diff --git a/src/live/bus.ts b/src/live/bus.ts
index 90545a9..33b0077 100644
--- a/src/live/bus.ts
+++ b/src/live/bus.ts
@@ -312,7 +312,13 @@ export class Bus {
   #startLoop(): void {
     this.#loopPromise = (async () => {
       while (this.#running) {
-        await this.#poll();
+        try {
+          await this.#poll();
+        } catch (e) {
+          // stop() flipped #running while a poll was in flight (or the
+          // schema vanished under us). Shutdown is not a poll failure.
+          if (this.#running) { throw e; }
+        }
         const waiters = this.#oncePolled.splice(0);
         for (const w of waiters) {
           w();
diff --git a/src/test-helpers.ts b/src/test-helpers.ts
index 063b383..39e798b 100644
--- a/src/test-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/test-helpers.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@ export const setupDb = (): void => {
   });
 
   afterAll(async () => {
-    await conn.execute(sql`DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS ${db.scopedIdent(schema)} CASCADE`);
+    // Stop the poller first. Don't DROP SCHEMA here — a concurrent poll
+    // can race the drop (max: 1 pool, two-query poll). Next beforeAll
+    // already drops leftover schema.
     await conn.close();
   });
 };