diff --git a/docs/testing/hotkey-helper-watchdog-443.md b/docs/testing/hotkey-helper-watchdog-443.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccc5615
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/testing/hotkey-helper-watchdog-443.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Manual check: hotkey-helper watchdog (#443)
+
+`hotkey-helper` never reads stdin - it parses its CLI args once, then
+calls `CFRunLoopRun()`, which never returns on its own. A hard kill of
+the Electron parent (Force Quit, `kill -9`, a native crash) used to
+leave it running forever, still holding the Input Monitoring
+`CGEventTap` - a relaunch would then race a second tap against it on
+every keystroke.
+
+The fix adds a watchdog timer that polls `getppid()` every 2 seconds
+and exits once it changes from the pid captured at startup (macOS
+reparents an orphan to launchd almost immediately, so this is a
+reliable, portable signal - no pipe of our own needed).
+
+**Verified this session**, without a Mac's Input Monitoring permission
+in the way: a standalone binary with the identical polling logic
+(same `getppid()` + `Timer` + `CFRunLoopAddTimer`/`CFRunLoopRun`
+shape, no CGEventTap) was spawned as a child, its parent was
+`kill -9`'d, and it detected the reparent and exited within one poll
+cycle. `swift build --package-path native/hotkey-helper` is clean.
+What's unverified: everything that needs the real tap and a real
+Electron parent, below.
+
+## Steps
+
+1. **Build.** `npm run build:hotkey-helper` (or
+   `swift build --package-path native/hotkey-helper`).
+2. **Baseline: normal shutdown still works.** Launch OpenStream, quit
+   it normally (Cmd+Q or the menu). `hotkey-helper` should exit with
+   everything else - no change expected here, this is the regression
+   check.
+3. **Hard-kill orphan check.** Launch OpenStream, find `hotkey-helper`'s
+   pid (`ps aux | grep hotkey-helper`), then `kill -9` the main
+   OpenStream/Electron process (not the helper). Within a couple of
+   seconds, confirm `hotkey-helper` has also exited
+   (`ps -p <pid>` should report nothing) - before this fix it would
+   still be running indefinitely.
+4. **Relaunch after a hard kill doesn't double-tap.** After step 3,
+   relaunch OpenStream and confirm push-to-talk fires exactly once per
+   press - no missed presses, no doubled/garbled events (the symptom
+   two racing taps would cause).
+5. **Input Monitoring is actually released.** After step 3, check
+   System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Input Monitoring while no
+   OpenStream process is running - there should be no indication a tap
+   is still active (this is more of a sanity check than something with
+   a precise UI signal; the practical proof is step 4 behaving
+   normally).
diff --git a/native/hotkey-helper/Sources/hotkey-helper/main.swift b/native/hotkey-helper/Sources/hotkey-helper/main.swift
index 7060b69..958c71e 100644
--- a/native/hotkey-helper/Sources/hotkey-helper/main.swift
+++ b/native/hotkey-helper/Sources/hotkey-helper/main.swift
@@ -141,5 +141,24 @@ let runLoopSource = CFMachPortCreateRunLoopSource(kCFAllocatorDefault, createdTa
 CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), runLoopSource, .commonModes)
 CGEvent.tapEnable(tap: createdTap, enable: true)
 
+// #443: accessibility-helper and transcription-helper both sit in a
+// readLine() command loop, so a SIGKILL'd parent closes their stdin pipe
+// and they exit on their own - no signal needed. This helper never reads
+// stdin at all (CFRunLoopRun() below never returns on its own), so a hard
+// kill of the Electron parent (Force Quit, `kill -9`, a native crash) used
+// to leave it running forever, still holding the Input Monitoring tap -
+// and a relaunch would then race a second tap against it on every
+// keystroke. Reparenting is the portable signal an orphan gets: once the
+// original parent is gone, getppid() changes (typically to launchd), so
+// polling it is enough to notice without needing a pipe of our own.
+let originalParentPid = getppid()
+let watchdog = Timer(timeInterval: 2.0, repeats: true) { _ in
+    if getppid() != originalParentPid {
+        eprint("hotkey-helper: parent process \(originalParentPid) is gone - exiting rather than holding the tap orphaned")
+        exit(0)
+    }
+}
+CFRunLoopAddTimer(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), watchdog, .commonModes)
+
 emit("ready")
 CFRunLoopRun()