diff --git a/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts b/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
index ce9b976f53..bc55f68fe4 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
@@ -207,3 +207,33 @@ export const sameRegularFileState = (
       expected.ctimeNs === observed.ctimeNs
     : expected.mtimeMs === observed.mtimeMs &&
       expected.ctimeMs === observed.ctimeMs);
+
+/** Validate an admitted descriptor and selected name at the same precision as admission. */
+export const assertStableRegularFileIdentity = async (
+  file: FileHandle,
+  path: string,
+  before: Stats | BigIntStats,
+  options: {
+    readonly symlinks: "follow" | "reject";
+    readonly signal?: AbortSignal;
+  },
+): Promise<void> => {
+  assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
+  const bigint = typeof before.dev === "bigint";
+  const named = async () => {
+    try {
+      const lookup = options.symlinks === "follow" ? stat : lstat;
+      return bigint ? await lookup(path, { bigint: true }) : await lookup(path);
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      if (isSelectedRegularFileError(cause))
+        throw new RegularFileChangedError(path, { cause });
+      throw cause;
+    }
+  };
+  if (
+    !sameRegularFileState(before, await file.stat({ bigint })) ||
+    !sameRegularFileState(before, await named())
+  )
+    throw new RegularFileChangedError(path);
+  assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
+};
diff --git a/src/filesystem/StableFileHash.ts b/src/filesystem/StableFileHash.ts
index e8f1fa8659..1fa92d4c7a 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/StableFileHash.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/StableFileHash.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
-import { stat } from "node:fs/promises";
 
 import {
   withOwnedRegularFile,
@@ -10,7 +9,7 @@ import {
   RegularFileChangedError,
   RegularFileOperationCancelled,
   assertRegularFileActive,
-  sameRegularFileState,
+  assertStableRegularFileIdentity,
   regularFileState,
   type RegularFileState,
 } from "./RegularFile.js";
@@ -122,17 +121,11 @@ async function readStableFile(
           position += read.bytesRead;
         }
         assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
-        const [opened, currentPath] = await Promise.all([
-          handle.stat(),
-          stat(path),
-        ]);
-        if (
-          position !== initial.size ||
-          !sameRegularFileState(initial, opened) ||
-          !sameRegularFileState(initial, currentPath)
-        )
-          throw new RegularFileChangedError(path);
-        assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
+        if (position !== initial.size) throw new RegularFileChangedError(path);
+        await assertStableRegularFileIdentity(handle, path, initial, {
+          symlinks: "follow",
+          ...(options.signal === undefined ? {} : { signal: options.signal }),
+        });
         const fingerprint = { sha256: hash.digest("hex"), bytes: position };
         return includePrefix
           ? { ...fingerprint, prefix, state: regularFileState(initial) }
diff --git a/src/filesystem/readStableFileBytes.ts b/src/filesystem/readStableFileBytes.ts
index 2798bcd3cb..a3bf6f6709 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/readStableFileBytes.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/readStableFileBytes.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-import type { BigIntStats } from "node:fs";
-import { lstat, stat, type FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
+import type { FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
 import {
   assertRegularFileActive,
   RegularFileChangedError,
-  sameRegularFileState,
+  assertStableRegularFileIdentity,
 } from "./RegularFile.js";
 
 /** Resource refusal carries the observed extent before allocating file bytes. */
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ export const readStableFileBytes = async (
   const extra = Buffer.alloc(1);
   if ((await file.read(extra, 0, 1, bytes.length)).bytesRead !== 0)
     throw new RegularFileChangedError(path);
-  await assertStableIdentity(file, path, before, options);
+  await assertStableRegularFileIdentity(file, path, before, options);
   return bytes;
 };
 
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ export const readStableFilePrefix = async (
     before.size < BigInt(maximumBytes) ? before.size : BigInt(maximumBytes),
   );
   const bytes = await readExtent(file, path, length, options.signal);
-  await assertStableIdentity(file, path, before, options);
+  await assertStableRegularFileIdentity(file, path, before, options);
   return { bytes, size: before.size };
 };
 
@@ -97,35 +96,3 @@ const readExtent = async (
   assertRegularFileActive(signal);
   return bytes;
 };
-
-const assertStableIdentity = async (
-  file: FileHandle,
-  path: string,
-  before: BigIntStats,
-  options: StableReadOptions,
-): Promise<void> => {
-  assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
-  const named = async () => {
-    try {
-      return await (options.symlinks === "follow" ? stat : lstat)(path, {
-        bigint: true,
-      });
-    } catch (cause: unknown) {
-      if (
-        cause instanceof Error &&
-        "code" in cause &&
-        (cause.code === "ENOENT" ||
-          cause.code === "ENOTDIR" ||
-          cause.code === "ELOOP")
-      )
-        throw new RegularFileChangedError(path, { cause });
-      throw cause;
-    }
-  };
-  if (
-    !sameRegularFileState(before, await file.stat({ bigint: true })) ||
-    !sameRegularFileState(before, await named())
-  )
-    throw new RegularFileChangedError(path);
-  assertRegularFileActive(options.signal);
-};
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/stableFileHashOwnership.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/stableFileHashOwnership.test.ts
index b4bb528fe2..56d2b60948 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/stableFileHashOwnership.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/stableFileHashOwnership.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
-import { open as openFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { open as openFile, unlink, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 
 import { expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
@@ -52,6 +52,46 @@ it("rejects a real extent change after admission instead of replacing its baseli
   }
 });
 
+it("classifies a selected name removed at final validation as a changed file and closes its descriptor", async () => {
+  const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-stable-name-removed-");
+  const path = join(root, "input.bin");
+  await writeFile(path, "admitted bytes");
+  const nativeOpen = regularFile.openRegularFile;
+  let descriptor: regularFile.StableRegularFileDescriptor | undefined;
+  const open = vi
+    .spyOn(regularFile, "openRegularFile")
+    .mockImplementationOnce(async (...args) => {
+      descriptor = await nativeOpen(...args);
+      const nativeStat = descriptor.handle.stat.bind(descriptor.handle);
+      vi.spyOn(descriptor.handle, "stat").mockImplementationOnce(async () => {
+        const metadata = await nativeStat();
+        await unlink(path);
+        return metadata;
+      });
+      return descriptor;
+    });
+  try {
+    const retainFailedClose = vi.fn();
+    const failure: unknown = await hashStableFile(path, {
+      retainFailedClose,
+    }).catch((cause: unknown) => cause);
+    expect(failure).toMatchObject({
+      _tag: "StableFileHashFailure",
+      cause: {
+        name: "RegularFileChangedError",
+        code: "ESTALE",
+        cause: { code: "ENOENT" },
+      },
+    });
+    expect(descriptor?.handle.fd).toBe(-1);
+    expect(retainFailedClose).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  } finally {
+    open.mockRestore();
+    if (descriptor !== undefined && descriptor.handle.fd >= 0)
+      await descriptor.handle.close();
+  }
+});
+
 it("captures a two-byte prefix across short reads and buffer reuse", async () => {
   const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-stable-observation-prefix-");
   const path = join(root, "script");