diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f8bcaea..66f9d5a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -253,6 +253,15 @@ policy in [docs/versioning.md](docs/versioning.md).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **A dialed WebSocket released on its own io thread no longer terminates
+  the process.** When the last handle to a `BeastWebSocketClient::Dial`
+  socket dropped inside one of its own completions (typically a `Detached`
+  loop that owned the socket and finished there), the destructor joined the
+  thread it was running on, and `std::terminate` fired with "Resource
+  deadlock avoided". That thread now owns a share of the connection and
+  session: a destructor running on it detaches, and the thread frees them
+  once `run()` returns. Found as an intermittent failure in the consumer
+  module's async acceptance test.
 - **A modeled `@httpHeader("Accept")` input member reaches the wire.** An
   operation with a response `@httpPayload` emits that payload's content type
   as the request's Accept header — but it did so with an unconditional `Set`,
diff --git a/runtime/src/http/beast_transport.cc b/runtime/src/http/beast_transport.cc
index 8123c7a..5f165c4 100644
--- a/runtime/src/http/beast_transport.cc
+++ b/runtime/src/http/beast_transport.cc
@@ -2417,54 +2417,69 @@ struct DialedConnection {
   }
 };
 
+// The io machinery a dialed socket shares with its io thread. Declaration
+// order is load-bearing: members destroy in reverse, so the session (whose
+// websocket stream references the io_context) is released BEFORE the
+// connection destroys that context.
+struct DialedIo {
+  std::unique_ptr<DialedConnection> connection;
+  std::shared_ptr<WebSocketSessionBase> session;
+};
+
 // The handle the application owns: delegates to the session and keeps the
-// io thread alive for the connection's lifetime. Destruction (an app
-// thread — pump callbacks never own this object) aborts the session, stops
-// the io, and joins.
+// io thread alive for the connection's lifetime. Destruction aborts the
+// session, stops the io, and joins, unless it runs on the io thread itself.
+// That happens when a completion owns the last handle (a Detached loop that
+// owns its dialed socket finishes on this thread): a thread cannot join
+// itself, so it is detached, and its own reference to DialedIo frees the io
+// machinery once run() returns, which the stop makes immediate.
 class DialedWebSocket final : public WebSocket {
  public:
   DialedWebSocket(std::shared_ptr<WebSocketSessionBase> session,
                   std::unique_ptr<DialedConnection> connection)
-      : connection_(std::move(connection)),
-        session_(std::move(session)),
-        work_guard_(asio::make_work_guard(connection_->io)),
-        runner_([this] { RunIoThread(connection_->io, "beast client websocket"); }) {}
+      : io_(std::make_shared<DialedIo>(
+            DialedIo{.connection = std::move(connection), .session = std::move(session)})),
+        work_guard_(asio::make_work_guard(io_->connection->io)),
+        runner_([io = io_] { RunIoThread(io->connection->io, "beast client websocket"); }) {}
 
   ~DialedWebSocket() override {
-    session_->Abort("client released the session");
+    io_->session->Abort("client released the session");
     work_guard_.reset();
-    connection_->io.stop();
-    if (runner_.joinable()) {
-      runner_.join();
+    io_->connection->io.stop();
+    if (!runner_.joinable()) {
+      return;
     }
+    if (runner_.get_id() == std::this_thread::get_id()) {
+      runner_.detach();
+      return;
+    }
+    runner_.join();
   }
 
-  Outcome<std::optional<eventstream::Message>> Receive() override { return session_->Receive(); }
+  Outcome<std::optional<eventstream::Message>> Receive() override {
+    return io_->session->Receive();
+  }
   Outcome<std::optional<eventstream::Message>> Receive(std::chrono::milliseconds timeout) override {
-    return session_->Receive(timeout);
+    return io_->session->Receive(timeout);
   }
   Outcome<Unit> Send(const eventstream::Message& message) override {
-    return session_->Send(message);
+    return io_->session->Send(message);
   }
-  void Close() override { session_->Close(); }
+  void Close() override { io_->session->Close(); }
   void ReceiveAsync(WebSocket::ReceiveCallback callback) override {
-    session_->ReceiveAsync(std::move(callback));
+    io_->session->ReceiveAsync(std::move(callback));
   }
   void ReceiveAsync(std::chrono::milliseconds timeout,
                     WebSocket::ReceiveCallback callback) override {
-    session_->ReceiveAsync(timeout, std::move(callback));
+    io_->session->ReceiveAsync(timeout, std::move(callback));
   }
   void SendAsync(const eventstream::Message& message, WebSocket::SendCallback callback) override {
-    session_->SendAsync(message, std::move(callback));
+    io_->session->SendAsync(message, std::move(callback));
   }
-  bool SupportsAsync() const override { return session_->SupportsAsync(); }
+  bool SupportsAsync() const override { return io_->session->SupportsAsync(); }
 
  private:
-  // Declaration order is load-bearing: members destroy in reverse, so the
-  // session (whose websocket stream references the io_context) must be
-  // released BEFORE connection_ destroys that context.
-  std::unique_ptr<DialedConnection> connection_;
-  std::shared_ptr<WebSocketSessionBase> session_;
+  std::shared_ptr<DialedIo> io_;  // shared with runner_, which may outlive this
   asio::executor_work_guard<asio::io_context::executor_type> work_guard_;
   std::thread runner_;
 };
diff --git a/runtime/tests/http/beast_websocket_test.cc b/runtime/tests/http/beast_websocket_test.cc
index a8f7cd1..67a3247 100644
--- a/runtime/tests/http/beast_websocket_test.cc
+++ b/runtime/tests/http/beast_websocket_test.cc
@@ -106,6 +106,55 @@ TEST(BeastWebSocketTest, MessagesRoundTripBothWaysOverTheUpgrade) {
   server.Stop();
 }
 
+TEST(BeastWebSocketTest, ADetachedLoopMayReleaseTheLastHandleOnTheSocketsOwnIoThread) {
+  // A Detached client loop that owns its dialed socket resumes, finishes and
+  // is destroyed on that socket's io thread, so the last reference drops
+  // there. Teardown must not join the thread it runs on (std::terminate,
+  // "Resource deadlock avoided") or free the io_context under it.
+  std::promise<void> parked;
+  std::shared_future<void> go = parked.get_future().share();
+  BeastServerTransport::Options options;
+  options.on_websocket = [go](const HttpRequest&, WebSocket& socket) {
+    go.wait();  // push only once the client's receive is parked
+    (void)socket.Send(Text("news", "unsolicited"));
+    while (true) {
+      auto message = socket.Receive();
+      if (!message.ok() || !message->has_value()) return;
+    }
+  };
+  BeastServerTransport server(options);
+  ASSERT_TRUE(server.Start(NotFoundHandler()).ok());
+  auto dialed = BeastWebSocketClient::Dial({.host = "127.0.0.1", .port = server.port()});
+  ASSERT_TRUE(dialed.ok()) << dialed.error().message();
+
+  std::promise<std::string> delivered;
+  std::promise<void> frame_gone;
+  // The frame owns the only reference once `dialed` is released below.
+  struct SignalOnExit {
+    std::promise<void>* gone;
+    ~SignalOnExit() { gone->set_value(); }
+  };
+  [](std::shared_ptr<WebSocket> socket, std::promise<std::string>* delivered,
+     std::promise<void>* gone) -> eventstream::Detached {
+    const SignalOnExit signal{gone};  // destroyed after `stream`, so after the release
+    eventstream::AsyncEventStream<Message, Message> stream(
+        std::move(socket), [](const Message& m) -> Outcome<Message> { return m; },
+        [](const Message& m) -> Outcome<Message> { return m; });
+    auto message = co_await stream.Receive();
+    delivered->set_value(message.ok() && message->has_value() ? (**message).payload.ToString()
+                                                              : "<none>");
+  }(std::exchange(*dialed, nullptr), &delivered, &frame_gone);
+  parked.set_value();
+
+  auto body = delivered.get_future();
+  ASSERT_EQ(body.wait_for(std::chrono::seconds(5)), std::future_status::ready);
+  EXPECT_EQ(body.get(), "unsolicited");
+  // The frame (and with it ~DialedWebSocket) finished on the io thread
+  // without taking the process down.
+  EXPECT_EQ(frame_gone.get_future().wait_for(std::chrono::seconds(5)), std::future_status::ready);
+  server.Stop();
+}
+
 TEST(BeastWebSocketTest, AReceiveDeadlineExpiresOnAQuietWireAndSparesTheSession) {
   // The echo server says nothing unsolicited, so a receive with no deadline
   // would park here forever — the hang this overload exists to prevent.