diff --git a/src/agents/usage-log.test.ts b/src/agents/usage-log.test.ts
index 37ea1a92e54..d308bf7e34e 100644
--- a/src/agents/usage-log.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/usage-log.test.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { spawn } from "child_process";
 import fs from "fs/promises";
 import os from "os";
 import path from "path";
@@ -177,6 +178,39 @@ describe("recordTokenUsage", () => {
     expect(records).toHaveLength(N);
   });
 
+  it("reclaims stale lock left by a crashed process", async () => {
+    // Spawn a subprocess that exits immediately, then use its (now-dead) PID
+    // to simulate a lock file left behind after an abnormal exit.
+    const deadPid = await new Promise<number>((resolve, reject) => {
+      const child = spawn(process.execPath, ["-e", "process.exit(0)"]);
+      const pid = child.pid!;
+      child.on("exit", () => resolve(pid));
+      child.on("error", reject);
+    });
+
+    const memoryDir = path.join(tmpDir, "memory");
+    await fs.mkdir(memoryDir, { recursive: true });
+    const lockPath = path.join(memoryDir, "token-usage.json.lock");
+    await fs.writeFile(lockPath, String(deadPid));
+
+    // recordTokenUsage must detect the stale lock, reclaim it, and succeed.
+    await recordTokenUsage({
+      workspaceDir: tmpDir,
+      label: "llm_output",
+      usage: { input: 100, output: 50, total: 150 },
+    });
+
+    const records = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(usageFile, "utf-8"));
+    expect(records).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(records[0].tokensUsed).toBe(150);
+    // Lock file must be cleaned up by the winner.
+    const lockExists = await fs
+      .access(lockPath)
+      .then(() => true)
+      .catch(() => false);
+    expect(lockExists).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("serialises concurrent writes — no record is lost", async () => {
     const N = 20;
     await Promise.all(
diff --git a/src/agents/usage-log.ts b/src/agents/usage-log.ts
index 1738e0db4c1..c8a1cdb254c 100644
--- a/src/agents/usage-log.ts
+++ b/src/agents/usage-log.ts
@@ -60,21 +60,53 @@ async function readJsonArray(file: string): Promise<TokenUsageRecord[]> {
 // writes.  We guard against that with an advisory lock file (.lock) using
 // O_EXCL (create-exclusive), which is atomic on POSIX filesystems.
 //
-// Lock acquisition retries with a fixed interval up to LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS.
-// On timeout ERR_LOCK_TIMEOUT is thrown; the lock file is intentionally left
-// untouched so that an active holder's mutual exclusion is never broken.
+// The lock file stores the holder's PID so that waiters can detect a stale
+// lock left by a crashed process.  On each EEXIST the waiter reads the PID
+// and calls kill(pid, 0): if the process no longer exists (ESRCH) the lock
+// is stale and is reclaimed immediately via a fresh O_EXCL open, preserving
+// mutual exclusion even when multiple waiters race for the steal.  If the
+// holder is alive the waiter backs off for LOCK_RETRY_MS and retries.
+// After LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS without acquiring the lock ERR_LOCK_TIMEOUT is
+// thrown; the lock file is left untouched to avoid breaking a live holder.
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 const LOCK_RETRY_MS = 50;
 const LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
 
+/**
+ * Returns true only when the lock at `lockPath` was written by a process
+ * that no longer exists (ESRCH).  Any other outcome (process alive, EPERM,
+ * unreadable file, non-numeric content) is treated as "not stale" so we
+ * never break a legitimately held lock.
+ */
+async function isLockStale(lockPath: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const raw = await fs.readFile(lockPath, "utf-8");
+    const pid = parseInt(raw.trim(), 10);
+    if (isNaN(pid) || pid <= 0) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    try {
+      process.kill(pid, 0); // signal 0 checks existence without delivering a signal
+      return false; // process is alive
+    } catch (e) {
+      return (e as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "ESRCH";
+    }
+  } catch {
+    return false; // can't read lock — treat as live
+  }
+}
+
 async function withFileLock<T>(lockPath: string, fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
   const deadline = Date.now() + LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  const myPid = String(process.pid);
 
   while (Date.now() < deadline) {
     let fh: fs.FileHandle | undefined;
     try {
-      // wx = O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL — fails if the file already exists
+      // wx = O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL — fails if the file already exists.
+      // Write our PID so that a waiting process can verify we are still alive.
       fh = await fs.open(lockPath, "wx");
+      await fh.writeFile(myPid);
       await fh.close();
       fh = undefined;
       try {
@@ -87,15 +119,22 @@ async function withFileLock<T>(lockPath: string, fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<
       if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== "EEXIST") {
         throw err;
       }
-      // Another process holds the lock — wait and retry.
+      // The lock file exists.  Check immediately whether the holder crashed;
+      // if so, unlink the stale lock and loop back to race on O_EXCL.
+      // Multiple concurrent waiters may all detect the stale lock and attempt
+      // the unlink — that is fine because only one O_EXCL open will succeed.
+      if (await isLockStale(lockPath)) {
+        await fs.unlink(lockPath).catch(() => {});
+        continue;
+      }
+      // Holder is alive — back off and retry.
       await new Promise<void>((r) => setTimeout(r, LOCK_RETRY_MS));
     }
   }
 
-  // Timed out without acquiring the lock. We deliberately do NOT delete the
-  // lock file here: the holder may still be active (slow disk, large file),
-  // and removing a live lock would break mutual exclusion and allow concurrent
-  // read-modify-write cycles to overwrite each other's entries.
+  // Timed out without acquiring the lock. The lock file is intentionally left
+  // untouched: the holder may still be active (slow disk, large file), and
+  // removing a live lock would break mutual exclusion.
   throw Object.assign(new Error(`Could not acquire lock ${lockPath} within ${LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS}ms`), {
     code: "ERR_LOCK_TIMEOUT",
   });