diff --git a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-reducer.ts b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-reducer.ts
index f38e5947fe4..bfde01a84ce 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-reducer.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-reducer.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@ export interface GoalTurnFinishedTransition {
   lastReason?: string;
   /** Tokens billed to the turn that just finished. */
   tokensUsed?: number;
-  /** Set when the finishing turn was the spend window's wind-down hand-off. */
+  /**
+   * Set when the finishing turn was the spend window's wind-down hand-off
+   * and was delivered to the model.
+   */
   windDownTurnId?: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.test.ts b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.test.ts
index 7f86821093b..484065257a2 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.test.ts
@@ -373,6 +373,9 @@ describe('goal runtime', () => {
     expect(host.inputs[0]).not.toHaveProperty('windDown');
     expect(runtime.getSnapshot().goal?.status).toBe('active');
 
+    // The hand-off reached the model: only a delivered wind-down turn
+    // stamps the record.
+    runtime.markTurnDelivered(`goal-runtime:${host.started[1]!.turnId}`);
     await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[1]!);
 
     // The hand-off turn stamps the record, and the stop settles on the
@@ -446,6 +449,9 @@ describe('goal runtime', () => {
     await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[0]!);
     expect(host.started).toHaveLength(2);
     expect(host.inputs[1]).toMatchObject({ windDown: true });
+    // The hand-off reached the model: only a delivered wind-down turn
+    // stamps the record.
+    runtime.markTurnDelivered(`goal-runtime:${host.started[1]!.turnId}`);
     await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[1]!);
 
     await vi.waitFor(() => {
@@ -488,6 +494,9 @@ describe('goal runtime', () => {
 
     spend.set(host.started[0]!.turnId, 1_500);
     await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[0]!);
+    // The hand-off reached the model: only a delivered wind-down turn
+    // stamps the record.
+    runtime.markTurnDelivered(`goal-runtime:${host.started[1]!.turnId}`);
     await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[1]!);
 
     await vi.waitFor(() => {
@@ -550,6 +559,71 @@ describe('goal runtime', () => {
     expect(started).toHaveLength(2);
   });
 
+  it('grants the hand-off again when its turn finished without being delivered', async () => {
+    // A system message or a direct user query can claim the wind-down
+    // continuation's permit and send its own text under it. The turn then
+    // finishes, but the user never got the hand-off -- so the record must
+    // not say they did, and the next continuation owes it again.
+    const journal = fakeGoalJournal();
+    const host = fakeGoalTurnHost();
+    const spend = new Map<string, number>();
+    const runtime = createGoalRuntime({
+      journal,
+      tokenLedger: {
+        takeGoalTurnTokens: (turnId: string) => spend.get(turnId) ?? 0,
+      },
+      tokenBudgetGrant: 1_000,
+    });
+    runtime.bindHost(host);
+    await runtime.dispatch({ action: 'create', objective: 'ship' });
+    spend.set(host.started[0]!.turnId, 1_500);
+    await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[0]!);
+    expect(host.inputs[1]).toMatchObject({ windDown: true });
+
+    // Finished under the wind-down permit, never marked delivered.
+    await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[1]!);
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+    expect(runtime.getSnapshot().goal?.status).toBe('active');
+    expect(runtime.getSnapshot().goal).not.toHaveProperty('windDownTurnId');
+    expect(journal.appended.at(-1)!.snapshot.goal).not.toHaveProperty(
+      'windDownTurnId',
+    );
+    expect(host.started).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(host.inputs[2]).toMatchObject({ windDown: true });
+  });
+
+  it('stops after the hand-off once a delivered wind-down turn finishes', async () => {
+    const journal = fakeGoalJournal();
+    const host = fakeGoalTurnHost();
+    const spend = new Map<string, number>();
+    const runtime = createGoalRuntime({
+      journal,
+      tokenLedger: {
+        takeGoalTurnTokens: (turnId: string) => spend.get(turnId) ?? 0,
+      },
+      tokenBudgetGrant: 1_000,
+    });
+    runtime.bindHost(host);
+    await runtime.dispatch({ action: 'create', objective: 'ship' });
+    spend.set(host.started[0]!.turnId, 1_500);
+    await runtime.finishTurn(host.started[0]!);
+    const windDown = host.started[1]!;
+    expect(host.inputs[1]).toMatchObject({ windDown: true });
+
+    runtime.markTurnDelivered(`goal-runtime:${windDown.turnId}`);
+    await runtime.finishTurn(windDown);
+
+    await vi.waitFor(() => {
+      expect(runtime.getSnapshot().goal?.status).toBe('usage_limited');
+    });
+    expect(runtime.getSnapshot().goal).toMatchObject({
+      limitKind: 'token_budget',
+      windDownTurnId: windDown.turnId,
+    });
+    expect(host.started).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
   it('completes a Goal whose hand-off turn proves the objective done', async () => {
     const journal = fakeGoalJournal();
     let records: readonly RuntimeRecord[] = [];
diff --git a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.ts b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.ts
index 93e1a7df4ec..f253944b064 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/goals/goal-runtime.ts
@@ -300,7 +300,8 @@ export function createGoalRuntime(
   /**
    * The permit turn of the wind-down continuation now in flight, if any.
    * In memory only: a wind-down the host dropped undelivered must be minted
-   * again, and only the turn that actually finishes stamps the record.
+   * again, and only a wind-down turn that finishes delivered stamps the
+   * record; one finished under someone else's text leaves the hand-off owed.
    */
   let windDownTurnId: string | undefined;
   let restorePreparation: Promise<CheckpointAttempt | undefined> | undefined;
@@ -606,8 +607,9 @@ export function createGoalRuntime(
     }
     if (isGoalTokenBudgetSpent(snapshot.goal)) {
       // A spent window buys one hand-off before it stops. The record marks
-      // the hand-off that finished; until then -- never granted, or granted
-      // and dropped by the host before the model saw it -- grant it.
+      // the hand-off that was delivered and finished; until then -- never
+      // granted, dropped before the model saw it, or finished under someone
+      // else's text -- grant it.
       if (snapshot.goal.windDownTurnId !== undefined) {
         stopForSpentBudget();
         return;
@@ -1521,15 +1523,22 @@ export function createGoalRuntime(
           // query can claim a queued continuation's permit and send its own
           // text instead. Only the host's delivery mark says the model saw
           // the objective; without it the notice stays owed.
-          settleCurrentTurnAnnouncement(currentTurnDelivered);
+          const delivered = currentTurnDelivered;
+          settleCurrentTurnAnnouncement(delivered);
           const recordUuid = randomUUID();
-          const finishedWindDown = windDownTurnId === permit.turnId;
+          // The same rule decides the hand-off. The record's marker means
+          // "the user got the hand-off", and the budget gate stops the Goal
+          // on it -- so a wind-down permit that finished under someone
+          // else's text leaves no marker, and the next continuation grants
+          // the hand-off again instead of stopping cold.
+          const heldWindDown = windDownTurnId === permit.turnId;
+          const finishedWindDown = heldWindDown && delivered;
           const nextGoal = reduceGoalTurnFinished(snapshot.goal, {
             now: Date.now(),
             tokensUsed: takeTurnTokens(permit.turnId),
             ...(finishedWindDown ? { windDownTurnId: permit.turnId } : {}),
           });
-          if (finishedWindDown) windDownTurnId = undefined;
+          if (heldWindDown) windDownTurnId = undefined;
           const persistedSnapshot: GoalSnapshotV2 = {
             v: GOAL_STATE_VERSION,
             goal: nextGoal,