diff --git a/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm.rs b/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm.rs
index 69adc5567..de97d89b1 100644
--- a/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm.rs
+++ b/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm.rs
@@ -150,15 +150,20 @@ impl EntityExtractor for LlmEntityExtractor {
         for attempt in 0..MAX_ATTEMPTS {
             match self.try_extract(text).await {
                 Some(extracted) => {
-                    // #002 (T013): a completed extraction that yielded
-                    // structure means the extraction model is working —
-                    // clear any prior "structure degraded" flag so the
-                    // status/doctor surface recovers. (An empty-but-valid
-                    // result, e.g. genuinely entity-free text, is left
-                    // alone — it isn't evidence the model is broken.)
-                    if !extracted.entities.is_empty() || !extracted.topics.is_empty() {
-                        crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::clear_structure_degraded();
-                    }
+                    // #3365: the structure-degraded latch means "the extraction
+                    // model is timing out / unreachable" — set ONLY after
+                    // MAX_ATTEMPTS transport failures (below). A *completed* call
+                    // disproves that: `try_extract` returns `Some` whenever the
+                    // provider responded, including the valid-but-empty and
+                    // malformed-JSON-as-empty cases. So a completed extraction
+                    // clears the latch regardless of whether this particular text
+                    // yielded entities — liveness, not content, is what it tracks.
+                    //
+                    // (Clearing only on a non-empty result left the latch stuck
+                    // after the model recovered whenever later texts were
+                    // entity-light, so the surface kept warning "extraction model
+                    // is timing out" long after it had stopped — #3365.)
+                    crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::clear_structure_degraded();
                     return Ok(extracted);
                 }
                 None => {
diff --git a/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm_tests.rs b/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm_tests.rs
index b6e29ee33..9d375edde 100644
--- a/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm_tests.rs
+++ b/src/openhuman/memory_tree/score/extract/llm_tests.rs
@@ -291,6 +291,49 @@ async fn extract_returns_empty_on_malformed_provider_response() {
     assert!(out.llm_importance.is_none());
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn extract_clears_structure_latch_on_completed_empty_extraction() {
+    // #3365: the structure-degraded latch is a LIVENESS signal ("the extraction
+    // model is timing out"), set only after transport-failure retries are
+    // exhausted. A *completed* call — even one that yields no entities (a
+    // valid-but-empty result for entity-free text) — proves the model is
+    // responding, so it must clear the latch. Previously only a NON-empty result
+    // cleared it, so after the model recovered the latch stayed stuck whenever
+    // later texts were entity-light.
+    let _health_guard = crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::test_guard();
+    use crate::openhuman::memory::chat::{ChatPrompt, ChatProvider};
+    use async_trait::async_trait;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+
+    struct EmptyButOkProvider;
+    #[async_trait]
+    impl ChatProvider for EmptyButOkProvider {
+        fn name(&self) -> &str {
+            "test:empty-ok"
+        }
+        async fn chat_for_json(&self, _p: &ChatPrompt) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
+            Ok(r#"{"entities": [], "topics": []}"#.to_string())
+        }
+    }
+
+    crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::mark_structure_degraded(
+        crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::FailureCode::ExtractionTimeout,
+    );
+    assert!(
+        crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::current_degraded_state().structure,
+        "precondition: structure-degraded latch is set"
+    );
+
+    let ex = LlmEntityExtractor::new(LlmExtractorConfig::default(), Arc::new(EmptyButOkProvider));
+    let out = ex.extract("entity-free text").await.unwrap();
+    assert!(out.entities.is_empty(), "no entities in the response");
+
+    assert!(
+        !crate::openhuman::memory_tree::health::current_degraded_state().structure,
+        "a completed extraction must clear the structure-degraded latch even when empty"
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn into_extracted_entities_drops_hallucinations() {
     let out = LlmExtractionOutput {