diff --git a/docs-internal/engine/rivetkit-core-internals.md b/docs-internal/engine/rivetkit-core-internals.md
index 5fe7ad5bd8..dd0a2e658b 100644
--- a/docs-internal/engine/rivetkit-core-internals.md
+++ b/docs-internal/engine/rivetkit-core-internals.md
@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ Persistence order:
 
 1. Immediate state save.
 2. Pending state write wait.
-3. Alarm write wait.
-4. SQLite cleanup.
-5. Driver alarm cancellation.
+3. Sync the driver alarm for sleep, or cancel it without querying SQLite for destroy.
+4. Alarm write wait.
+5. SQLite cleanup.
 
 ## ActorConfig
 
diff --git a/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/src/actor/task.rs b/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/src/actor/task.rs
index c3cdbe3d22..4ac8bc8967 100644
--- a/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/src/actor/task.rs
+++ b/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/src/actor/task.rs
@@ -1864,17 +1864,10 @@ impl ActorTask {
 			step = "wait_for_pending_state_writes",
 			"actor shutdown cleanup step completed"
 		);
-		ctx.sync_alarm_logged().await;
-		tracing::debug!(
-			actor_id = %actor_id,
-			reason = reason_label,
-			step = "sync_alarm",
-			"actor shutdown cleanup step completed"
-		);
-		// Destroy cancels the engine alarm here so the persist it spawns is awaited by
-		// `wait_for_pending_alarm_writes` below and cannot race the SQLite teardown.
 		match reason {
 			ShutdownKind::Destroy => {
+				// A foreign runtime may close SQLite during its destroy callback. Skip
+				// the SQLite-backed alarm sync because this alarm is cleared anyway.
 				ctx.cancel_driver_alarm_logged();
 				tracing::debug!(
 					actor_id = %actor_id,
@@ -1883,7 +1876,15 @@ impl ActorTask {
 					"actor shutdown cleanup step completed"
 				);
 			}
-			ShutdownKind::Sleep => {}
+			ShutdownKind::Sleep => {
+				ctx.sync_alarm_logged().await;
+				tracing::debug!(
+					actor_id = %actor_id,
+					reason = reason_label,
+					step = "sync_alarm",
+					"actor shutdown cleanup step completed"
+				);
+			}
 		}
 		ctx.wait_for_pending_alarm_writes().await;
 		tracing::debug!(
diff --git a/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/tests/task.rs b/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/tests/task.rs
index 587776925e..b4e498b8be 100644
--- a/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/tests/task.rs
+++ b/rivetkit-rust/packages/rivetkit-core/tests/task.rs
@@ -3289,6 +3289,42 @@ pub(crate) mod moved_tests {
 		assert_eq!(ctx.test_driver_alarm_cancel_count(), 1);
 	}
 
+	#[tokio::test]
+	async fn destroy_cleanup_does_not_sync_alarm_after_runtime_closes_sqlite() {
+		let ctx = new_with_kv(
+			"actor-destroy-closed-sqlite",
+			"task-destroy-closed-sqlite",
+			Vec::new(),
+			"local",
+			new_in_memory(),
+		);
+		ctx.sql()
+			.close()
+			.await
+			.expect("foreign runtime sqlite close should succeed");
+
+		let records = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Vec::new()));
+		let subscriber = Registry::default().with(ActorTaskLogLayer {
+			records: records.clone(),
+		});
+		let dispatch = tracing::Dispatch::new(subscriber);
+		ActorTask::finish_shutdown_cleanup_with_ctx(ctx.clone(), ShutdownKind::Destroy)
+			.with_subscriber(dispatch)
+			.await
+			.expect("destroy cleanup should succeed after sqlite closes");
+
+		assert_eq!(ctx.test_driver_alarm_cancel_count(), 1);
+		assert!(
+			!records
+				.lock()
+				.expect("actor-task log lock poisoned")
+				.iter()
+				.any(|record| record.message.as_deref()
+					== Some("failed to sync scheduled actor alarm")),
+			"destroy cleanup must not query the closed sqlite coordinator"
+		);
+	}
+
 	#[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
 	async fn sleep_shutdown_without_in_flight_work_finishes_under_baseline() {
 		let ctx = new_with_kv(