diff --git a/test/native_backend_crash.sh b/test/native_backend_crash.sh
index 07769259d..a68485549 100755
--- a/test/native_backend_crash.sh
+++ b/test/native_backend_crash.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ pgc_setup "${1:-/usr/local/pg17/bin/pg_config}"
 # The postmaster must reinitialize a crashed backend rather than shut the cluster
 # down; that is the default, set here so the suite does not depend on it.
 psql_run "ALTER SYSTEM SET restart_after_crash = on;"
+# THE WAL WRITER IS HELD OFF (its 10s maximum), as a busy runner can leave it, so
+# a kill always loses the killed write's unflushed WAL. See the post-flush
+# scenario below for why that decides the order of the scenarios.
+psql_run "ALTER SYSTEM SET wal_writer_delay = '10s';"
 psql_run "SELECT pg_reload_conf();" >/dev/null
 
 # Heap mirror and columnar table, same committed baseline in both.
@@ -187,14 +191,21 @@ assert_intact() {  # label
 	check "$1: the killed insert left no partial row group" "$(rowgroups)" "$base_groups"
 }
 
-# --- kill while a large insert is mid-write ----------------------------------
-crash_one_backend 3000000 crashA insert
-assert_intact "mid-write"
-
 # --- kill after the stripes have flushed, before the commit that never comes -
+# FIRST, because its write is the small one. A killed write's stripe reservation
+# (the metapage highwater) is WAL-logged but unflushed, while its pages already
+# extend the file. Redo then restores the old highwater over blocks that exist,
+# and the next write fills them before it extends anything: after crashA, all
+# 100000 rows of this one fit, the relation never grew, and its premise failed
+# (nightly 40376459928, PG 17). Here it follows only the committed baseline.
+# crashA and crashC write 3000000 rows, which outgrow any such leftover.
 crash_one_backend 100000 crashB sleep
 assert_intact "post-flush"
 
+# --- kill while a large insert is mid-write ----------------------------------
+crash_one_backend 3000000 crashA insert
+assert_intact "mid-write"
+
 # --- kill with a concurrent reader holding a connection ----------------------
 # The reinit drops every session, not only the one that died. This scenario adds
 # a second parked reader on top of the sentinel and asserts it too was dropped,
diff --git a/test/pytest/test_native_backend_crash.py b/test/pytest/test_native_backend_crash.py
index 1c7b8aed4..c8f8a474f 100644
--- a/test/pytest/test_native_backend_crash.py
+++ b/test/pytest/test_native_backend_crash.py
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ def nbc(pgc_cluster):
             c.execute("CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgcolumnar")
             # the postmaster must reinitialize after a backend crash, not shut down
             c.execute("ALTER SYSTEM SET restart_after_crash = on")
+            # the WAL writer held off, as the shell does: a kill always loses the
+            # killed write's unflushed WAL, which is what orders the scenarios below
+            c.execute("ALTER SYSTEM SET wal_writer_delay = '10s'")
             c.execute("SELECT pg_reload_conf()")
             c.execute("CREATE TABLE h (id int, v text, x float8)")
             c.execute("CREATE TABLE c (id int, v text, x float8) USING pgcolumnar")
@@ -213,16 +216,21 @@ def base(nbc):
             "mirror": _rows(nbc, "SELECT id, v, x FROM h"), "pm": _postmaster_pid(nbc)}
 
 
-def test_a_kill_mid_write(nbc, base, expect):
-    dropped = _crash_one_backend(nbc, expect, 3000000, "crashA", "insert")
-    _assert_intact(nbc, expect, "mid-write", dropped, base)
-
-
 def test_a_kill_after_the_stripes_flushed(nbc, base, expect):
+    """FIRST, because its write is the small one. A killed write's stripe reservation
+    is WAL-logged but unflushed while its pages already extend the file, so redo
+    restores the old highwater over blocks that exist and the next write fills them
+    first: after crashA, all 100000 rows fit, the relation never grew, and the premise
+    failed (nightly 40376459928, PG 17). crashA and crashC outgrow any leftover."""
     dropped = _crash_one_backend(nbc, expect, 100000, "crashB", "sleep")
     _assert_intact(nbc, expect, "post-flush", dropped, base)
 
 
+def test_a_kill_mid_write(nbc, base, expect):
+    dropped = _crash_one_backend(nbc, expect, 3000000, "crashA", "insert")
+    _assert_intact(nbc, expect, "mid-write", dropped, base)
+
+
 def test_a_kill_with_a_second_reader(nbc, base, expect):
     """The reinit drops every session, so a second parked reader goes too."""
     reader = _Bystander(nbc, 90)