diff --git a/src/runtime/webcore/s3/download_stream.rs b/src/runtime/webcore/s3/download_stream.rs
index a283c6341922..047ec534262b 100644
--- a/src/runtime/webcore/s3/download_stream.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/webcore/s3/download_stream.rs
@@ -278,28 +278,31 @@ impl S3HttpDownloadStreamingTask {
         // concurrent reference and `mutex` serializes against `on_response`. `async_http` is the
         // live HTTP-thread copy, non-null for the callback's duration. Borrows scoped to the call.
         let is_done = !result.has_more;
-        // The final callback is where the HTTP thread hands the request back
-        // (`embedded_work_finished` below, after `this` may have been freed).
-        // SAFETY: `this` is live for the duration of the request.
-        let done_handle = is_done.then(|| unsafe { (*this).loop_handle.clone() });
+        // On the final callback `on_response` frees `*this` as soon as it can observe the final
+        // state: once the task posted below is queued or, if one is already queued, once
+        // `process_http_callback` unlocks. The post and the hand-back therefore go through this
+        // copy: a call through the field would hold a `&` into the allocation while the JS thread
+        // frees it (as `release_at_shutdown` and `S3HttpSimpleTask::http_callback`).
+        // SAFETY: `this` is live; both of those points come later in this function.
+        let handle = unsafe { (*this).loop_handle.clone() };
         // SAFETY: as above; the HTTP thread is the only one touching it here.
         if unsafe { (*this).process_http_callback(&mut *async_http, result) } {
             // we are always unlocked here and its safe to enqueue
-            // SAFETY: same exclusivity as above; `task` is the inline `concurrent_task` field of
-            // this heap request and the queue takes ownership of its `next` link. The VM waits
-            // for its S3 requests (embedded work) before closing its handle: always queued.
-            unsafe {
-                let task = core::ptr::NonNull::from(
+            // SAFETY: `process_http_callback` returned true, so no task is queued and nothing
+            // can free `*this` before the post below; `task` is the inline `concurrent_task`
+            // field of this heap request and the queue takes ownership of its `next` link.
+            let task = unsafe {
+                core::ptr::NonNull::from(
                     (*this).concurrent_task.from(this, AutoDeinit::ManualDeinit),
-                );
-                let bun_jsc::vm_handle::Posted::Queued = (*this).loop_handle.post_task(task) else {
-                    unreachable!(
-                        "VM handle closed with an S3 download outstanding on the HTTP thread"
-                    );
-                };
-            }
+                )
+            };
+            // The VM waits for its S3 requests (embedded work) before closing its handle:
+            // always queued.
+            let bun_jsc::vm_handle::Posted::Queued = handle.post_task(task) else {
+                unreachable!("VM handle closed with an S3 download outstanding on the HTTP thread");
+            };
         }
-        if let Some(handle) = done_handle {
+        if is_done {
             handle.embedded_work_finished();
         }
     }
diff --git a/test/internal/source-lints/s3-post-through-handle-field.test.ts b/test/internal/source-lints/s3-post-through-handle-field.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..19b5cfce788c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/internal/source-lints/s3-post-through-handle-field.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+import { file } from "bun";
+import { expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { realpathSync } from "fs";
+import path from "path";
+import { globAllSources } from "../../../scripts/glob-sources.ts";
+
+// In src/runtime/webcore/s3/ the HTTP thread hands a request back to the JS
+// thread by posting the request's own allocation (`S3HttpSimpleTask`,
+// `S3HttpDownloadStreamingTask`: the inline `concurrent_task` carries the
+// object that embeds it), and the JS thread frees that allocation as soon as
+// it observes the final state (`on_response` in both files): from the moment
+// `VmHandle::post` has pushed the task or, on the streaming download's final
+// callback, from the moment `process_http_callback` unlocks if a task is
+// already queued. Either way the allocation can be gone while the HTTP thread
+// is still inside the call that handed it over. So in these files
+//
+//   (*this).loop_handle.post_task(task)
+//   (*this).loop_handle.embedded_work_finished()
+//
+// is banned: both calls take `&(*this).loop_handle`, a reference into that
+// allocation, as an argument, and a reference argument is protected for the
+// duration of its call. Freeing memory a protected reference points into is UB
+// under both aliasing models whether or not the callee reads through it again.
+// Miri, on a reduction of this exact shape (free on a second thread while the
+// poster is still inside `post_task(&self)`), reports it under Tree Borrows
+// (the model `bun run rust:miri` uses) as "deallocation through <tag> is
+// forbidden ... protected tags must never be Disabled" and under Stacked
+// Borrows as "not granting access ... would remove [SharedReadOnly for <tag>]
+// which is strongly protected", pointing at `&self` both times; codegen relies
+// on the same thing (the argument is annotated dereferenceable for the whole
+// call). The shape every other hand-off in the directory uses copies the
+// handle out first and posts and hands back through the copy:
+//
+//   let handle = (*this).loop_handle.clone();
+//   ... handle.post_task(task) ...
+//   handle.embedded_work_finished();
+//
+// `embedded_work_scheduled()` through the field is fine: it runs on the JS
+// thread, before the request is handed to the HTTP thread.
+//
+// Scope: src/runtime/webcore/s3/, where the rule holds for every object that
+// stores a `LoopHandle`. Elsewhere a post through a stored handle is
+// sometimes sound (the poster holds a ref or a lock that outlives the post),
+// so the same spelling cannot be banned tree-wide by a regex; the sites of
+// this class outside the directory are converted one at a time. Within the
+// directory, a reference to the field parked in a local
+// (`let h = &(*this).loop_handle;`) or returned by a helper is the same bug
+// spelled in a way this lint does not see; convert it on sight. Sibling
+// guard for the receiver-spelled forms of the same hand-over:
+// self-receiver-reclaim.test.ts.
+
+const root = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, "..", "..", "..");
+const SCOPE = "src/runtime/webcore/s3/";
+const rustSources = globAllSources().rust.filter(p => p.endsWith(".rs"));
+
+// Only scan files tracked in HEAD (a `git stash` round-trip can leave stray
+// `.rs` files in the working tree; CI runs on a clean checkout). Same guard as
+// dead-code-escapes.test.ts.
+const tracked: Set<string> | null = (() => {
+  const r = Bun.spawnSync({
+    cmd: ["git", "-C", root, "ls-tree", "-r", "--name-only", "-z", "HEAD"],
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "ignore",
+  });
+  if (!r.success) return null;
+  return new Set(r.stdout.toString().split("\0").filter(Boolean));
+})();
+
+// The two calls that follow a hand-off.
+const AFTER_HANDOFF = String.raw`(?:post_task|embedded_work_finished)`;
+
+const BANNED = new RegExp(
+  [
+    // `x.loop_handle.post_task(..)`, whatever `x` is (`(*this)`, `self`, `task`),
+    // including rustfmt's one-segment-per-line wrapping of the chain.
+    String.raw`\.\s*loop_handle\s*\.\s*${AFTER_HANDOFF}\s*\(`,
+    // The same call spelled as a path call: `LoopHandle::post_task(&(*this).loop_handle, task)`,
+    // `LoopHandle::embedded_work_finished(&self.loop_handle)`.
+    String.raw`\b${AFTER_HANDOFF}\s*\(\s*&\s*(?:\(\s*\*+\s*[\w.]+\s*\)|[\w.]+)\s*\.\s*loop_handle\b`,
+  ].join("|"),
+  "g",
+);
+
+// What keeps the ban from passing vacuously: the scanned files still store
+// the handle under this name (a rename would otherwise silently blind the
+// regex above) and still post through it.
+const HANDLE_FIELD = /\bloop_handle\s*:\s*(?:[\w:]+::)?LoopHandle\b/g;
+const HANDOFF = /\.post_task\s*\(/g;
+
+const offenders: string[] = [];
+const scanned: string[] = [];
+let handleFields = 0;
+let handoffs = 0;
+for (const abs of rustSources) {
+  const source = path.relative(root, abs).replaceAll(path.sep, "/");
+  if (!source.startsWith(SCOPE)) continue;
+  if (path.relative(root, realpathSync(abs)).replaceAll(path.sep, "/") !== source) continue;
+  if (tracked !== null && !tracked.has(source)) continue;
+  scanned.push(source);
+  const content = await file(abs).text();
+  // Strip full-line comments so prose (like the comments describing this very
+  // hazard) doesn't count. `[ \t]*`, not `\s*`: `\s` crosses newlines and
+  // would swallow blank lines, shifting the reported line numbers.
+  const stripped = content.replace(/^[ \t]*\/\/.*$/gm, "");
+  handleFields += [...stripped.matchAll(HANDLE_FIELD)].length;
+  handoffs += [...stripped.matchAll(HANDOFF)].length;
+  for (const m of stripped.matchAll(BANNED)) {
+    const line = stripped.slice(0, m.index).split("\n").length;
+    offenders.push(`${source}:${line}: ${m[0].replace(/\s+/g, " ")}`);
+  }
+}
+
+function matches(snippet: string): boolean {
+  BANNED.lastIndex = 0;
+  return BANNED.test(snippet);
+}
+
+test("scans the hand-off sites it is about", () => {
+  expect(scanned).toContain(`${SCOPE}download_stream.rs`);
+  expect(scanned).toContain(`${SCOPE}simple_request.rs`);
+  // Both task types still keep their handle in a field called `loop_handle`
+  // and still post through it; otherwise the regexes below match nothing and
+  // the ban would need re-anchoring rather than passing for free.
+  expect(handleFields).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  expect(handoffs).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+});
+
+test("the pattern recognizes the spellings it claims to", () => {
+  const banned = [
+    // `S3HttpDownloadStreamingTask::http_callback`, as it was.
+    "let bun_jsc::vm_handle::Posted::Queued = (*this).loop_handle.post_task(task) else {",
+    "self.loop_handle.post_task(ct)",
+    "task.loop_handle.embedded_work_finished();",
+    "unsafe { (*this).loop_handle.embedded_work_finished() };",
+    // rustfmt-wrapped chains.
+    "(*this)\n    .loop_handle\n    .post_task(task)",
+    "this.loop_handle\n    .embedded_work_finished();",
+    // Path-call spellings of the same thing.
+    "bun_jsc::LoopHandle::post_task(&(*this).loop_handle, task)",
+    "LoopHandle::embedded_work_finished(&self.loop_handle)",
+  ];
+  const allowed = [
+    // The required shape: copy out, then post and hand back through the copy.
+    "let handle = (*this).loop_handle.clone();",
+    "let bun_jsc::vm_handle::Posted::Queued = handle.post_task(task) else {",
+    "done_handle.embedded_work_finished();",
+    // A copy that happens to be called `loop_handle` is a local, not the field.
+    "let loop_handle = (*this).loop_handle.clone();\nloop_handle.post_task(task);",
+    // JS thread, before the request leaves it.
+    "task.loop_handle.embedded_work_scheduled();",
+    "unsafe { (*task_ptr).loop_handle.embedded_work_scheduled() };",
+    // Capturing the handle at construction.
+    "loop_handle: VirtualMachine::get().loop_handle(),",
+    "pub(crate) loop_handle: bun_jsc::LoopHandle,",
+  ];
+  expect(banned.filter(s => !matches(s))).toEqual([]);
+  expect(allowed.filter(matches)).toEqual([]);
+});
+
+test("S3 hand-offs post and hand back through a copy of the handle, not the field", () => {
+  expect(offenders).toEqual([]);
+});