diff --git a/docs/GatewayTesting.md b/docs/GatewayTesting.md
index a543d02..8679b12 100644
--- a/docs/GatewayTesting.md
+++ b/docs/GatewayTesting.md
@@ -557,12 +557,12 @@ real-clock deadlines into failures.
 ### Two more findings from the 2026-08-15 windev gate
 
 - `SecretsStorePathGuardTests.CreateBuilder_AcceptsSecretsStoreOutsideContentRoot_AndCreatesIt`
-  fails **deterministically on Windows, on `main` as well as on any branch**, so it is not a
-  signal about the change under test. Creating the builder opens `secrets.db`, and
-  `Microsoft.Data.Sqlite`'s connection pool keeps the file handle alive past the test body,
-  so the recursive directory delete in the cleanup hits a still-open file — a sharing
-  violation Windows enforces and Unix does not. Pre-existing and tracked separately; do not
-  chase it as a regression. Subtract it from the expected pass count on Windows.
+  used to fail deterministically on Windows: creating the builder opens `secrets.db`,
+  `Microsoft.Data.Sqlite`'s connection pool kept the file handle alive past the test body, and
+  the cleanup's recursive directory delete hit a sharing violation Windows enforces and Unix
+  does not. The cleanup now clears the SQLite connection pool before deleting the temp
+  directory (the same pattern as `TempDatabaseDirectory` and `PreHostSecretExpansionTests`),
+  so the test passes on Windows and macOS alike — count it as a pass on both.
 - The `StaWaitHelper` timing tests (`WaitForSignalOrMessages_*`) flake on a loaded box with a
   signature that reads like a broken wait but is not: the helper wakes on *input being
   present*, so a message posted to the test thread ends the wait early. That is the helper
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Configuration/SecretsStorePathGuardTests.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Configuration/SecretsStorePathGuardTests.cs
index d5aabcd..44da881 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Configuration/SecretsStorePathGuardTests.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Configuration/SecretsStorePathGuardTests.cs
@@ -100,7 +100,24 @@ public sealed class SecretsStorePathGuardTests
         finally
         {
             Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(SqlitePathVariable, original);
-            Directory.Delete(directory, recursive: true);
+
+            // The store runs in WAL mode with connection pooling, so a pooled handle can outlive the
+            // migration and keep secrets.db (plus its -wal/-shm sidecars) open. Windows refuses to
+            // delete a directory holding open files where Unix does not, so clear the pool first;
+            // the catch is belt-and-braces for a sidecar whose handle outlasts even that.
+            Microsoft.Data.Sqlite.SqliteConnection.ClearAllPools();
+            try
+            {
+                Directory.Delete(directory, recursive: true);
+            }
+            catch (IOException)
+            {
+                // Best-effort cleanup of the temp store; a locked file must not fail the test.
+            }
+            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+            {
+                // Best-effort cleanup of the temp store; a locked file must not fail the test.
+            }
         }
     }