diff --git a/bindings/napi/BeaconStateView.zig b/bindings/napi/BeaconStateView.zig
index 3c59b8169..5e6af5806 100644
--- a/bindings/napi/BeaconStateView.zig
+++ b/bindings/napi/BeaconStateView.zig
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ pub const js_meta = js.class(.{ .properties = .{
 } });
 
 cached_state: ?*CachedBeaconState = null,
+pool_rc: ?*pool.PoolRc = null,
 const BeaconStateView = @This();
 
 pub fn init() BeaconStateView {
@@ -78,6 +79,10 @@ pub fn deinit(self: *BeaconStateView) void {
         allocator.destroy(cached_state);
         self.cached_state = null;
     }
+    if (self.pool_rc) |rc| {
+        rc.unref();
+        self.pool_rc = null;
+    }
 }
 
 // -------------------------
@@ -90,7 +95,7 @@ pub fn createFromBytes(bytes: js.Uint8Array) !BeaconStateView {
     const byte_slice = try bytes.toSlice();
     const slot_value = fork_types.readSlotFromAnyBeaconStateBytes(byte_slice);
     const fork_seq = config.state.config.forkSeq(slot_value);
-    state.* = try AnyBeaconState.deserialize(allocator, &pool.state.pool, fork_seq, byte_slice);
+    state.* = try AnyBeaconState.deserialize(allocator, pool.state.pool(), fork_seq, byte_slice);
     errdefer state.deinit();
 
     const cached_state = try allocator.create(CachedBeaconState);
@@ -107,7 +112,10 @@ pub fn createFromBytes(bytes: js.Uint8Array) !BeaconStateView {
         null,
     );
 
-    return .{ .cached_state = cached_state };
+    return .{
+        .cached_state = cached_state,
+        .pool_rc = pool.state.poolRc().ref(),
+    };
 }
 
 // -------------------------
@@ -781,7 +789,7 @@ pub fn createMultiProof(self: *const BeaconStateView, descriptor: js.Uint8Array)
 
     var proof = persistent_merkle_tree.proof.createProof(
         allocator,
-        &pool.state.pool,
+        pool.state.pool(),
         root_node,
         proof_input,
     ) catch {
@@ -934,7 +942,10 @@ pub fn processSlots(self: *const BeaconStateView, slot_arg: js.Number, options:
     }
 
     try st.processSlots(allocator, napi_io.get(), post_state, slot_value, .{});
-    return .{ .cached_state = post_state };
+    return .{
+        .cached_state = post_state,
+        .pool_rc = pool.state.poolRc().ref(),
+    };
 }
 
 /// Compute expected withdrawals for the next payload (capella+).
diff --git a/bindings/napi/pool.zig b/bindings/napi/pool.zig
index d8edd1ce9..b04b5468e 100644
--- a/bindings/napi/pool.zig
+++ b/bindings/napi/pool.zig
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const js = @import("zapi:zapi").js;
 const Node = @import("persistent_merkle_tree").Node;
+const RefCount = @import("state_transition").RefCount;
 
 /// Pool uses page allocator for internal allocations.
 /// It's recommended to never reallocate the pool after initialization.
@@ -8,20 +9,38 @@ const allocator = std.heap.page_allocator;
 
 const default_pool_size: u32 = 0;
 
+pub const PoolRc = RefCount(Node.Pool);
+
+/// Pool is wrapped in `RefCount` so binding objects holding pool refs at
+/// process exit keep the pool alive until their JS finalizer runs. NAPI
+/// env cleanup hook fires before module-level JS holders are finalized,
+/// so an unconditional `pool.deinit()` there would free memory that
+/// `pool.unref()` calls in those finalizers still need.
 pub const State = struct {
-    pool: Node.Pool = undefined,
-    initialized: bool = false,
+    pool_rc: ?*PoolRc = null,
 
     pub fn init(self: *State) !void {
-        if (self.initialized) return;
-        self.pool = try Node.Pool.init(allocator, default_pool_size);
-        self.initialized = true;
+        if (self.pool_rc != null) return;
+        var pool_value = try Node.Pool.init(allocator, default_pool_size);
+        errdefer pool_value.deinit();
+        self.pool_rc = try PoolRc.init(allocator, pool_value);
     }
 
     pub fn deinit(self: *State) void {
-        if (!self.initialized) return;
-        self.pool.deinit();
-        self.initialized = false;
+        if (self.pool_rc) |rc| {
+            rc.unref();
+            self.pool_rc = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn pool(self: *State) *Node.Pool {
+        std.debug.assert(self.pool_rc != null);
+        return &self.pool_rc.?.instance;
+    }
+
+    pub fn poolRc(self: *State) *PoolRc {
+        std.debug.assert(self.pool_rc != null);
+        return self.pool_rc.?;
     }
 };
 
@@ -29,14 +48,14 @@ pub var state: State = .{};
 
 /// JS: pool.ensureCapacity(newSize)
 pub fn ensureCapacity(new_size: js.Number) !void {
-    if (!state.initialized) {
+    if (state.pool_rc == null) {
         return error.PoolNotInitialized;
     }
 
     const requested = new_size.assertU32();
-    const old_size = state.pool.nodes.capacity;
+    const old_size = state.pool().nodes.capacity;
     if (requested <= old_size) {
         return;
     }
-    try state.pool.preheat(@intCast(requested - state.pool.nodes.capacity));
+    try state.pool().preheat(@intCast(requested - state.pool().nodes.capacity));
 }
diff --git a/bindings/test/teardown.test.ts b/bindings/test/teardown.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..15faa5a85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindings/test/teardown.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import {spawnSync} from "node:child_process";
+import {unlinkSync, writeFileSync} from "node:fs";
+import {join} from "node:path";
+import {describe, expect, it} from "vitest";
+
+describe("BeaconStateView teardown", () => {
+  it("creates view at module scope and exits cleanly", () => {
+    const projectRoot = join(import.meta.dirname, "../..");
+    // Fixture must live under the project root so Node resolves
+    // workspace packages like @lodestar/config from local node_modules.
+    const fixturePath = join(projectRoot, `bindings/test/.tmp-teardown-${process.pid}.mjs`);
+
+    writeFileSync(
+      fixturePath,
+      `
+import {config} from "@lodestar/config/default";
+import * as era from "@lodestar/era";
+import bindings from "../src/index.js";
+import {getFirstEraFilePath} from "./eraFiles.ts";
+
+const reader = await era.era.EraReader.open(config, getFirstEraFilePath());
+const stateBytes = await reader.readSerializedState();
+await reader.close();
+
+bindings.pool.ensureCapacity(10_000_000);
+bindings.pubkeys.ensureCapacity(2_000_000);
+
+const seedState = bindings.BeaconStateView.createFromBytes(stateBytes);
+console.log("slot=" + seedState.slot);
+`
+    );
+
+    try {
+      const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, ["--experimental-strip-types", fixturePath], {
+        cwd: projectRoot,
+        encoding: "utf-8",
+        timeout: 60_000,
+      });
+      expect(result.status, `stdout=${result.stdout} stderr=${result.stderr}`).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.stderr, "no panic on stderr").not.toContain("panic:");
+    } finally {
+      try {
+        unlinkSync(fixturePath);
+      } catch (_e) {
+        // ignore
+      }
+    }
+  }, 90_000);
+});
diff --git a/src/state_transition/root.zig b/src/state_transition/root.zig
index 6cf8033ea..13da6b9f2 100644
--- a/src/state_transition/root.zig
+++ b/src/state_transition/root.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pub const TransitionOpts = @import("state_transition.zig").TransitionOpts;
 
 pub const metrics = @import("metrics.zig");
 
+pub const RefCount = @import("./utils/ref_count.zig").RefCount;
 pub const computeSigningRoot = @import("./utils/signing_root.zig").computeSigningRoot;
 pub const computeEpochAtSlot = @import("./utils/epoch.zig").computeEpochAtSlot;
 pub const CachedBeaconState = @import("./cache/state_cache.zig").CachedBeaconState;