diff --git a/integration-tests/scratch-dir.test.ts b/integration-tests/scratch-dir.test.ts
index 8e90bde7a44..77d8265dec8 100644
--- a/integration-tests/scratch-dir.test.ts
+++ b/integration-tests/scratch-dir.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import { mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
@@ -39,4 +40,71 @@ describe('removeScratchDir', () => {
       expect.anything(),
     );
   });
+
+  it('removes a dir a straggler writer keeps refilling', async () => {
+    // rm(recursive) only retries on EBUSY/EMFILE/ENFILE/ENOTEMPTY, so the
+    // retry budget is exactly what absorbs a CLI child still writing under its
+    // scratch dir. This refill writer outlives a single removal attempt but
+    // stops well inside the shipped 5x200ms budget, which makes that budget
+    // load-bearing: drop maxRetries to 0 and the first ENOTEMPTY reaches the
+    // catch, the tree survives, and this case goes red. The ENOTDIR case above
+    // cannot do this -- it is outside the retryable set, so it is equally red
+    // or green whatever the budget is. The prefix is deliberately not
+    // qwen-e2e-home-*, so globalSetup's sweeper cannot race this tree.
+    const warn = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+    const root = join(tmpRoot, 'straggler-root');
+    const target = join(root, 'artifacts');
+    await mkdir(target, { recursive: true });
+
+    // ENOTEMPTY only lands when a file appears between readdir and rmdir, so
+    // seed enough entries that the removal walk spans several refill ticks.
+    const seedFiles = 1500;
+    await Promise.all(
+      Array.from({ length: seedFiles }, (_, i) =>
+        writeFile(join(target, `seed-${i}.txt`), 'x'),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    // Both caps are real: the file ceiling normally fires first (~450ms), the
+    // wall-clock cutoff backstops it. Either way the writer is quiet long
+    // before the shipped budget runs out, so no straggler can outlive the case
+    // or outrun the retries.
+    const REFILL_TICK_MS = 5;
+    const REFILL_CEILING = 90;
+    const REFILL_BUDGET_MS = 600;
+    let written = 0;
+    let stopRefill = () => {};
+    const refillStopped = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+      const timer = setInterval(() => {
+        written += 1;
+        if (written > REFILL_CEILING) {
+          stopRefill();
+          return;
+        }
+        // Once the tree is gone these reject with ENOENT; a successful removal
+        // must not be turned into an unhandled rejection.
+        writeFile(join(target, `refill-${written}.txt`), 'x').catch(() => {});
+      }, REFILL_TICK_MS);
+      const cutoff = setTimeout(() => stopRefill(), REFILL_BUDGET_MS);
+      // The executor is synchronous, so both timers exist before either
+      // callback can fire and stopRefill is the real stop by then.
+      stopRefill = () => {
+        clearInterval(timer);
+        clearTimeout(cutoff);
+        resolve();
+      };
+    });
+
+    try {
+      await removeScratchDir(root);
+      await refillStopped;
+      // The load-bearing assertion: removeScratchDir swallows every rejection,
+      // so a resolved promise alone is equally green at maxRetries: 0.
+      expect(existsSync(root)).toBe(false);
+      expect(warn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    } finally {
+      stopRefill();
+      await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
 });