diff --git a/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel+MediaPlayback.swift b/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel+MediaPlayback.swift
index b6674212e5ac..f591b06dba10 100644
--- a/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel+MediaPlayback.swift
+++ b/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel+MediaPlayback.swift
@@ -187,6 +187,19 @@ extension BrowserPanel {
         )
     }
 
+    func teardownMediaPlaybackMessageHandler(for webView: WKWebView) {
+        guard mediaPlaybackMessageHandler != nil else {
+            resetMediaPlaybackTracking()
+            return
+        }
+        webView.configuration.userContentController.removeScriptMessageHandler(
+            forName: mediaPlaybackMessageHandlerName,
+            contentWorld: Self.mediaPlaybackContentWorld
+        )
+        mediaPlaybackMessageHandler = nil
+        resetMediaPlaybackTracking()
+    }
+
     /// Applies a per-frame playback report from the injected hook, aggregating
     /// across the main frame and any iframes. Reports from a superseded webview
     /// generation are dropped.
diff --git a/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel.swift b/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel.swift
index 0f3773065dbb..84cee393d03c 100644
--- a/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel.swift
+++ b/Sources/Panels/BrowserPanel.swift
@@ -3547,6 +3547,10 @@ final class BrowserPanel: Panel, ObservableObject {
     private var downloadDelegate: BrowserDownloadDelegate?
     private var webViewObservers: [NSKeyValueObservation] = []
     private var activeDownloadCount: Int = 0
+    /// Browser close is a one-shot resource teardown: it severs WebKit callbacks
+    /// and swaps the heavy page web view for an inert placeholder, so repeated
+    /// close requests from stale SwiftUI/AppKit teardown paths must be ignored.
+    private var isClosed = false
 
     // Avoid flickering the loading indicator for very fast navigations.
     private let minLoadingIndicatorDuration: TimeInterval = 0.35
@@ -4223,6 +4227,48 @@ final class BrowserPanel: Panel, ObservableObject {
         applyMuteState(to: webView, reason: "bindWebView")
     }
 
+    private func releaseWebViewForTeardown(_ targetWebView: WKWebView, reason: String) {
+        if let window = targetWebView.window,
+           Self.responderChainContains(window.firstResponder, target: targetWebView) {
+            window.makeFirstResponder(nil)
+        }
+
+        BrowserWindowPortalRegistry.detach(webView: targetWebView)
+        BrowserWindowPortalRegistry.discard(
+            webView: targetWebView,
+            source: reason,
+            preserveCurrentSuperview: false
+        )
+        targetWebView.stopLoading()
+        targetWebView.navigationDelegate = nil
+        targetWebView.uiDelegate = nil
+        targetWebView.configuration.userContentController.removeAllUserScripts()
+        teardownReactGrabMessageHandler(for: targetWebView)
+        teardownMediaPlaybackMessageHandler(for: targetWebView)
+
+        if let cmuxWebView = targetWebView as? CmuxWebView {
+            cmuxWebView.onContextMenuDownloadStateChanged = nil
+            cmuxWebView.onContextMenuOpenLinkInNewTab = nil
+            cmuxWebView.contextMenuCanMoveTabToNewWorkspace = nil
+            cmuxWebView.contextMenuMoveTabToNewWorkspace = nil
+            cmuxWebView.contextMenuLinkURLProvider = nil
+            cmuxWebView.contextMenuDefaultBrowserOpener = nil
+            cmuxWebView.allowsFirstResponderAcquisition = false
+        }
+
+        targetWebView.removeFromSuperview()
+    }
+
+    private func installClosedPlaceholderWebView() {
+        let replacement = Self.makeWebView(
+            profileID: profileID,
+            websiteDataStore: websiteDataStore
+        )
+        replacement.allowsFirstResponderAcquisition = false
+        webViewInstanceID = UUID()
+        webView = replacement
+    }
+
     private func configureNavigationDelegateCallbacks() {
         guard let navigationDelegate else { return }
         let boundWebViewInstanceID = webViewInstanceID
@@ -5623,6 +5669,9 @@ final class BrowserPanel: Panel, ObservableObject {
     }
 
     func close() {
+        guard !isClosed else { return }
+        isClosed = true
+
         cancelHiddenWebViewDiscard()
         isClosingWebViewLifecycle = true
         refreshWebViewLifecycleState()
@@ -5645,17 +5694,30 @@ final class BrowserPanel: Panel, ObservableObject {
             popup.closePopup()
         }
 
-        webView.stopLoading()
+        let closedWebView = webView
+        releaseWebViewForTeardown(closedWebView, reason: "panel.close")
+        installClosedPlaceholderWebView()
+
         isMainFrameProvisionalNavigationActive = false
-        webView.navigationDelegate = nil
-        webView.uiDelegate = nil
         navigationDelegate = nil
         uiDelegate = nil
+        downloadDelegate = nil
         webViewDidRequestClose = nil
         webViewObservers.removeAll()
         webViewCancellables.removeAll()
         faviconTask?.cancel()
         faviconTask = nil
+        loadingEndWorkItem?.cancel()
+        loadingEndWorkItem = nil
+        activeDownloadCount = 0
+        isDownloading = false
+        isLoading = false
+        estimatedProgress = 0
+        shouldRenderWebView = false
+        activePortalHostLease = nil
+        pendingDistinctPortalHostReplacementPaneId = nil
+        lockedPortalHost = nil
+        resetReactGrabState(reason: "panel.close")
     }
 
     // MARK: - Popup window management
diff --git a/Sources/Panels/ReactGrab.swift b/Sources/Panels/ReactGrab.swift
index e4670b36a91a..99c1e024fc14 100644
--- a/Sources/Panels/ReactGrab.swift
+++ b/Sources/Panels/ReactGrab.swift
@@ -226,6 +226,12 @@ extension BrowserPanel {
         webView.configuration.userContentController.add(handler, name: reactGrabMessageHandlerName)
     }
 
+    func teardownReactGrabMessageHandler(for webView: WKWebView) {
+        guard reactGrabMessageHandler != nil else { return }
+        webView.configuration.userContentController.removeScriptMessageHandler(forName: reactGrabMessageHandlerName)
+        reactGrabMessageHandler = nil
+    }
+
     func armReactGrabRoundTrip(returnTo panelId: UUID) {
         let token = UUID().uuidString
 #if DEBUG
diff --git a/cmuxTests/BrowserPanelTests.swift b/cmuxTests/BrowserPanelTests.swift
index 62f7157dc7a9..4a921e256382 100644
--- a/cmuxTests/BrowserPanelTests.swift
+++ b/cmuxTests/BrowserPanelTests.swift
@@ -645,6 +645,62 @@ final class BrowserPanelInitialNavigationTests: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertFalse(panel.shouldRenderWebViewForSessionSnapshot())
     }
 
+    func testCloseDetachesPortalHostedWebViewImmediately() {
+        let panel = BrowserPanel(workspaceId: UUID())
+        let webView = panel.webView
+        let window = NSWindow(
+            contentRect: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 800, height: 600),
+            styleMask: [.titled],
+            backing: .buffered,
+            defer: false
+        )
+        let anchorView = NSView(frame: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 800, height: 600))
+        window.contentView = anchorView
+
+        BrowserWindowPortalRegistry.bind(
+            webView: webView,
+            to: anchorView,
+            visibleInUI: true
+        )
+        XCTAssertNotNil(webView.superview, "Test precondition: portal bind should host the web view")
+        XCTAssertNotNil(
+            panel.mediaPlaybackMessageHandler,
+            "Test precondition: binding should install the media playback handler"
+        )
+
+        panel.close()
+
+        XCTAssertNil(webView.superview, "Closing a browser panel must release the old WKWebView immediately")
+        XCTAssertNil(
+            panel.mediaPlaybackMessageHandler,
+            "Closing a browser panel must release the media playback message handler"
+        )
+    }
+
+    func testCloseToleratesAlreadyTornDownScriptHandlers() {
+        let panel = BrowserPanel(workspaceId: UUID())
+        let webView = panel.webView
+        XCTAssertNotNil(
+            panel.reactGrabMessageHandler,
+            "Test precondition: binding should install the ReactGrab handler"
+        )
+        XCTAssertNotNil(
+            panel.mediaPlaybackMessageHandler,
+            "Test precondition: binding should install the media playback handler"
+        )
+
+        panel.teardownReactGrabMessageHandler(for: webView)
+        panel.teardownMediaPlaybackMessageHandler(for: webView)
+
+        XCTAssertNil(panel.reactGrabMessageHandler)
+        XCTAssertNil(panel.mediaPlaybackMessageHandler)
+
+        panel.close()
+
+        XCTAssertNil(panel.reactGrabMessageHandler)
+        XCTAssertNil(panel.mediaPlaybackMessageHandler)
+    }
+
     func testDiffViewerURLIsNotPersistedForSessionRestore() throws {
         let schemeURL = try XCTUnwrap(URL(string: "\(CmuxDiffViewerURLSchemeHandler.scheme)://token/index.html"))
         let schemePanel = BrowserPanel(