diff --git a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/codegen/CometBatchKernelCodegen.scala b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/codegen/CometBatchKernelCodegen.scala
index 83fbca6b635..3b51b6d3919 100644
--- a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/codegen/CometBatchKernelCodegen.scala
+++ b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/codegen/CometBatchKernelCodegen.scala
@@ -156,11 +156,14 @@ object CometBatchKernelCodegen extends Logging with CometExprTraitShim with Come
     // instance with a single `init(partitionIndex)` call, so `Rand` / `MonotonicallyIncreasingID`
     // state advances correctly across batches.
     //
-    // `ExecSubqueryExpression` (`ScalarSubquery`, `InSubqueryExec`) is accepted: the surrounding
-    // Comet operator's inherited `SparkPlan.waitForSubqueries` populates the subquery's
-    // `result` field before evaluation. The closure serializer captures that value into the
-    // arg-0 bytes, and the dispatcher keys its compile cache on those bytes, so distinct subquery
-    // results produce distinct cache entries.
+    // `ExecSubqueryExpression` (`ScalarSubquery`, `InSubqueryExec`) is rejected. Its `result` field
+    // is populated by the surrounding operator's `SparkPlan.waitForSubqueries` at *execution* time,
+    // whereas the dispatcher closure-serializes the tree into the arg-0 bytes during planning. The
+    // deserialized copy on the executor therefore still has an unset `result`, and
+    // `ScalarSubquery.doGenCode` fails the kernel compile with "Subquery ... has not finished".
+    // Refusing here turns that runtime failure into a plan-time Spark fallback. Note this only
+    // concerns a subquery *inside* the dispatched subtree: one that is merely a sibling under a
+    // native parent (`udf(x) + (SELECT ...)`) is evaluated natively and never reaches a kernel.
     //
     // `Unevaluable`: rejected by default. `isCodegenInertUnevaluable` exempts version-specific
     // leaves that are `Unevaluable` but never invoked by codegen (e.g. Spark 4.0's
@@ -168,6 +171,7 @@ object CometBatchKernelCodegen extends Logging with CometExprTraitShim with Come
     boundExpr.find {
       case _: org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.aggregate.AggregateFunction => true
       case _: org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.Generator => true
+      case _: org.apache.spark.sql.execution.ExecSubqueryExpression => true
       case u: Unevaluable if isCodegenInertUnevaluable(u) => false
       case _: Unevaluable => true
       case _ => false
@@ -175,7 +179,7 @@ object CometBatchKernelCodegen extends Logging with CometExprTraitShim with Come
       case Some(bad) =>
         return Some(
           s"codegen dispatch: expression ${bad.getClass.getSimpleName} not supported " +
-            "(aggregate, generator, or unevaluable)")
+            "(aggregate, generator, subquery, or unevaluable)")
       case None =>
     }
     val badRef = boundExpr.collectFirst {
diff --git a/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenAssertions.scala b/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenAssertions.scala
index bce8bfc5986..f28d8f44a26 100644
--- a/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenAssertions.scala
+++ b/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenAssertions.scala
@@ -42,6 +42,19 @@ trait CometCodegenAssertions {
       s"expected codegen dispatcher activity, got $after")
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Asserts the dispatcher did not run during `f`, for the cases where the expression is expected
+   * to be routed back to Spark rather than into a kernel.
+   */
+  protected def assertNoCodegen(f: => Unit): Unit = {
+    CometScalaUDFCodegen.resetStats()
+    f
+    val after = CometScalaUDFCodegen.stats()
+    assert(
+      after.compileCount + after.cacheHitCount == 0,
+      s"expected no codegen dispatcher activity, got $after")
+  }
+
   /**
    * Asserts the composed subtree fused into one kernel signature, not N (one per sub-expression).
    * Uses the JVM-wide signature set rather than `compileCount` because per-task `boundExpr`
diff --git a/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenSuite.scala b/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenSuite.scala
index 5c1f957453a..e978dec1216 100644
--- a/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenSuite.scala
+++ b/spark/src/test/scala/org/apache/comet/CometCodegenSuite.scala
@@ -1143,6 +1143,24 @@ class CometCodegenSuite
     checkSparkAnswerAndOperator(df)
   }
 
+  test("a scalar subquery inside the dispatched subtree falls back to Spark") {
+    // The dispatcher serializes the tree at plan time, but a subquery's `result` is populated by
+    // the surrounding operator's `waitForSubqueries` at execution time. The deserialized copy on
+    // the executor therefore has no result, and `ScalarSubquery.doGenCode` used to fail the kernel
+    // compile with "Subquery ... has not finished" -- a runtime failure, after the plan had already
+    // committed to the kernel. `canHandle` now refuses it, so the operator falls back cleanly.
+    spark.udf.register("addOne", (i: Int) => i + 1)
+    withTable("t", "t2") {
+      sql("CREATE TABLE t (x INT) USING parquet")
+      sql("INSERT INTO t VALUES (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)")
+      sql("CREATE TABLE t2 (v INT) USING parquet")
+      sql("INSERT INTO t2 VALUES (2), (4)")
+      assertNoCodegen {
+        checkSparkAnswer(sql("SELECT addOne((SELECT max(v) FROM t2)) AS r FROM t"))
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   test("ScalaUDF composed with reused scalar subquery across projection and filter") {
     // The same scalar subquery appears in two sites: the projection (which the dispatcher
     // compiles into a fused kernel) and the filter (a separate operator). Each site holds its