diff --git a/core/docs/architecture/76-native-mount-session.md b/core/docs/architecture/76-native-mount-session.md
index 4932c3641..f636c508e 100644
--- a/core/docs/architecture/76-native-mount-session.md
+++ b/core/docs/architecture/76-native-mount-session.md
@@ -189,12 +189,15 @@ its existing Commit-custody admission and then, for an attached Workspace:
 3. **Drain.** [`drain`](../../crates/layerfs-fuse/src/session/drain.rs)
    establishes that every created loop is joined, the owner and watcher
    returned, no received, admitted or retained request remains, and releases the
-   lane. `drain_wait` is an observation deadline. A stop at `Join` means the
-   connection outlived its mount (another mount namespace holds a copy of it,
-   #426 and #460): the unmount makes one abort write on the already-detached
-   connection and drains again, so the stalled connection still ends. A write
-   that is not accepted whole, or a second stop, keeps the entry `Retained`
-   exactly as any other stop does.
+   lane. `drain_wait` is an observation deadline for the requests. Once they
+   are quiescent, the join of the receive loops is observed only for the
+   shorter `JOIN_WAIT` (1 s): a healthy join follows the detach in
+   milliseconds. A stop at `Join` means the connection outlived its mount
+   (another mount namespace holds a copy of it, #426 and #460): the unmount
+   then makes one abort write on the already-detached connection and drains
+   again, so the stalled connection still ends. A write that is not accepted
+   whole, or a second stop, keeps the entry `Retained` exactly as any other
+   stop does.
 4. **Revocation.** `NativeJob::Revoke` logically revokes the engine mount.
 5. **Close and registry removal** through the existing terminal Close.
 
diff --git a/core/docs/architecture/80-forced-teardown.md b/core/docs/architecture/80-forced-teardown.md
index 6ede45548..0bd536e38 100644
--- a/core/docs/architecture/80-forced-teardown.md
+++ b/core/docs/architecture/80-forced-teardown.md
@@ -124,7 +124,9 @@ A normal unmount can detach successfully and still stop at `Join`: when
 another mount of the same superblock outlives the detach, for example a copy
 in a mount namespace made by a process outside the Sandbox, the kernel never
 ends the connection, so its receive loops stay blocked in their reads
-(issues #426 and #460). The unmount now makes one abort write itself
+(issues #426 and #460). The join is observed for one second (`JOIN_WAIT`)
+after the requests are quiescent, not for the whole drain wait, so the stall
+is recognised promptly. The unmount now makes one abort write itself
 (`NativeSession::abort_detached`) and drains again, so the connection ends and
 the unmount completes with `Unmounted`.
 
diff --git a/engine/crates/layerfs-daemon/tests/stalled_unmount.rs b/engine/crates/layerfs-daemon/tests/stalled_unmount.rs
index 6a74af6f4..5e697f77c 100644
--- a/engine/crates/layerfs-daemon/tests/stalled_unmount.rs
+++ b/engine/crates/layerfs-daemon/tests/stalled_unmount.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 //! the kernel never ends the connection: the receive loops stay blocked and
 //! the drain stops at Join. The normal unmount then makes the same single
 //! abort write a forced unmount would, drains again, revokes and closes, so it
-//! ends the connection itself. Removing the mount directory then detaches the
+//! ends the connection itself; the join is bounded by a short grace, not the
+//! whole drain wait. Removing the mount directory then detaches the
 //! copy's mount too (Linux detaches the mounts on a removed mount point in
 //! every namespace), so the connection's control entry goes while the copy
 //! still runs, and the copy finds no mount there.
@@ -138,11 +139,19 @@ fn a_normal_unmount_stalled_at_join_ends_itself_with_one_abort_write() {
     let mut copy = Copy::spawn(root(&ready));
 
     // The plain detach succeeds here; the connection outlives it, so the drain
-    // stops at Join and the normal unmount ends it with one abort write.
+    // stops at Join and the normal unmount ends it with one abort write. The
+    // join is observed for JOIN_WAIT (1 s), not the whole DRAIN_WAIT, so this
+    // returns in about a second; without the grace it would take about five.
+    let started = Instant::now();
     let done = match rig.harness.try_unmount(token) {
         Ok(done) => done,
         Err(failure) => panic!("normal unmount of a copied mount: {failure:?}"),
     };
+    let elapsed = started.elapsed();
+    assert!(
+        elapsed < Duration::from_secs(3),
+        "the stalled unmount waited {elapsed:?}, not the 1 s join grace"
+    );
     println!("STALLED plain unmount={:?}", done.reply);
     assert_eq!(done.reply, Reply::Unmounted(token));
     let drained = done.kernel.as_ref().expect("drain receipt");
diff --git a/engine/crates/layerfs-fuse/src/session/drain.rs b/engine/crates/layerfs-fuse/src/session/drain.rs
index 51d83d5fb..24ac43f24 100644
--- a/engine/crates/layerfs-fuse/src/session/drain.rs
+++ b/engine/crates/layerfs-fuse/src/session/drain.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ use fuser::SessionPhase;
 use nix::errno::Errno;
 use std::{any::Any, fs, sync::atomic::Ordering, time::Instant};
 
+/// How long the join of the receive loops may take once every request
+/// is quiescent. A healthy join follows the detach in milliseconds; a
+/// connection kept alive by another mount namespace of the same
+/// superblock never joins (#426, #460). Keeping this bound shorter
+/// than `drain_wait` lets a stalled connection be aborted promptly,
+/// while requests still get the whole `drain_wait`.
+const JOIN_WAIT: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(1);
+
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub enum Detach {
     /// The kernel acknowledged the detach; kernel admission is now terminal.
@@ -76,9 +84,13 @@ impl KernelSession {
             }
         }
         if let (Some(monitor), true) = (&self.monitor, self.owner.is_some()) {
+            // Requests are quiescent; from here the wait is only the loops'
+            // join, which a healthy connection finishes in milliseconds and a
+            // stalled one never does. Bound it by JOIN_WAIT, not drain_wait.
+            let join_deadline = deadline.min(Instant::now() + JOIN_WAIT);
             let mut loops = monitor.snapshot();
             while loops.phase != SessionPhase::Joined {
-                let remaining = deadline.saturating_duration_since(Instant::now());
+                let remaining = join_deadline.saturating_duration_since(Instant::now());
                 if remaining.is_zero() {
                     return Err(stop(DrainStage::Join, None));
                 }