diff --git a/src-tauri/src/commands/live.rs b/src-tauri/src/commands/live.rs
index c73816e..ee5ef04 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/commands/live.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/commands/live.rs
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ impl LiveSessionRuntime {
             &self.dictionary_terms,
             &self.result_channel,
             &self.status_channel,
+            &self.stop_flag,
         )?;
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -859,6 +860,7 @@ fn maybe_dispatch_chunk(
     })
 }
 
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
 fn poll_inference(
     inflight: &mut Option<InferenceTask>,
     result_listener_lost: &mut bool,
@@ -868,6 +870,7 @@ fn poll_inference(
     dictionary_terms: &[String],
     result_channel: &Channel<LiveResultMessage>,
     status_channel: &Channel<LiveStatusMessage>,
+    stop_flag: &Arc<AtomicBool>,
 ) -> Result<Option<bool>, String> {
     let Some(task) = inflight else {
         return Ok(None);
@@ -918,6 +921,7 @@ fn poll_inference(
                 result_channel,
                 status_channel,
                 result_listener_lost,
+                stop_flag,
                 &result_message,
             );
             remember_recent_segments(recent_segments, &delivered_segments, chunk_start_secs);
@@ -968,6 +972,7 @@ fn emit_live_result(
     result_channel: &Channel<LiveResultMessage>,
     status_channel: &Channel<LiveStatusMessage>,
     result_listener_lost: &mut bool,
+    stop_flag: &Arc<AtomicBool>,
     result_message: &LiveResultMessage,
 ) -> bool {
     if *result_listener_lost {
@@ -982,10 +987,25 @@ fn emit_live_result(
                 "[live] session {}: result listener unavailable on chunk {}: {}; continuing without live updates",
                 result_message.session_id, result_message.chunk_id, err
             );
-            let _ = status_channel.send(LiveStatusMessage::Warning {
+            // If the warning send also fails, the entire frontend channel
+            // pair is dead — almost certainly the user closed the app
+            // window without calling stop_live_transcription_session.
+            // Self-assert stop_flag so the inference worker drains and
+            // exits cleanly instead of polling every 10 ms forever, which
+            // otherwise would burn CPU + GPU memory and keep the WAV
+            // writer file handle open until the process dies.
+            let warn_send = status_channel.send(LiveStatusMessage::Warning {
                 session_id: result_message.session_id,
                 message: "Live preview disconnected; transcription will continue in the background until you stop the session.".into(),
             });
+            if warn_send.is_err() {
+                eprintln!(
+                    "[live] session {}: status channel also unavailable; \
+                     self-asserting stop_flag so the worker exits",
+                    result_message.session_id
+                );
+                stop_flag.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+            }
             false
         }
     }
@@ -1531,6 +1551,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
         let mut recent_segments = Vec::new();
         let mut result_listener_lost = false;
+        let stop_flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
 
         let (tx1, rx1) = std::sync::mpsc::channel();
         tx1.send(Ok(kon_transcription::TimedTranscript {
@@ -1559,6 +1580,7 @@ mod tests {
             &[],
             &result_channel,
             &status_channel,
+            &stop_flag,
         )
         .unwrap();
 
@@ -1600,12 +1622,21 @@ mod tests {
             &[],
             &result_channel,
             &status_channel,
+            &stop_flag,
         )
         .unwrap();
 
         assert_eq!(second, Some(true));
         assert!(inflight.is_none());
         assert_eq!(recent_segments.len(), 2);
+        // Status channel still alive in this scenario, so stop_flag must
+        // NOT have been auto-asserted — the worker keeps running so the
+        // user can still call stop_live_transcription_session and receive
+        // the Finished status.
+        assert!(
+            !stop_flag.load(Ordering::Relaxed),
+            "stop_flag should stay false when the status channel is alive"
+        );
         assert_eq!(
             statuses.lock().unwrap().len(),
             warning_count_after_first,
@@ -1613,6 +1644,47 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn dead_result_and_status_channels_self_assert_stop_flag() {
+        // Both channels error on every send: the frontend has gone away
+        // entirely (e.g., the user closed the main window without a
+        // graceful stop). The worker must self-stop via stop_flag so it
+        // doesn't burn CPU + GPU for an indefinitely-long session that
+        // nobody is observing.
+        let result_channel: Channel<LiveResultMessage> =
+            Channel::new(|_| Err(tauri::Error::FailedToReceiveMessage));
+        let status_channel: Channel<LiveStatusMessage> =
+            Channel::new(|_| Err(tauri::Error::FailedToReceiveMessage));
+        let stop_flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+        let mut result_listener_lost = false;
+
+        let message = LiveResultMessage {
+            session_id: 99,
+            chunk_id: 1,
+            chunk_start_secs: 0.0,
+            duration: 0.5,
+            language: "en".into(),
+            inference_ms: 10,
+            segments: vec![],
+            raw_text: String::new(),
+        };
+
+        let delivered = emit_live_result(
+            &result_channel,
+            &status_channel,
+            &mut result_listener_lost,
+            &stop_flag,
+            &message,
+        );
+
+        assert!(!delivered, "send must report not delivered when result_channel errors");
+        assert!(result_listener_lost, "result_listener_lost must be set");
+        assert!(
+            stop_flag.load(Ordering::Relaxed),
+            "stop_flag must self-assert when both channels are dead so the worker exits"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn concurrent_starts_allow_only_one_session_to_claim_the_slot() {
         let live_state = Arc::new(LiveTranscriptionState::default());