diff --git a/c/src/core/c_api.cpp b/c/src/core/c_api.cpp
index 2e215ba414..398b983663 100644
--- a/c/src/core/c_api.cpp
+++ b/c/src/core/c_api.cpp
@@ -347,19 +347,24 @@ extern "C" cuvsError_t cuvsRMMMemoryResourceReset()
   });
 }
 
-thread_local std::unique_ptr<rmm::mr::pinned_host_memory_resource> pinned_mr;
+namespace {
+// One process-wide resource: pinned_host_memory_resource is stateless, so a buffer allocated on
+// one thread can be freed on another (a thread_local resource left it null on other threads).
+rmm::mr::pinned_host_memory_resource& pinned_mr()
+{
+  static rmm::mr::pinned_host_memory_resource mr;
+  return mr;
+}
+}  // namespace
 
 extern "C" cuvsError_t cuvsRMMHostAlloc(void** ptr, size_t bytes)
 {
-  return cuvs::core::translate_exceptions([=] {
-    if (pinned_mr == nullptr) { pinned_mr = std::make_unique<rmm::mr::pinned_host_memory_resource>(); }
-    *ptr = pinned_mr->allocate_sync(bytes);
-  });
+  return cuvs::core::translate_exceptions([=] { *ptr = pinned_mr().allocate_sync(bytes); });
 }
 
 extern "C" cuvsError_t cuvsRMMHostFree(void* ptr, size_t bytes)
 {
-  return cuvs::core::translate_exceptions([=] { pinned_mr->deallocate_sync(ptr, bytes); });
+  return cuvs::core::translate_exceptions([=] { pinned_mr().deallocate_sync(ptr, bytes); });
 }
 
 thread_local std::string last_error_text = "";
diff --git a/c/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/c/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index cfceb58f33..b53b2d75b4 100644
--- a/c/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/c/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ ConfigureTest(NAME cuvs_c_headers PATH core/headers.c)
 ConfigureTest(NAME cuvs_c_test PATH core/c_api.c)
 ConfigureTest(NAME cuvs_c_resource_pool_test PATH core/resource_pool.cpp)
 ConfigureTest(NAME cuvs_c_resource_stream_pool_test PATH core/resource_stream_pool.cpp)
+ConfigureTest(NAME cuvs_c_host_alloc_test PATH core/host_alloc.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(cuvs_c_test PRIVATE CUDA::cudart_static)
 target_link_libraries(cuvs_c_resource_pool_test PRIVATE CUDA::cudart_static)
 target_link_libraries(cuvs_c_resource_stream_pool_test PRIVATE CUDA::cudart_static)
diff --git a/c/tests/core/host_alloc.cpp b/c/tests/core/host_alloc.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..507e11fd34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/c/tests/core/host_alloc.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+#include <cuvs/core/c_api.h>
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <atomic>
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <thread>
+#include <vector>
+
+// Pinned host buffers may be freed on a different thread than the one that allocated them, e.g.
+// when a binding moves the owning object across threads.
+TEST(RMMHostAlloc, FreeOnAnotherThread)
+{
+  constexpr std::size_t kBytes = 1024;
+  void* ptr                    = nullptr;
+  cuvsError_t alloc_status     = CUVS_ERROR;
+  std::thread([&] { alloc_status = cuvsRMMHostAlloc(&ptr, kBytes); }).join();
+  ASSERT_EQ(alloc_status, CUVS_SUCCESS);
+  ASSERT_NE(ptr, nullptr);
+
+  cuvsError_t free_status = CUVS_ERROR;
+  std::thread([&] { free_status = cuvsRMMHostFree(ptr, kBytes); }).join();
+  EXPECT_EQ(free_status, CUVS_SUCCESS);
+}
+
+TEST(RMMHostAlloc, ConcurrentAllocAndFree)
+{
+  constexpr int kThreads       = 8;
+  constexpr int kIters         = 50;
+  constexpr std::size_t kBytes = 4096;
+  std::vector<void*> ptrs(kThreads * kIters, nullptr);
+  std::atomic<int> failures{0};
+
+  std::vector<std::thread> threads;
+  for (int t = 0; t < kThreads; ++t) {
+    threads.emplace_back([&, t] {
+      for (int i = 0; i < kIters; ++i) {
+        if (cuvsRMMHostAlloc(&ptrs[t * kIters + i], kBytes) != CUVS_SUCCESS) { failures++; }
+      }
+    });
+  }
+  for (auto& th : threads) {
+    th.join();
+  }
+  threads.clear();
+  ASSERT_EQ(failures.load(), 0);
+
+  // Free every buffer from a different thread than the one that allocated it.
+  for (int t = 0; t < kThreads; ++t) {
+    threads.emplace_back([&, t] {
+      int const owner = (t + 1) % kThreads;
+      for (int i = 0; i < kIters; ++i) {
+        if (cuvsRMMHostFree(ptrs[owner * kIters + i], kBytes) != CUVS_SUCCESS) { failures++; }
+      }
+    });
+  }
+  for (auto& th : threads) {
+    th.join();
+  }
+  EXPECT_EQ(failures.load(), 0);
+}