diff --git a/hermes_state_sessions.py b/hermes_state_sessions.py
index 0117d6768a..2b8e0ec045 100644
--- a/hermes_state_sessions.py
+++ b/hermes_state_sessions.py
@@ -1576,7 +1576,9 @@ class SessionSessionsMixin:
         def _do(conn):
             if conn.execute("SELECT 1 FROM sessions WHERE id = ? LIMIT 1", (session_id,)).fetchone() is None:
                 return False
-            if exclude_active_write_guards and self._write_guards_reject(conn, session_id):
+            if exclude_active_write_guards and self._write_guards_reject(
+                conn, session_id, allow_closed_compression_parent=True,
+            ):
                 raise SessionActiveWriteGuardError(
                     f"session '{session_id}' has an active turn lease or compression lock"
                 )
@@ -1649,7 +1651,10 @@ class SessionSessionsMixin:
             if not existing:
                 return 0
             if exclude_active_write_guards:
-                active_ids = {sid for sid in existing if self._write_guards_reject(conn, sid)}
+                active_ids = {
+                    sid for sid in existing
+                    if self._write_guards_reject(conn, sid, allow_closed_compression_parent=True)
+                }
                 existing = [sid for sid in existing if sid not in active_ids]
                 if skipped_ids is not None:
                     skipped_ids.extend(sorted(active_ids))
diff --git a/tests/hermes_state/test_delete_session_write_guards.py b/tests/hermes_state/test_delete_session_write_guards.py
index 70c286c4e8..208ded057c 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_state/test_delete_session_write_guards.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_state/test_delete_session_write_guards.py
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ def test_delete_session_refuses_when_write_guard_active(tmp_path):
 
     assert db.delete_session("sess-cmp", exclude_active_write_guards=True) is True
     assert db.get_session("sess-cmp") is None
+
+    # 4. An idle compression-ended row is a closed parent, not a live write: delete must succeed
+    #    (no CompressionSessionClosedError leaking out of the guard check).
+    db.create_session("sess-compressed", source="test")
+    db.end_session("sess-compressed", "compression")
+    assert db.delete_session("sess-compressed", exclude_active_write_guards=True) is True
+    assert db.get_session("sess-compressed") is None
     db.close()