diff --git a/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.test.ts
index 9f3e339eb..c1f8ab9ba 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.test.ts
@@ -273,6 +273,38 @@ describe('runNonInteractive', () => {
     expect(mockShutdownTelemetry).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it('on EPIPE, destroys stdout and returns normally instead of process.exit', async () => {
+    // Regression: process.exit(0) on EPIPE bypassed runExitCleanup → flush()
+    // and dropped queued JSONL writes for `qwen -p ... | head -1` patterns.
+    // process.exit is mocked to throw in beforeEach, so reaching the
+    // assertion also proves the bypass route is gone.
+    setupMetricsMock();
+    const stdoutDestroySpy = vi
+      .spyOn(process.stdout, 'destroy')
+      .mockReturnValue(process.stdout);
+
+    mockGeminiClient.sendMessageStream.mockImplementation(
+      async function* mockStream(): AsyncGenerator<ServerGeminiStreamEvent> {
+        process.stdout.emit(
+          'error',
+          Object.assign(new Error('EPIPE'), { code: 'EPIPE' }),
+        );
+        yield { type: GeminiEventType.Content, value: 'Hello' };
+        yield {
+          type: GeminiEventType.Finished,
+          value: {
+            reason: undefined,
+            usageMetadata: { totalTokenCount: 0 },
+          },
+        };
+      },
+    );
+
+    await runNonInteractive(mockConfig, mockSettings, 'test', 'p1');
+
+    expect(stdoutDestroySpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it('should handle a single tool call and respond', async () => {
     setupMetricsMock();
     const toolCallEvent: ServerGeminiStreamEvent = {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.ts b/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.ts
index dc90c7775..23965c7d9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/nonInteractiveCli.ts
@@ -175,16 +175,22 @@ export async function runNonInteractive(
     let totalApiDurationMs = 0;
     const startTime = Date.now();
 
-    const stdoutErrorHandler = (err: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => {
-      if (err.code === 'EPIPE') {
-        process.stdout.removeListener('error', stdoutErrorHandler);
-        process.exit(0);
-      }
-    };
-
     const geminiClient = config.getGeminiClient();
     const abortController = options.abortController ?? new AbortController();
 
+    // EPIPE: don't process.exit here — that bypasses the caller's
+    // runExitCleanup → flush() and drops queued JSONL writes. Destroy
+    // stdout instead and let the natural return drive cleanup. (Aborting
+    // is also wrong: the abort path runs handleCancellationError → exit
+    // 130 and re-introduces the same bypass.)
+    let pipeBroken = false;
+    const stdoutErrorHandler = (err: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => {
+      if (err.code === 'EPIPE' && !pipeBroken) {
+        pipeBroken = true;
+        process.stdout.destroy();
+      }
+    };
+
     // Setup signal handlers for graceful shutdown
     const shutdownHandler = () => {
       debugLogger.debug('[runNonInteractive] Shutdown signal received');