diff --git a/evolution/proposals/BEP-0009-release-infrastructure-and-store-upload-pipeline.md b/evolution/proposals/BEP-0009-release-infrastructure-and-store-upload-pipeline.md
index d0ba485..90c605a 100644
--- a/evolution/proposals/BEP-0009-release-infrastructure-and-store-upload-pipeline.md
+++ b/evolution/proposals/BEP-0009-release-infrastructure-and-store-upload-pipeline.md
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ The same change also makes the forge itself the release authority: release tags
 - Keep the shared Linux runner work directory out of macOS bootstraps. The
   dispatcher normalizes macOS runners to `/tmp/forgejo-runner` when the shared
   config points at Linux state paths such as `/var/lib/forgejo-runner`.
+- Do not destroy Namespace Linux runners until `nsc describe` shows a real
+  terminal container state or tombstone. Empty describe payloads mean the
+  environment is still starting, not that the one-job runner has finished.
 - Run forge Namespace services with the repo-owned `nsc` package and keep it
   current with the token format expected by Namespace. `nsc 0.0.520` is the
   first required baseline for revokable token-file auth. The dispatcher and
diff --git a/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher.go b/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher.go
index 49cb4ec..33721b6 100644
--- a/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher.go
+++ b/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher.go
@@ -284,22 +284,28 @@ func instanceStopped(output string) bool {
 	if len(payload) == 0 {
 		return false
 	}
+	seenTerminalState := false
 	for _, entry := range payload {
+		if len(entry.PerResource) == 0 {
+			return false
+		}
 		for _, target := range entry.PerResource {
 			if target.Tombstone != "" {
+				seenTerminalState = true
 				return true
 			}
 			if len(target.Container) == 0 {
-				continue
+				return false
 			}
 			for _, container := range target.Container {
 				if container.Status != "stopped" && container.TerminatedAt == "" {
 					return false
 				}
+				seenTerminalState = true
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return true
+	return seenTerminalState
 }
 
 func (d *Dispatcher) waitForInstanceStop(ctx context.Context, runnerName, instanceID string, timeout time.Duration) bool {
diff --git a/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher_test.go b/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcf450e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/forgejo-nsc/internal/nsc/dispatcher_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package nsc
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestInstanceStoppedRequiresObservedTerminalState(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name   string
+		output string
+		want   bool
+	}{
+		{name: "empty output", output: "", want: false},
+		{name: "empty response", output: "[]", want: false},
+		{name: "no resources yet", output: `[{"per_resource":{}}]`, want: false},
+		{name: "resource without containers", output: `[{"per_resource":{"runner":{}}}]`, want: false},
+		{name: "running container", output: `[{"per_resource":{"runner":{"container":[{"status":"running"}]}}}]`, want: false},
+		{name: "stopped container", output: `[{"per_resource":{"runner":{"container":[{"status":"stopped"}]}}}]`, want: true},
+		{name: "terminated container", output: `[{"per_resource":{"runner":{"container":[{"status":"running","terminated_at":"2026-06-07T15:00:00Z"}]}}}]`, want: true},
+		{name: "tombstone", output: `[{"per_resource":{"runner":{"tombstone":"destroyed"}}}]`, want: true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		tc := tc
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+			got := instanceStopped(tc.output)
+			if got != tc.want {
+				t.Fatalf("instanceStopped(%s) = %v, want %v", tc.output, got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}