diff --git a/pipe.go b/pipe.go
index 8e9a40e6..4344a0bd 100644
--- a/pipe.go
+++ b/pipe.go
@@ -1910,15 +1910,25 @@ func (p *pipe) Close() {
 		}
 		if block == 1 && (stopping1 || stopping2) { // make sure there is no block cmd
 			p.incrWaits()
+			// The timer closes the connection after one second. That is the
+			// only way to unblock the two steps below when the peer is silent:
+			// PutOne waits for a free slot, <-ch waits for the reply. A closed
+			// connection makes the background loops fail and drain the queue,
+			// which frees a slot and answers the PING with an error. The timer
+			// costs a goroutine only when it fires.
+			//
+			// The drain runs in the background worker. There is always one
+			// here: it is already running, or the branch above started it, or
+			// syncDo starts it when the closed connection breaks its read.
+			var escape *time.Timer
+			if p.conn != nil {
+				escape = time.AfterFunc(time.Second, func() { p.conn.Close() })
+			}
 			ch, _ := p.queue.PutOne(context.Background(), cmds.PingCmd)
-			select {
-			case <-ch:
-				p.decrWaits()
-			case <-time.After(time.Second):
-				go func(ch chan RedisResult) {
-					<-ch
-					p.decrWaits()
-				}(ch)
+			<-ch
+			p.decrWaits()
+			if escape != nil {
+				escape.Stop()
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pipe_close_test.go b/pipe_close_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ad81b35e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pipe_close_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+package rueidis
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/redis/rueidis/internal/cmds"
+)
+
+// TestCloseReturnsOnFullRing: pipe.Close() must return in bounded time even
+// when the command ring is full and the connection has stopped answering.
+//
+// Close() enqueues a final PING through the ring and waits for its reply with
+// a one-second escape. The escape used to cover only the reply: the enqueue
+// itself (queue.PutOne) blocks while every ring slot is occupied, and at
+// Close() time nothing can free a slot when the peer has stopped replying but
+// the TCP connection is still open:
+//
+//   - the keepalive ping would normally detect the stall and error the
+//     connection, which drains the ring (see TestExitOnRingFullAndPingTimeout)
+//     — but Close() increments blcksig, which makes backgroundPing skip its
+//     check, and stores errClosing, which stops the ping timer from
+//     re-arming;
+//   - Close() closes the network connection only AFTER the enqueue, so the
+//     background loops keep waiting and the drain never starts.
+//
+// So Close() blocked forever. That turns into a goroutine calling
+// client.Close() that never returns (a hung shutdown), or — worse — the
+// sentinel client closing a replaced connection while holding its mutex,
+// wedging all of its topology handling.
+//
+// It takes a connection that stalls without erroring (network partition,
+// frozen server), enough in-flight commands to fill the ring, and a Close()
+// arriving before the keepalive ping notices the stall.
+func TestCloseReturnsOnFullRing(t *testing.T) {
+	defer ShouldNotLeak(SetupLeakDetection())
+	p, mock, _, closeConn := setup(t, ClientOption{
+		RingScaleEachConn: 1, // 2-slot ring, cheap to fill
+		ConnWriteTimeout:  500 * time.Millisecond,
+		Dialer:            net.Dialer{KeepAlive: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+	})
+	p.background()
+
+	// Fill the ring: the writer sends the commands into the socket, the mock
+	// reads them and never replies, so every slot stays occupied waiting for
+	// a reply.
+	ringLen := len(p.queue.(*ring).store)
+	for i := 0; i < ringLen; i++ {
+		go func() { _ = p.Do(context.Background(), cmds.NewCompleted([]string{"GET", "a"})).Error() }()
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < ringLen; i++ {
+		mock.Expect("GET", "a")
+	}
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() { p.Close(); close(done) }()
+
+	// Close's internal escape is one second; three is a deadlock.
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+		closeConn() // unpark the wedged Close so the leak detector can finish
+		<-done
+		t.Fatal("pipe.Close() did not return within 3s with a full ring and a silent connection")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestCloseAfterConnErrorOnFullRing pins the behavior that keeps the common
+// failure path safe: when the connection ERRORS instead of stalling silently
+// — the usual case when a server process dies and the OS resets the
+// connection — the background loops exit and drain the ring, so a Close()
+// that follows returns promptly. The silent-stall variant, where nothing
+// drains the ring, is covered by TestCloseReturnsOnFullRing.
+func TestCloseAfterConnErrorOnFullRing(t *testing.T) {
+	defer ShouldNotLeak(SetupLeakDetection())
+	p, mock, _, closeConn := setup(t, ClientOption{
+		RingScaleEachConn: 1,
+		ConnWriteTimeout:  500 * time.Millisecond,
+		Dialer:            net.Dialer{KeepAlive: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+	})
+	p.background()
+
+	ringLen := len(p.queue.(*ring).store)
+	for i := 0; i < ringLen; i++ {
+		go func() { _ = p.Do(context.Background(), cmds.NewCompleted([]string{"GET", "a"})).Error() }()
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < ringLen; i++ {
+		mock.Expect("GET", "a")
+	}
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	// The connection errors first (like a killed server), then Close runs.
+	closeConn()
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() { p.Close(); close(done) }()
+
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("pipe.Close() did not return although the connection had already errored")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestCloseReturnsOnFullRingBeforeBackground pins the link Close relies on to
+// escape a stuck enqueue: cutting the connection only unparks queue.PutOne
+// because the background loops then error out and drain the queue. That
+// requires a background worker, and this is the one path to the enqueue where
+// none is running yet.
+//
+// The pipe is still in sync mode: one caller owns the connection in syncDo,
+// the others have queued behind it and filled the ring, and the peer never
+// answers. Nothing here has started _background, and Close does not start it
+// either — waits != 1 tells it a sync read may be in flight, and racing a
+// second reader onto the same connection is what 8503b21 fixed. So the drain
+// hangs on the sync read breaking first: the connection Close cuts is what
+// breaks it, and its error path (pipe.go, syncDo) is what finally starts the
+// worker that drains the ring.
+func TestCloseReturnsOnFullRingBeforeBackground(t *testing.T) {
+	defer ShouldNotLeak(SetupLeakDetection())
+	p, mock, _, closeConn := setup(t, ClientOption{
+		RingScaleEachConn: 1, // 2-slot ring, cheap to fill
+	})
+	// No p.background() here: the pipe must stay in sync mode.
+
+	var callers sync.WaitGroup
+
+	// context.Background() carries neither a deadline nor a Done channel, so
+	// this one takes the syncDo path and owns the connection. ConnWriteTimeout
+	// is unset, so syncDo clears the connection deadline and its read has no
+	// bound of its own.
+	callers.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer callers.Done()
+		_ = p.Do(context.Background(), cmds.NewCompleted([]string{"GET", "a"})).Error()
+	}()
+	mock.Expect("GET", "a") // reaches the peer, which never answers
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	// Fill the ring behind the sync command. These never reach the socket:
+	// with no background writer they just sit in their slots.
+	ringLen := len(p.queue.(*ring).store)
+	callers.Add(ringLen)
+	for i := 0; i < ringLen; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			defer callers.Done()
+			_ = p.Do(context.Background(), cmds.NewCompleted([]string{"GET", "b"})).Error()
+		}()
+	}
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() { p.Close(); close(done) }()
+
+	// Close's internal escape is one second; three is a deadlock.
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+		closeConn() // unpark the wedged Close so the leak detector can finish
+		<-done
+		t.Fatal("pipe.Close() did not return with a full ring and no background worker running")
+	}
+	callers.Wait()
+}