diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index ef4c7e9b0e063..6f72b1eab078a 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -1914,18 +1914,32 @@ class SessionDB(SessionSearchMixin, SessionSchemaMixin, SessionPortabilityMixin)
                 # FTS capability flags normally come from writable schema
                 # initialisation. Probe existing virtual tables with SELECTs
                 # only so read-only search keeps its FTS and trigram paths.
-                cursor = self._conn.cursor()
-                self._fts_enabled = (
-                    self._fts_table_probe(cursor, "messages_fts") is True
-                )
-                if self._fts_enabled:
-                    self._trigram_available = (
-                        self._fts_table_probe(
-                            cursor,
-                            "messages_fts_trigram",
-                        )
-                        is True
+                # Close the connection on ANY probe failure (e.g. malformed
+                # schema raises DatabaseError, not the OperationalError the
+                # probe handles): the outer except re-raises without cleanup,
+                # and a leaked tracked connection blocks _backup_db_file's
+                # raw-copy for the rest of the process — the writable heal
+                # that follows would then repair WITHOUT its forensic backup.
+                try:
+                    cursor = self._conn.cursor()
+                    self._fts_enabled = (
+                        self._fts_table_probe(cursor, "messages_fts") is True
                     )
+                    if self._fts_enabled:
+                        self._trigram_available = (
+                            self._fts_table_probe(
+                                cursor,
+                                "messages_fts_trigram",
+                            )
+                            is True
+                        )
+                except BaseException:
+                    conn, self._conn = self._conn, None
+                    try:
+                        conn.close()
+                    except Exception:
+                        pass
+                    raise
                 return
 
             self.db_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/tests/test_hermes_state.py b/tests/test_hermes_state.py
index 9bbe5b16f61ef..ac2ee422e5a36 100644
--- a/tests/test_hermes_state.py
+++ b/tests/test_hermes_state.py
@@ -134,6 +134,52 @@ class TestConnectionLifecycle:
             "fts-read-only"
         ]
 
+    def test_failed_read_only_open_does_not_leak_tracked_connection(
+        self, tmp_path
+    ):
+        """A malformed store makes the RO FTS probe raise DatabaseError.
+        The connection must be closed on that failure path: a leaked tracked
+        connection blocks _backup_db_file's raw-copy for the process
+        lifetime, so the writable heal that follows would repair WITHOUT its
+        forensic backup."""
+        import sqlite3
+
+        from hermes_cli.sqlite_safe_read import has_live_connection
+
+        db_path = tmp_path / "state.db"
+        writable = SessionDB(db_path=db_path)
+        writable.create_session("s1", source="cli")
+        writable.append_message("s1", role="user", content="leak probe")
+        writable.close()
+
+        # Corrupt sqlite_master: duplicate messages_fts definition. Any
+        # statement on a fresh connection then raises "malformed database
+        # schema" (DatabaseError, not the OperationalError the probe eats).
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(str(db_path), isolation_level=None)
+        conn.execute("PRAGMA writable_schema=ON")
+        row = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT type,name,tbl_name,rootpage,sql FROM sqlite_master "
+            "WHERE name='messages_fts'"
+        ).fetchone()
+        assert row is not None
+        conn.execute(
+            "INSERT INTO sqlite_master (type,name,tbl_name,rootpage,sql) "
+            "VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)",
+            row,
+        )
+        conn.execute("PRAGMA writable_schema=OFF")
+        conn.close()
+
+        with pytest.raises(sqlite3.DatabaseError):
+            SessionDB(db_path=db_path, read_only=True)
+
+        assert has_live_connection(db_path) is False
+
+        # The writable heal must still take its forensic backup.
+        healed = SessionDB(db_path=db_path, read_only=False)
+        healed.close()
+        assert list(tmp_path.glob("*malformed-backup*"))
+
 
 # =========================================================================
 # Session lifecycle