diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1cbeeb1..86e266f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5387,6 +5387,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rusqlite",
  "scl-crypto",
  "serde_json",
+ "socket2",
  "thiserror 2.0.21",
  "tokio",
  "url",
diff --git a/crates/forge/Cargo.toml b/crates/forge/Cargo.toml
index f3fdfa8..de723d4 100644
--- a/crates/forge/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/forge/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ path = "src/main.rs"
 clap = { version = "4.6.1", features = ["derive"] }
 anyhow = "1.0.102"
 scl-crypto = { path = "../crypto" }
+socket2 = "0.6.5"
 
 # The whole implementation is unix-only (src/lib.rs is #![cfg(unix)]); keeping
 # these out of other targets stops the Windows workspace check from compiling
diff --git a/crates/forge/src/server.rs b/crates/forge/src/server.rs
index 4752f6b..62a36bc 100644
--- a/crates/forge/src/server.rs
+++ b/crates/forge/src/server.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ pub struct Limits {
     pub header_timeout: Duration,
     /// Time allowed to receive a request body once its headers arrived.
     pub body_timeout: Duration,
+    /// Idle time before TCP keepalive probes a connection's peer. A client that vanished without
+    /// a close the server received (a dead host, a dropped NAT entry, and on macOS loopback in
+    /// tests, #316) is then noticed by the probes instead of only at the transport idle timeout.
+    pub tcp_keepalive: Duration,
 }
 
 impl Default for Limits {
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@ impl Default for Limits {
             max_connections: 512,
             header_timeout: Duration::from_secs(10),
             body_timeout: Duration::from_secs(30),
+            tcp_keepalive: Duration::from_secs(15),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -314,6 +319,11 @@ pub async fn serve(
                     continue;
                 };
                 let Ok(permit) = slots.clone().try_acquire_owned() else { continue };
+                // Best effort: without probes a vanished peer still ends at the idle timeout.
+                let keepalive = socket2::TcpKeepalive::new().with_time(limits.tcp_keepalive);
+                if let Err(e) = socket2::SockRef::from(&stream).set_tcp_keepalive(&keepalive) {
+                    crate::log::warning!("could not enable TCP keepalive: {e}");
+                }
                 let (app, limits) = (app.clone(), limits.clone());
                 let header_timeout = limits.header_timeout;
                 let mut stop = stop_rx.clone();
diff --git a/crates/forge/tests/e2e_git.rs b/crates/forge/tests/e2e_git.rs
index d56f0cb..0e801bb 100644
--- a/crates/forge/tests/e2e_git.rs
+++ b/crates/forge/tests/e2e_git.rs
@@ -569,6 +569,25 @@ fn wait_for(what: &str, mut f: impl FnMut() -> bool) {
     }
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn keepalive_probes_leave_a_paused_live_client_alone() {
+    let s = Srv::start_with(scl_forge::server::Limits {
+        tcp_keepalive: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
+        ..Default::default()
+    });
+    let auth = token(&s.admin);
+    repo(&s, "smart");
+    let held = stalled_push(&s, &auth, "smart");
+    wait_for("the transport to register", || {
+        s.app.life.registry.live() == 1
+    });
+    // The client sends nothing for several probe periods; its TCP stack still answers them.
+    std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(4));
+    assert_eq!(s.app.life.registry.live(), 1, "a live client is kept");
+    drop(held);
+    wait_for("the transport to end", || s.app.life.registry.live() == 0);
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn slots_are_bounded_then_released_when_the_client_disconnects() {
     let s = Srv::start_transport(scl_forge::cgi::Cfg {
@@ -702,10 +721,11 @@ fn quarantined(repo_dir: &Path) -> bool {
 #[test]
 fn a_push_cancelled_mid_pack_moves_no_ref_and_its_quarantine_is_reclaimed() {
     use std::io::Write;
-    // The server does not always see a client that leaves mid-body (the body read can miss the
-    // EOF, #316); the idle timeout then ends the transport. A short one bounds the test either way.
-    let s = Srv::start_transport(scl_forge::cgi::Cfg {
-        idle: std::time::Duration::from_secs(5),
+    // The server does not always receive the close of a client that leaves mid-body (#316, seen
+    // on macOS loopback); TCP keepalive probes then find it gone, well before the 120 s idle
+    // timeout. A one-second probe delay keeps the test inside `wait_for`'s ten seconds.
+    let s = Srv::start_with(scl_forge::server::Limits {
+        tcp_keepalive: std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
         ..Default::default()
     });
     let c = Client::new("cancel-push");
@@ -750,8 +770,7 @@ fn a_push_cancelled_mid_pack_moves_no_ref_and_its_quarantine_is_reclaimed() {
     wait_for("the push to be receiving into its quarantine", || {
         s.app.life.registry.live() == 1 && quarantined(&repo_dir)
     });
-    // The client goes away mid-pack: the server cancels the transport (on the broken body, or
-    // at the idle timeout).
+    // The client goes away mid-pack: the server cancels the transport.
     drop(sock);
     wait_for("the transport to unregister", || {
         s.app.life.registry.live() == 0
diff --git a/docs/THREAT-MODEL.md b/docs/THREAT-MODEL.md
index e8d5448..20e3baa 100644
--- a/docs/THREAT-MODEL.md
+++ b/docs/THREAT-MODEL.md
@@ -927,8 +927,12 @@ unless said otherwise).
   2.54); maintenance removes it once it is old enough to have no owner, as it does for a server killed outright
   (`a_push_cancelled_mid_pack_moves_no_ref_and_its_quarantine_is_reclaimed`). A push cancelled while it holds its ref
   lock (held in git's `reference-transaction prepared` hook) releases the lock and moves no ref
-  (`a_push_cancelled_while_holding_its_ref_lock_releases_it`). A client that leaves mid-body is sometimes
-  noticed only at `--git-idle-timeout` (the body read can miss the EOF, about 1 run in 8 locally, #316).
+  (`a_push_cancelled_while_holding_its_ref_lock_releases_it`). A client whose close the server never receives (seen on macOS loopback in about 1 run in 8)
+  is found by TCP keepalive, whose probes start after 15 s of silence (`Limits::tcp_keepalive`): a peer whose host
+  answers a probe with a reset ends at once, and a paused but live client answers them
+  (`keepalive_probes_leave_a_paused_live_client_alone`, #316). An unanswered probe follows the platform's retry
+  defaults (Linux's can exceed 120 s), so for a dead host or a dropped NAT entry `--git-idle-timeout` remains the
+  bound; behind a proxy the probes reach only the proxy.
 - **Process control.** One supervisor thread owns each child and its process group and signals the group while the
   leader is still an unreaped zombie (so a reused group id cannot be hit); the registry holds a cancel flag, never a
   group id. A client that hangs up ends the child (`a_large_push_and_clone_stream_and_a_vanished_client_ends_the_child`);