diff --git a/src/jsc/modules/BunJSCModule.h b/src/jsc/modules/BunJSCModule.h
index 253567844d19..89943e9966b8 100644
--- a/src/jsc/modules/BunJSCModule.h
+++ b/src/jsc/modules/BunJSCModule.h
@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ JSC_DEFINE_HOST_FUNCTION(functionGenerateHeapSnapshotForDebugging,
     }
     scope.releaseAssertNoException();
 
-    return JSValue::encode(JSONParse(globalObject, WTF::move(jsonString)));
+    RELEASE_AND_RETURN(scope, JSValue::encode(JSONParse(globalObject, WTF::move(jsonString))));
 }
 
 JSC_DEFINE_HOST_FUNCTION(functionSerialize,
diff --git a/test/js/bun/jsc/bun-jsc.test.ts b/test/js/bun/jsc/bun-jsc.test.ts
index 993aaf6ab4c4..3e73cb8b02d1 100644
--- a/test/js/bun/jsc/bun-jsc.test.ts
+++ b/test/js/bun/jsc/bun-jsc.test.ts
@@ -567,3 +567,26 @@ it("deserialize applies the same nesting depth limit to arrays as to objects", a
   const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([proc.stdout.text(), proc.stderr.text(), proc.exited]);
   expect({ stdout, exitCode }).toEqual({ stdout: "rejected\n65\n", exitCode: 0 });
 });
+
+it("generateHeapSnapshotForDebugging survives BUN_JSC_validateExceptionChecks", async () => {
+  // JSONParse (LiteralParser::parseRecursively) can throw, so the enclosing
+  // throw scope must release before returning. With validateExceptionChecks
+  // enabled the process aborts when the scope goes unchecked; on release
+  // builds the option is a no-op and this just exercises the snapshot path.
+  await using proc = Bun.spawn({
+    cmd: [
+      bunExe(),
+      "-e",
+      `const snap = require("bun:jsc").generateHeapSnapshotForDebugging(); console.log("ok", typeof snap);`,
+    ],
+    env: { ...bunEnv, BUN_JSC_validateExceptionChecks: "1" },
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "pipe",
+  });
+  const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([proc.stdout.text(), proc.stderr.text(), proc.exited]);
+  const uncheckedScopes = stderr
+    .split("\n")
+    .map(line => line.trim())
+    .filter(line => line.startsWith("This scope can throw") || line.startsWith("But the exception was unchecked"));
+  expect({ stdout, uncheckedScopes, exitCode }).toEqual({ stdout: "ok object\n", uncheckedScopes: [], exitCode: 0 });
+});