diff --git a/test/helpers/fs.ts b/test/helpers/fs.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca3abc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/fs.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
+
+/**
+ * Removes a file or a directory for a test's cleanup, retrying a busy one: Windows can report EBUSY on a copy of
+ * node a test has just run (a lingering handle, or a scan). Node retries only with `recursive: true` (harmless on a
+ * file); its backoff is linear, so 6 × 200 ms waits at most 4.2 s — inside vitest's 10 s hook timeout, twice. An
+ * error that outlasts the retries still throws.
+ */
+export const removeWithRetry = (p: string): Promise<void> => fs.rm(p, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 6, retryDelay: 200 });
diff --git a/test/local-bin.test.ts b/test/local-bin.test.ts
index 4b47402..4bfad2c 100644
--- a/test/local-bin.test.ts
+++ b/test/local-bin.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { afterAll, afterEach, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { execProgram, isLocalBin, onPath, pathEntries, spawnInherited } from "../src/core/proc.js";
 import { dockerRunner, dockerVersion } from "../src/core/services.js";
 import { tmpDir } from "./helpers/forge.js";
+import { removeWithRetry } from "./helpers/fs.js";
 
 // 0.28.2 — `npx craftar` puts `<cwd>/node_modules/.bin`, and every ancestor's, first on PATH. craftar runs in a
 // workspace or a Forge, so a program committed there would be the one it runs: those entries are skipped, in the
@@ -45,8 +46,8 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
   await fs.chmod(path.join(PROJECT_BIN, TOOL + EXE), 0o755);
 });
 afterAll(async () => {
-  await fs.rm(path.join(LOCAL, TOOL + EXE), { force: true });
-  await fs.rm(PROJECT, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  await removeWithRetry(path.join(LOCAL, TOOL + EXE));
+  await removeWithRetry(PROJECT);
 });
 
 describe("isLocalBin — the node_modules/.bin of a directory or of one above it", () => {
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ describe("onPath — a program in such an entry is not found", () => {
     expect(await onPath(TOOL, env, PROJECT)).toBeNull();
     expect(await onPath(TOOL, env, path.join(PROJECT, "packages", "app"))).toBeNull();
     const elsewhere = await fs.realpath(await tmpDir("craftar-local-bin-elsewhere-"));
-    cleanups.push(() => fs.rm(elsewhere, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+    cleanups.push(() => removeWithRetry(elsewhere));
     expect(await onPath(TOOL, env, elsewhere)).toBe(path.join(PROJECT_BIN, TOOL + EXE));
   });
 
diff --git a/test/proc.test.ts b/test/proc.test.ts
index 406fdbe..104e3a1 100644
--- a/test/proc.test.ts
+++ b/test/proc.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { afterAll, afterEach, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { capture, execProgram, onPath, pathEntries, spawnInherited } from "../src/core/proc.js";
 import { tmpDir } from "./helpers/forge.js";
+import { removeWithRetry } from "./helpers/fs.js";
 
 // design D3 — the two ways craftar runs an external program besides git: no shell, an argument array.
 
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
   await fs.copyFile(process.execPath, path.join(PLANTED, TOOL + EXE));
   await fs.chmod(path.join(PLANTED, TOOL + EXE), 0o755);
 });
-afterAll(() => fs.rm(PLANTED, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+afterAll(() => removeWithRetry(PLANTED));
 
 /** The process environment with PATH replaced, whatever the key's case (Windows spells it `Path`). */
 function withPath(value: string): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {