diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 2fda4d54e6..325df9beb1 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -4395,6 +4395,41 @@ class AIAgent:
                 self._client_log_context(),
             )
             return client
+        # Inject TCP keepalives so the kernel detects dead provider connections
+        # instead of letting them sit silently in CLOSE-WAIT (#10324).  Without
+        # this, a peer that drops mid-stream leaves the socket in a state where
+        # epoll_wait never fires, ``httpx`` read timeout may not trigger, and
+        # the agent hangs until manually killed.  Probes after 30s idle, retry
+        # every 10s, give up after 3 → dead peer detected within ~60s.
+        #
+        # Safety against #10933: the ``client_kwargs = dict(client_kwargs)``
+        # above means this injection only lands in the local per-call copy,
+        # never back into ``self._client_kwargs``.  Each ``_create_openai_client``
+        # invocation therefore gets its OWN fresh ``httpx.Client`` whose
+        # lifetime is tied to the OpenAI client it is passed to.  When the
+        # OpenAI client is closed (rebuild, teardown, credential rotation),
+        # the paired ``httpx.Client`` closes with it, and the next call
+        # constructs a fresh one — no stale closed transport can be reused.
+        # Tests in ``tests/run_agent/test_create_openai_client_reuse.py`` and
+        # ``tests/run_agent/test_sequential_chats_live.py`` pin this invariant.
+        if "http_client" not in client_kwargs:
+            try:
+                import httpx as _httpx
+                import socket as _socket
+                _sock_opts = [(_socket.SOL_SOCKET, _socket.SO_KEEPALIVE, 1)]
+                if hasattr(_socket, "TCP_KEEPIDLE"):
+                    # Linux
+                    _sock_opts.append((_socket.IPPROTO_TCP, _socket.TCP_KEEPIDLE, 30))
+                    _sock_opts.append((_socket.IPPROTO_TCP, _socket.TCP_KEEPINTVL, 10))
+                    _sock_opts.append((_socket.IPPROTO_TCP, _socket.TCP_KEEPCNT, 3))
+                elif hasattr(_socket, "TCP_KEEPALIVE"):
+                    # macOS (uses TCP_KEEPALIVE instead of TCP_KEEPIDLE)
+                    _sock_opts.append((_socket.IPPROTO_TCP, _socket.TCP_KEEPALIVE, 30))
+                client_kwargs["http_client"] = _httpx.Client(
+                    transport=_httpx.HTTPTransport(socket_options=_sock_opts),
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                pass  # Fall through to default transport if socket opts fail
         client = OpenAI(**client_kwargs)
         logger.info(
             "OpenAI client created (%s, shared=%s) %s",