diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 6b96cbc5..d07dccc7 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -175,7 +175,15 @@ program
   .command('hooks-run', { hidden: true })
   .description('Internal: the pre-commit context guard the git hook invokes')
   .option('--strict', 'Exit non-zero on a score regression')
-  .action((options) => hooksRun(options));
+  .action((options) => {
+    hooksRun(options);
+    // The guard runs inside `git commit`: once its line is written, exit, so it
+    // can never hold a commit open waiting on a handle (#167). The blocked path
+    // already exits inside hooksRun; every path that returns here allows the commit.
+    const done = (): never => process.exit(0);
+    setTimeout(done, 2000).unref();
+    process.stdout.write('', () => process.stderr.write('', done));
+  });
 
 program
   .command('export')
diff --git a/tests/wjttc/hooks.test.ts b/tests/wjttc/hooks.test.ts
index 7bbf0e5a..72acb99a 100644
--- a/tests/wjttc/hooks.test.ts
+++ b/tests/wjttc/hooks.test.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const CLI = join(import.meta.dir, '../../src/cli.ts');
 const shPath = (p: string): string => p.replace(/\\/g, '/');
 const LOCAL_RUNNER = `${shPath(process.execPath)} ${shPath(CLI)} hooks-run`; // points the hook at THIS cli
 
-const mk = (tag: string) => {
+const mk = (tag = 'case') => {
   let dir = join(tmpdir(), `faf-hooks-${tag}-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`);
   mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
   dir = realpathSync.native(dir); // resolve symlinks AND Windows 8.3 short names (RUNNER~1) → matches git
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const commit = (dir: string, msg: string, flags: string[] = []): { ok: boolean;
   // the warn-mode ⚠ lands on the hook's stderr even when the commit is allowed.
   // A timeout turns a hook that never exits into a named failure, not a stalled suite.
   const r = spawnSync('git', ['commit', '-m', msg, ...flags], { cwd: dir, encoding: 'utf-8', timeout: spawnLimit(60_000) });
-  if (r.error) {throw new Error(`git commit did not finish (${r.error.message}); output so far: ${r.stdout ?? ''}${r.stderr ?? ''}`);}
+  if (r.error) {throw new Error(`hung child process (#167): git commit did not finish (${r.error.message}); output so far: ${r.stdout ?? ''}${r.stderr ?? ''}`);}
   return { ok: r.status === 0, out: `${r.stdout ?? ''}${r.stderr ?? ''}` };
 };
 const capture = (fn: () => void): string => {