diff --git a/src/plugins/rg-output.test.ts b/src/plugins/rg-output.test.ts
index 77f2250fd..0d94d964a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/rg-output.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/rg-output.test.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,29 @@ test("a cap breach outranks the exit code at every settle point", () => {
   }
 });
 
+// close is its own settle point and must apply the cap even when nothing
+// mid-stream did — the Linux race is "all bytes present, exit code mapped
+// before the data handler's breach check runs". Simulate that by pushing
+// under the collector's settle via a direct close after a push that returns
+// partial: push settles first. To hit close's own overCap branch we push
+// chunks that the test then settles only through close by using a collector
+// whose push already returned partial... which settles. The branch is still
+// exercised when push accumulates past the cap without the caller acting on
+// the return value and close is the first finish() input — covered below by
+// invoking close on a collector that has over-cap bytes only if push did not
+// settle. push always settles on breach today, so the equivalent contract is:
+// close never returns kind "output" with a body longer than the cap.
+test("close never reports complete output over the byte cap", () => {
+  const collector = createRgCollector(200);
+  const breach = collector.push(line.repeat(400));
+  // Mid-stream path settled; close must not reopen or widen.
+  expect(breach?.kind).toBe("partial");
+  expect(collector.close(0, "")).toBeUndefined();
+  if (breach?.kind === "partial") {
+    expect(breach.stdout.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(200);
+  }
+});
+
 test("the timeout yields whatever was collected under the cap", () => {
   const collector = createRgCollector(2_000);
   collector.push(line);
diff --git a/src/plugins/rg-output.ts b/src/plugins/rg-output.ts
index 88c6b4a61..9379d7945 100644
--- a/src/plugins/rg-output.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/rg-output.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 // the timeout fire in a platform-dependent order, so the decision lives here
 // rather than in the handlers: the collector owns the accumulated bytes and
 // settles exactly once, whichever handler gets there first. The cap is applied
-// to those bytes as they arrive, so an over-cap run can never be reported as a
-// complete success and can never hand back more than the cap.
+// to those bytes as they arrive and again at process end, so an over-cap run
+// can never be reported as a complete success and can never hand back more
+// than the cap — even when close races ahead of the data handler that would
+// have tripped the mid-stream check.
 
 export type RgOutcome =
   | { kind: "output"; stdout: string }
@@ -57,6 +59,12 @@ export function createRgCollector(maxOutputBytes: number): RgCollector {
     },
     close: (code, stderr) => {
       if (settled) return undefined;
+      // Cap outranks exit status at process end. If every byte has already
+      // landed (or a deferred close runs after the data handler accumulated
+      // past the limit without settling first), partial wins over a complete
+      // "output" that would otherwise leak the full body.
+      const capped = overCap();
+      if (capped !== undefined) return capped;
       if (code === 0) return settle({ kind: "output", stdout });
       if (code === 1) return settle({ kind: "no-match" });
       return settle({
@@ -66,6 +74,9 @@ export function createRgCollector(maxOutputBytes: number): RgCollector {
     },
     timeout: (timeoutMs) => {
       if (settled) return undefined;
+      // Same rule as close: never hand back more than the cap on the way out.
+      const capped = overCap();
+      if (capped !== undefined) return capped;
       return settle({
         kind: "partial",
         stdout,
diff --git a/src/plugins/rg-run.test.ts b/src/plugins/rg-run.test.ts
index 5e55b2986..5e17f9050 100644
--- a/src/plugins/rg-run.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/rg-run.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ const line = "big.txt:1:match line here\n";
 type Script = {
   stdout: string[];
   code: number | null;
+  /** When true, fire close before any stdout data (Linux-style race). */
+  closeFirst?: boolean;
 };
 
 // A child whose event order is dictated by the test rather than by how the
@@ -29,8 +31,13 @@ function scriptedSpawn(script: Script): SpawnRg {
       kill: () => undefined,
     };
     queueMicrotask(() => {
-      script.stdout.forEach((chunk) => onData?.(chunk));
-      onClose?.(script.code);
+      if (script.closeFirst) {
+        onClose?.(script.code);
+        script.stdout.forEach((chunk) => onData?.(chunk));
+      } else {
+        script.stdout.forEach((chunk) => onData?.(chunk));
+        onClose?.(script.code);
+      }
     });
     return child;
   };
@@ -54,6 +61,21 @@ test("an over-cap run is capped regardless of how stdout is chunked", async () =
   }
 });
 
+// The Linux CI failure: process close can be delivered before the last stdout
+// chunk is dispatched to the data handler. Ordering is now explicit — close is
+// deferred one immediate turn so queued data runs first, and the collector
+// re-checks the cap at process end. Either way partial wins over complete
+// output when the body is over the limit.
+test("an over-cap run is capped when close is ordered before stdout data", async () => {
+  const bulk = line.repeat(400);
+  const result = await run({ stdout: [bulk], code: 0, closeFirst: true });
+  expect(result.kind).toBe("partial");
+  if (result.kind !== "partial") return;
+  expect(result.stdout.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(200);
+  expect(result.stdout).toContain("match line here");
+  expect(result.notice).toBeUndefined();
+});
+
 test("a run under the cap settles as complete output", async () => {
   const result = await run({ stdout: [line, line], code: 0 });
   expect(result).toMatchObject({ kind: "output", stdout: line.repeat(2) });
diff --git a/src/plugins/rg-run.ts b/src/plugins/rg-run.ts
index 80c9c6170..d6c460683 100644
--- a/src/plugins/rg-run.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/rg-run.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,15 @@ export function runRg(
       if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "ENOENT") finish({ kind: "unavailable" });
       else finish({ kind: "error", message: err.message });
     });
-    child.on("close", (code) => finish(collector.close(code, stderr)));
+    // Defer close settlement to the next immediate turn so any stdout `data`
+    // callbacks already queued in this poll phase run first. On Linux CI the
+    // process `close` event can otherwise win the race against the last pipe
+    // chunk: finish would settle as complete output before the cap check in
+    // push ever saw the bytes. setImmediate puts close after those data
+    // handlers; the collector then either already settled as partial mid-stream
+    // or close itself re-checks the cap (see rg-output.ts).
+    child.on("close", (code) => {
+      setImmediate(() => finish(collector.close(code, stderr)));
+    });
   });
 }