diff --git a/src/commands/serve-http.ts b/src/commands/serve-http.ts
index 19f2d74a7..85ac0307f 100644
--- a/src/commands/serve-http.ts
+++ b/src/commands/serve-http.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import express from 'express';
 import type { Request, Response, NextFunction } from 'express';
+import type { Server as HttpServer } from 'http';
 import cookieParser from 'cookie-parser';
 import cors from 'cors';
 import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit';
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ import {
   type IngestionEvent,
 } from '../core/ingestion/types.ts';
 import { resolveOwnerHolder } from '../core/owner-holder.ts';
+import { registerCleanup } from '../core/process-cleanup.ts';
 
 /**
  * /health endpoint timeout. 3s rather than 5s: Fly.io's default
@@ -55,6 +57,69 @@ import { resolveOwnerHolder } from '../core/owner-holder.ts';
  */
 export const HEALTH_TIMEOUT_MS = 3000;
 
+type HttpServerLifecycle = Pick<HttpServer, 'listening' | 'once' | 'off' | 'close'>;
+type SignalSource = Pick<NodeJS.Process, 'once' | 'off'>;
+type CleanupRegistrar = typeof registerCleanup;
+
+/**
+ * Keep the HTTP server strongly referenced and make the daemon lifetime
+ * explicit instead of relying on runtime-specific event-loop behavior for an
+ * unobserved `app.listen()` return value. The shared abnormal-termination
+ * cleanup pass closes it before process exit.
+ */
+export function waitForHttpServerLifecycle(
+  server: HttpServerLifecycle,
+  options: {
+    signals?: SignalSource;
+    register?: CleanupRegistrar;
+  } = {},
+): Promise<void> {
+  const signals = options.signals ?? process;
+  const register = options.register ?? registerCleanup;
+
+  return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+    let settled = false;
+    let closePromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
+
+    const closeServer = (): Promise<void> => {
+      if (closePromise) return closePromise;
+      closePromise = new Promise<void>((closeResolve, closeReject) => {
+        if (!server.listening) {
+          closeResolve();
+          return;
+        }
+        server.close((error?: Error) => {
+          if (error) closeReject(error);
+          else closeResolve();
+        });
+      });
+      return closePromise;
+    };
+
+    const deregister = register('http-server', closeServer);
+
+    const finish = (error?: Error) => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      settled = true;
+      server.off('close', onClose);
+      server.off('error', onError);
+      signals.off('SIGINT', onSigint);
+      deregister();
+      if (error) reject(error);
+      else resolve();
+    };
+    const onClose = () => finish();
+    const onError = (error: Error) => finish(error);
+    const onSigint = () => {
+      void closeServer().catch(onError);
+    };
+
+    server.once('close', onClose);
+    server.once('error', onError);
+    signals.once('SIGINT', onSigint);
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * v0.36.1.x #1024: bootstrap token resolution.
  *
@@ -2410,7 +2475,7 @@ export async function runServeHttp(engine: BrainEngine, options: ServeHttpOption
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   const clientCount = await sql`SELECT count(*)::int as count FROM oauth_clients`;
 
-  app.listen(port, bind, () => {
+  const httpServer = app.listen(port, bind, () => {
     console.error(`
 ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
 ║  GBrain MCP Server v${VERSION.padEnd(37)}║
@@ -2435,4 +2500,6 @@ ${bootstrapFromEnv
     : `║  Admin Token (paste into /admin login):              ║\n║  ${bootstrapToken.substring(0, 50)}  ║\n║  ${bootstrapToken.substring(50).padEnd(50)}  ║\n╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝`}
 `);
   });
+
+  await waitForHttpServerLifecycle(httpServer);
 }
diff --git a/test/serve-http-lifecycle.test.ts b/test/serve-http-lifecycle.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52c556a03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/serve-http-lifecycle.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { EventEmitter } from 'events';
+import { waitForHttpServerLifecycle } from '../src/commands/serve-http.ts';
+
+class FakeHttpServer extends EventEmitter {
+  listening = true;
+  closeCalls = 0;
+
+  close(callback?: (error?: Error) => void): this {
+    this.closeCalls++;
+    this.listening = false;
+    queueMicrotask(() => {
+      callback?.();
+      this.emit('close');
+    });
+    return this;
+  }
+}
+
+describe('HTTP server lifecycle', () => {
+  test('waits for shared cleanup to close the server', async () => {
+    const server = new FakeHttpServer();
+    const signals = new EventEmitter();
+    let cleanup: (() => Promise<void>) | undefined;
+    let deregistered = false;
+    let resolved = false;
+
+    const lifecycle = waitForHttpServerLifecycle(server, {
+      signals,
+      register(_name, fn) {
+        cleanup = fn;
+        return () => { deregistered = true; };
+      },
+    }).then(() => { resolved = true; });
+
+    await Promise.resolve();
+    expect(resolved).toBe(false);
+    expect(cleanup).toBeDefined();
+
+    await cleanup!();
+    await lifecycle;
+
+    expect(server.closeCalls).toBe(1);
+    expect(deregistered).toBe(true);
+    expect(signals.listenerCount('SIGINT')).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('SIGINT closes the server through the same idempotent path', async () => {
+    const server = new FakeHttpServer();
+    const signals = new EventEmitter();
+
+    const lifecycle = waitForHttpServerLifecycle(server, {
+      signals,
+      register() {
+        return () => {};
+      },
+    });
+
+    signals.emit('SIGINT');
+    await lifecycle;
+
+    expect(server.closeCalls).toBe(1);
+  });
+});