diff --git a/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs b/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
index 9f3adece797..2863601ef8a 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
+++ b/scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ const INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS = readPositiveInt(
 );
 const RPC_TIMEOUT_MS = readPositiveInt(process.env.OPENCLAW_KITCHEN_SINK_RPC_CALL_MS, 60000);
 const MAX_RSS_MIB = readPositiveInt(process.env.OPENCLAW_KITCHEN_SINK_MAX_RSS_MIB, 2048);
+const GATEWAY_TEARDOWN_GRACE_MS = 10000;
+const GATEWAY_TEARDOWN_KILL_GRACE_MS = 2000;
 const OUTPUT_CAPTURE_CHARS = readPositiveInt(
   process.env.OPENCLAW_KITCHEN_SINK_OUTPUT_CAPTURE_CHARS,
   1024 * 1024,
@@ -537,18 +539,34 @@ async function startGateway(runner, port, env, logPath) {
   return child;
 }
 
-async function stopGateway(child) {
-  if (!child || child.exitCode !== null) {
+export async function stopGateway(child, options = {}) {
+  if (!child || child.exitCode !== null || child.signalCode !== null) {
     return;
   }
+  const teardownGraceMs = Math.max(0, options.teardownGraceMs ?? GATEWAY_TEARDOWN_GRACE_MS);
+  const killGraceMs = Math.max(0, options.killGraceMs ?? GATEWAY_TEARDOWN_KILL_GRACE_MS);
+  const exited = new Promise((resolve) => child.once("exit", resolve));
+  const waitForExit = async (ms) =>
+    child.exitCode !== null || child.signalCode !== null
+      ? true
+      : await Promise.race([exited.then(() => true), delay(ms).then(() => false)]);
+
   signalGateway(child, "SIGTERM");
-  const started = Date.now();
-  while (child.exitCode === null && Date.now() - started < 10000) {
-    await delay(100);
+  if (await waitForExit(teardownGraceMs)) {
+    return;
   }
-  if (child.exitCode === null) {
-    signalGateway(child, "SIGKILL");
+  signalGateway(child, "SIGKILL");
+  if (await waitForExit(killGraceMs)) {
+    return;
   }
+  releaseUnsettledGatewayChild(child);
+}
+
+function releaseUnsettledGatewayChild(child) {
+  child.stdin?.destroy?.();
+  child.stdout?.destroy?.();
+  child.stderr?.destroy?.();
+  child.unref?.();
 }
 
 function signalGateway(child, signal) {
diff --git a/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts b/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
index 42de35e4369..68336d316db 100644
--- a/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.test.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   runCommand,
   sampleProcess,
   sampleWindowsProcessByPort,
+  stopGateway,
   summarizeProcessSamples,
   usesBuiltOpenClawEntry,
 } from "../../scripts/e2e/kitchen-sink-rpc-walk.mjs";
@@ -39,6 +41,36 @@ describe("kitchen-sink RPC isolated state", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("kitchen-sink RPC gateway teardown", () => {
+  it("releases gateway handles when the process ignores teardown signals", async () => {
+    const child = new EventEmitter() as EventEmitter & {
+      exitCode: number | null;
+      kill: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+      signalCode: NodeJS.Signals | null;
+      stderr: { destroy: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn> };
+      stdin: { destroy: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn> };
+      stdout: { destroy: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn> };
+      unref: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+    };
+    child.exitCode = null;
+    child.signalCode = null;
+    child.kill = vi.fn(() => true);
+    child.stderr = { destroy: vi.fn() };
+    child.stdin = { destroy: vi.fn() };
+    child.stdout = { destroy: vi.fn() };
+    child.unref = vi.fn();
+
+    await stopGateway(child, { killGraceMs: 1, teardownGraceMs: 1 });
+
+    expect(child.kill).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, "SIGTERM");
+    expect(child.kill).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, "SIGKILL");
+    expect(child.stdin.destroy).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(child.stdout.destroy).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(child.stderr.destroy).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(child.unref).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("kitchen-sink RPC command output capture", () => {
   it("keeps a bounded tail and tracks truncated output", () => {
     const first = appendBoundedOutput({ text: "", truncatedChars: 0 }, "abcdef", 5);