diff --git a/__tests__/pending-handshake.test.ts b/__tests__/pending-handshake.test.ts
index f886917c..68517669 100644
--- a/__tests__/pending-handshake.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/pending-handshake.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Type } from 'typebox';
 import { createMockTransportNetwork } from '../testUtil';
 import { waitFor } from '../testUtil/fixtures/cleanup';
 import { createPromiseWithResolvers } from '../transport/promises';
+import { SessionState } from '../transport';
 
 test('a validating handshake cannot connect after the server closes', async () => {
   // Risk: a client connects to a dead server and its calls hang.
@@ -36,3 +37,43 @@ test('a validating handshake cannot connect after the server closes', async () =
     await network.cleanup();
   }
 });
+
+test('a rejecting handshake cannot crash or connect after the server closes', async () => {
+  // Risk: a validation failure during shutdown must not crash the server process.
+  const network = createMockTransportNetwork();
+  const validation = createPromiseWithResolvers<object>();
+  let validating = false;
+  const server = network.getServerTransport('SERVER', {
+    schema: Type.Object({}),
+    validate: () => {
+      validating = true;
+
+      return validation.promise;
+    },
+  });
+  const client = network.getClientTransport('client', {
+    schema: Type.Object({}),
+    construct: async () => ({}),
+  });
+  let connected = false;
+  server.addEventListener('sessionTransition', ({ state }) => {
+    if (state === SessionState.Connected) {
+      connected = true;
+    }
+  });
+  try {
+    client.connect('SERVER');
+    await waitFor(() => expect(validating).toBe(true));
+    server.close();
+    validation.reject(new Error('validation failed'));
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0);
+    expect(connected).toBe(false);
+    expect(server.sessions.size).toBe(0);
+    expect(server.pendingSessions.size).toBe(0);
+    expect(server.getStatus()).toBe('closed');
+  } finally {
+    client.close();
+    server.close();
+    await network.cleanup();
+  }
+});
diff --git a/transport/server.ts b/transport/server.ts
index cab31c68..a606e0fe 100644
--- a/transport/server.ts
+++ b/transport/server.ts
@@ -509,6 +509,10 @@ export abstract class ServerTransport<
           session.conn.extras,
         );
       } catch (err) {
+        if (session._isConsumed) {
+          return;
+        }
+
         this.rejectHandshakeRequest(
           session,
           msg.from,