diff --git a/src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.ts b/src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.ts
index 8885d587..9c5f3bfc 100644
--- a/src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.ts
+++ b/src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.ts
@@ -196,8 +196,16 @@ export async function recordScreenAndAudioToFiles(
       log.debug(`Failed to stop cleanly: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`);
     });
     await audioCapture.stop().catch((): void => undefined);
-    audioWritten = await audioOut.close();
-    await videoOut.close();
+    // The video writer closes even when the audio writer throws. M4aFileWriter
+    // finalizes by reopening the finished file to patch mdat's length, so it can
+    // fail on a full disk long after every frame is safely on disk. Sequencing
+    // the two closes would leak the video file descriptor for the life of the
+    // process, and the error its stream is holding would never be read.
+    try {
+      audioWritten = await audioOut.close();
+    } finally {
+      await videoOut.close();
+    }
   }
 
   const audioDurationMs = aacEldDurationMs(audioWritten.sampleCount);
diff --git a/test/unit/display/recording/av-capture.spec.ts b/test/unit/display/recording/av-capture.spec.ts
index 3b2ef3a2..90bf9f68 100644
--- a/test/unit/display/recording/av-capture.spec.ts
+++ b/test/unit/display/recording/av-capture.spec.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,15 @@ import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import {mkdtemp, rm} from 'node:fs/promises';
 import {tmpdir} from 'node:os';
 import {join} from 'node:path';
-import {after, before, describe, it} from 'node:test';
+import {type TestContext, after, before, describe, it} from 'node:test';
 
 import type {DisplayService, MediaStreamAnswer} from '../../../../src/services/ios/display/index.js';
 import {recordScreenAndAudioToFiles} from '../../../../src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.js';
+import {mockImport} from '../../../helpers/mock-module.js';
+
+const AV_CAPTURE_MODULE = '../../../../src/services/ios/display/recording/av-capture.js';
+const M4A_WRITER_MODULE = '../../../../src/services/ios/display/audio/m4a-writer.js';
+const SCREEN_CAPTURE_MODULE = '../../../../src/services/ios/display/video/screen-stream-capture.js';
 
 /** A stub service that negotiates without a device and counts teardowns. */
 function makeStubService(): {service: DisplayService; stopCalls: () => number} {
@@ -60,4 +65,58 @@ describe('recordScreenAndAudioToFiles', function () {
 
     assert.strictEqual(stopCalls(), 2, 'both captures must be stopped before the error propagates');
   });
+
+  it('closes the video writer even when closing the audio writer throws', async function (t: TestContext) {
+    // M4aFileWriter finalizes by reopening the finished file to patch mdat's
+    // length, so it can fail on a full disk after every frame is already on
+    // disk. Sequencing the closes would skip the video one, leaking its file
+    // descriptor and leaving the error its stream holds unread.
+    let videoCloseCalls = 0;
+    const closeFailure = new Error('failed to patch the mdat header');
+
+    class StubM4aFileWriter {
+      static async create(): Promise<StubM4aFileWriter> {
+        return new StubM4aFileWriter();
+      }
+      async write(): Promise<void> {
+        return undefined;
+      }
+      async close(): Promise<never> {
+        throw closeFailure;
+      }
+    }
+
+    class StubAnnexBFileWriter {
+      constructor(path: string) {
+        void path;
+      }
+      async write(): Promise<void> {
+        return undefined;
+      }
+      async close(): Promise<void> {
+        videoCloseCalls += 1;
+      }
+    }
+
+    const {recordScreenAndAudioToFiles: record} = await mockImport<{
+      recordScreenAndAudioToFiles: typeof recordScreenAndAudioToFiles;
+    }>(t, AV_CAPTURE_MODULE, import.meta.url, {
+      [M4A_WRITER_MODULE]: {M4aFileWriter: StubM4aFileWriter},
+      // Merged over the real exports, so ScreenStreamCapture stays intact.
+      [SCREEN_CAPTURE_MODULE]: {AnnexBFileWriter: StubAnnexBFileWriter},
+    });
+
+    const {service} = makeStubService();
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () =>
+        record(service, {
+          videoPath: join(directory, 'screen-close.h265'),
+          audioPath: join(directory, 'audio-close.m4a'),
+          durationMs: 50,
+        }),
+      /failed to patch the mdat header/,
+    );
+
+    assert.strictEqual(videoCloseCalls, 1, 'the video writer must be closed even though the audio close threw');
+  });
 });