diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication/Actors/DebugStreamBridgeActor.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication/Actors/DebugStreamBridgeActor.cs
index 941b38f8..63a3da61 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication/Actors/DebugStreamBridgeActor.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication/Actors/DebugStreamBridgeActor.cs
@@ -147,11 +147,13 @@ public class DebugStreamBridgeActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
             {
                 _log.Warning("Instance {0} is not deployed on site; terminating debug stream",
                     _instanceUniqueName);
-                _stopped = true;
                 // M2.18: the stream-first subscription opened in PreStart is for a
                 // non-deployed instance — cancel it (and any buffered gap events are
                 // discarded with the actor). No pass-through.
+                // _stopped is set AFTER CleanupGrpc() to match the ordering in the
+                // DebugStreamTerminated and ReceiveTimeout handlers (cosmetic consistency).
                 CleanupGrpc();
+                _stopped = true;
                 _preSnapshotBuffer.Clear();
                 _onEvent(snapshot); // resolves the snapshot TCS with InstanceNotFound=true
                 // Note: after Context.Stop(Self) below the actor is dead. DebugStreamService
@@ -358,17 +360,29 @@ public class DebugStreamBridgeActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     /// </summary>
     private const char KeyDelimiter = '\u0000';
 
-    /// <summary>Per-entity dedup key for an attribute change.</summary>
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Per-entity dedup key for an attribute change. Each nullable component is guarded
+    /// with <c>?? string.Empty</c> so a null can never silently collide with another
+    /// key via <see cref="string.Concat"/> (e.g. two entries with null AttributePath
+    /// would otherwise share a key with any entry whose AttributePath is the empty string).
+    /// </summary>
     private static string AttributeKey(AttributeValueChanged a) =>
-        string.Concat(a.InstanceUniqueName, KeyDelimiter, a.AttributePath, KeyDelimiter, a.AttributeName);
+        string.Concat(
+            a.InstanceUniqueName ?? string.Empty, KeyDelimiter,
+            a.AttributePath ?? string.Empty, KeyDelimiter,
+            a.AttributeName ?? string.Empty);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Per-entity dedup key for an alarm change. Includes <see cref="AlarmStateChanged.SourceReference"/>
     /// so native per-condition alarms (which share an AlarmName but differ by source
-    /// reference) are not conflated; empty for computed alarms.
+    /// reference) are not conflated; empty for computed alarms. Each nullable component is
+    /// guarded with <c>?? string.Empty</c> to prevent silent key collisions.
     /// </summary>
     private static string AlarmKey(AlarmStateChanged al) =>
-        string.Concat(al.InstanceUniqueName, KeyDelimiter, al.AlarmName, KeyDelimiter, al.SourceReference);
+        string.Concat(
+            al.InstanceUniqueName ?? string.Empty, KeyDelimiter,
+            al.AlarmName ?? string.Empty, KeyDelimiter,
+            al.SourceReference ?? string.Empty);
 
     /// <inheritdoc />
     protected override void PreStart()
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication.Tests/Grpc/DebugStreamBridgeActorTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication.Tests/Grpc/DebugStreamBridgeActorTests.cs
index 619b05c5..6ea2faff 100644
--- a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication.Tests/Grpc/DebugStreamBridgeActorTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Communication.Tests/Grpc/DebugStreamBridgeActorTests.cs
@@ -138,11 +138,18 @@ public class DebugStreamBridgeActorTests : TestKit
     }
 
     [Fact]
-    public void On_Snapshot_Opens_GrpcStream()
+    public void On_Snapshot_Does_Not_Open_Additional_GrpcStream()
     {
+        // M2.18 stream-first: the gRPC subscription is opened in PreStart, BEFORE the
+        // snapshot arrives. After the snapshot is delivered the actor switches to
+        // pass-through — it must NOT open a second subscription. Exactly ONE subscribe
+        // call should have been made (the PreStart one).
         var ctx = CreateBridgeActor();
         ctx.CommProbe.ExpectMsg<SiteEnvelope>();
 
+        // Verify the stream is already open before the snapshot.
+        AwaitCondition(() => ctx.MockGrpcClient.SubscribeCalls.Count == 1, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+
         var snapshot = new DebugViewSnapshot(
             InstanceName,
             new List<AttributeValueChanged>(),
@@ -151,11 +158,12 @@ public class DebugStreamBridgeActorTests : TestKit
 
         ctx.BridgeActor.Tell(snapshot);
 
-        AwaitCondition(() => ctx.MockGrpcClient.SubscribeCalls.Count == 1, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
-
-        var call = ctx.MockGrpcClient.SubscribeCalls[0];
-        Assert.Equal("corr-1", call.CorrelationId);
-        Assert.Equal(InstanceName, call.InstanceUniqueName);
+        // After snapshot delivery, still exactly ONE subscribe — no additional stream opened.
+        AwaitCondition(() => { lock (ctx.ReceivedEvents) { return ctx.ReceivedEvents.Count == 1; } },
+            TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+        var singleCall = Assert.Single(ctx.MockGrpcClient.SubscribeCalls);
+        Assert.Equal("corr-1", singleCall.CorrelationId);
+        Assert.Equal(InstanceName, singleCall.InstanceUniqueName);
     }
 
     [Fact]
@@ -801,11 +809,25 @@ public class DebugStreamBridgeActorTests : TestKit
 
 /// <summary>
 /// Mock gRPC client that records SubscribeAsync and Unsubscribe calls.
+/// <para>
+/// <b>Thread safety:</b> <see cref="SubscribeCalls"/> and
+/// <see cref="UnsubscribedCorrelationIds"/> are written from the actor/background thread
+/// (via <see cref="SubscribeAsync"/> and <see cref="Unsubscribe"/>) and read from the test
+/// thread (via <c>AwaitCondition</c> / assertions). All access goes through a shared lock
+/// to match the <c>lock (events)</c> pattern used for <c>ctx.ReceivedEvents</c>.
+/// </para>
 /// </summary>
 internal class MockSiteStreamGrpcClient : SiteStreamGrpcClient
 {
-    public List<MockSubscription> SubscribeCalls { get; } = new();
-    public List<string> UnsubscribedCorrelationIds { get; } = new();
+    private readonly object _lock = new();
+    private readonly List<MockSubscription> _subscribeCalls = new();
+    private readonly List<string> _unsubscribedCorrelationIds = new();
+
+    /// <summary>Returns a snapshot of subscribe calls, taken under the internal lock.</summary>
+    public List<MockSubscription> SubscribeCalls { get { lock (_lock) { return _subscribeCalls.ToList(); } } }
+
+    /// <summary>Returns a snapshot of unsubscribed correlation IDs, taken under the internal lock.</summary>
+    public List<string> UnsubscribedCorrelationIds { get { lock (_lock) { return _unsubscribedCorrelationIds.ToList(); } } }
 
     private MockSiteStreamGrpcClient(bool _) : base() { }
 
@@ -821,7 +843,7 @@ internal class MockSiteStreamGrpcClient : SiteStreamGrpcClient
         CancellationToken ct)
     {
         var subscription = new MockSubscription(correlationId, instanceUniqueName, onEvent, onError, ct);
-        SubscribeCalls.Add(subscription);
+        lock (_lock) { _subscribeCalls.Add(subscription); }
 
         // Return a task that completes when cancelled (simulates long-running stream)
         var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource();
@@ -831,7 +853,7 @@ internal class MockSiteStreamGrpcClient : SiteStreamGrpcClient
 
     public override void Unsubscribe(string correlationId)
     {
-        UnsubscribedCorrelationIds.Add(correlationId);
+        lock (_lock) { _unsubscribedCorrelationIds.Add(correlationId); }
     }
 }