code turnId}
+     * synchronously from inside that exact window, deterministically reproducing the race a real
+     * concurrent {@code answer()} call could otherwise only win by timing luck: with the ask already
+     * closed, that call must see {@code rendezvous.askSession(turnId) == null} and return {@link
+     * Outcome#STALE_TURN} immediately, never reaching {@code asyncTasksByTurn} at all — proving the
+     * window fleetd #334 describes (mapping forgotten while the ask was still "answerable") is
+     * closed, rather than merely narrowed the way fleetd #329 narrowed the sibling race in {@link
+     * #finishAsyncTask}.
+     */
+    private volatile Runnable askTimeoutRaceHookForTest;
+
+    /**
+     * Test-only (fleetd #334): install {@link #askTimeoutRaceHookForTest}. Package-private so the
+     * test, in the same package, can reach it without widening any production API.
+     */
+    void setAskTimeoutRaceHookForTest(Runnable hook) {
+        this.askTimeoutRaceHookForTest = hook;
+    }
+
     /** A new send must not open a waiter while an async ticket owns this worker's paused turn. */
     private boolean hasAsyncQuestion(String target) {
         return asyncTasksByTurn.values().stream().anyMatch(task -> target.equals(task.target));
diff --git a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
index 001870d..d965d10 100644
--- a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
+++ b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
@@ -377,6 +377,76 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
         assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.QUESTION, q.outcome());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * fleetd #334. {@code ask()}'s {@code TimeoutException} catch used to forget this task's
+     * {@code turnId} mapping ({@code clearAsyncQuestion(turnId, true)}) BEFORE closing the ask
+     * ({@code rendezvous.closeAsk}, in the shared {@code finally}). A primary's {@code answer()}
+     * call racing that exact window found the ask still "answerable" ({@code
+     * rendezvous.askSession(turnId)} still non-null) while the {@code Task} was already forgotten,
+     * so its {@code task != null} guard skipped the completion and the async ticket sat at
+     * {@code PENDING} forever even though {@code answer()} itself reported a result. The fix
+     * (closing the ask first) makes this window impossible: a racing {@code answer()} call either
+     * still finds the ask open (and the {@code Task} mapping guaranteed intact) or finds it already
+     * closed (and bails {@code STALE_TURN} before ever touching the {@code Task}). This test pins
+     * the exact window with {@code askTimeoutRaceHookForTest} and proves both invariants the ticket
+     * named: (1) a late/racing {@code answer()} sees the ask as already lapsed ({@code STALE_TURN}),
+     * never made answerable again, and (2) the async ticket still resolves {@code DONE} once the
+     * worker's real {@code fleet_reply} lands — it is never stranded {@code PENDING}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void aLateAnswerDuringAskTimeoutTeardownStillCompletesTheAsyncTicket() throws Exception {
+        String ticket = messages.sendAsync(T, "long task");
+        awaitWaiting();
+        injector.onStatus(T, AgentStatus.IDLE);    // deliver
+        injector.onStatus(T, AgentStatus.WORKING); // worker picks it up, then pauses to ask
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.AskResult> ask =
+                CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> messages.ask(T, "which config file?", 200));
+
+        // Wait for the question to actually surface (poll sees ASKING) before racing the timeout.
+        MessageService.TaskView asking = null;
+        long deadline = System.currentTimeMillis() + 2000;
+        while ((asking == null || asking.phase() != MessageService.Phase.ASKING)
+                && System.currentTimeMillis() < deadline) {
+            asking = messages.poll(ticket);
+            //noinspection BusyWait
+            Thread.sleep(5);
+        }
+        assertNotNull(asking, "the question must surface before the ask times out");
+        String turnId = asking.turnId();
+        assertNotNull(turnId, "an ASKING view carries the turnId to answer on");
+
+        CompletableFuture<MessageService.Reply> lateAnswer = new CompletableFuture<>();
+        messages.setAskTimeoutRaceHookForTest(() ->
+                lateAnswer.complete(messages.answer(turnId, "too late", 500)));
+        try {
+            MessageService.AskResult a = ask.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            assertEquals(MessageService.AskOutcome.TIMED_OUT, a.outcome());
+
+            MessageService.Reply late = lateAnswer.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.STALE_TURN, late.outcome(),
+                    "a late answer racing the timeout teardown must see the ask as already lapsed");
+
+            // The worker resumes on its own (per the ask() contract) and eventually sends its real
+            // fleet_reply; the async ticket must still resolve with it, not strand at PENDING.
+            assertTrue(messages.reply(T, "real result"), "the worker's real reply must still be accepted");
+        } finally {
+            messages.setAskTimeoutRaceHookForTest(null);
+        }
+
+        MessageService.TaskView done = null;
+        deadline = System.currentTimeMillis() + 2000;
+        while ((done == null || done.phase() == MessageService.Phase.PENDING)
+                && System.currentTimeMillis() < deadline) {
+            done = messages.poll(ticket);
+            //noinspection BusyWait
+            Thread.sleep(5);
+        }
+        assertNotNull(done);
+        assertEquals(MessageService.Phase.DONE, done.phase(), "the async ticket must not be stranded PENDING");
+        assertEquals("real result", done.reply());
+    }
+
     @Test
     void answeringAnUnknownTurnIsStale() {
         MessageService.Reply r = messages.answer(T + "#999", "too late", 500);