diff --git a/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file.rs b/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file.rs
index afa8d736f2e..dea1e26f693 100644
--- a/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file.rs
+++ b/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use std::os::unix::fs::MetadataExt;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::sync::LazyLock;
+use std::sync::mpsc;
 use std::time::SystemTime;
 
 use cudarc::driver::CudaFunction;
@@ -65,6 +66,24 @@ const MAPPED_COPY_THREADS: u32 = 256;
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 static MAPPED_FILL: Mutex<()> = Mutex::new(());
 
+/// Releases a closed reader's mapping once its copy stream has drained.
+type MappedRelease = Box<dyn FnOnce() + Send>;
+
+/// Releases of mapped files, each run once its copy stream has drained, off the scan's threads.
+static MAPPED_RELEASE_QUEUE: LazyLock<Option<mpsc::Sender<MappedRelease>>> = LazyLock::new(|| {
+    let (sender, receiver) = mpsc::channel::<MappedRelease>();
+    std::thread::Builder::new()
+        .name("vortex-mapped-release".to_string())
+        .spawn(move || {
+            // Runs until the process exits: the sender is a process-wide static.
+            for job in receiver {
+                job();
+            }
+        })
+        .ok()
+        .map(|_| sender)
+});
+
 /// Options controlling how [`PooledFileReadAt`] opens and reads a local file.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub struct PooledFileReadAtOptions {
@@ -231,6 +250,19 @@ impl FileMapping {
 /// cold-cache measurement, or to return the address space. Mappings that open readers still use
 /// stay mapped until those readers close.
 pub fn release_file_mappings() {
+    // Closed readers hand their mappings to the release queue; wait until it has dropped them.
+    if let Some(queue) = MAPPED_RELEASE_QUEUE.as_ref() {
+        let (sender, receiver) = mpsc::sync_channel::<()>(1);
+        if queue
+            .send(Box::new(move || {
+                let _ = sender.send(());
+            }))
+            .is_ok()
+        {
+            // An error means the release thread is gone, leaving nothing to wait for.
+            let _ = receiver.recv();
+        }
+    }
     let released: Vec<_> = FILE_MAPPINGS
         .lock()
         .drain(..)
@@ -389,10 +421,24 @@ impl Drop for MappedFile {
         let Some(file) = self.file.take() else {
             return;
         };
-        // Queued copies may still read the mapping, which the last release unmaps.
-        if self.stream.synchronize().is_err() {
-            // Without proof the copies finished, never unmap memory the device may read.
-            let _leaked = ManuallyDrop::new(file);
+        // Queued copies may still read the mapping, which the last release unmaps. The reader
+        // drops when the scan has requested its last segment, typically on the thread that
+        // decodes the scan's batches; waiting there for the copy stream to drain stalled every
+        // decode and selection launch behind the scan's remaining copies.
+        let stream = self.stream.clone();
+        let release: MappedRelease = Box::new(move || {
+            if stream.synchronize().is_err() {
+                // Without proof the copies finished, never unmap memory the device may read.
+                let _leaked = ManuallyDrop::new(file);
+            }
+        });
+        match MAPPED_RELEASE_QUEUE.as_ref() {
+            Some(queue) => {
+                if let Err(unsent) = queue.send(release) {
+                    (unsent.0)();
+                }
+            }
+            None => release(),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file/tests.rs b/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file/tests.rs
index c2a5121c216..d75440e6c5c 100644
--- a/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file/tests.rs
+++ b/vortex-cuda/src/pooled_read_at/file/tests.rs
@@ -491,6 +491,42 @@ async fn released_mappings_are_remapped() -> VortexResult<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Closing a reader releases its mapping in the background once its copies drain; releasing
+/// cached mappings afterwards must still unmap it before returning, as cold-cache eviction needs.
+#[crate::test]
+async fn closed_reader_mappings_are_released_before_return() -> VortexResult<()> {
+    let (_runtime, reader, _file) = mapped_reader()?;
+    let Some(mapped) = reader.mapped.as_ref() else {
+        return Ok(());
+    };
+    let mapping = Arc::downgrade(
+        mapped
+            .file
+            .as_ref()
+            .vortex_expect("open file has a mapping"),
+    );
+    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+    mapped
+        .file
+        .as_ref()
+        .vortex_expect("open file has a mapping")
+        .mapping()
+        .advise(Advice::PopulateRead)?;
+    // Leave copies queued on the copy stream when the reader closes.
+    let buffer = reader
+        .read_at(0, MAPPED_FILE_BYTES, Alignment::of::<u8>())
+        .await?;
+    // Only the release must not race other tests' use of the global cache; the guard is not
+    // held across an await.
+    let cache = MAPPING_CACHE.lock();
+    drop(reader);
+    release_file_mappings();
+    drop(cache);
+    assert!(mapping.upgrade().is_none());
+    assert_bytes(buffer, 0, MAPPED_FILE_BYTES).await?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[crate::test]
 async fn mapped_read_past_end_fails() -> VortexResult<()> {
     let (_runtime, reader, _file) = mapped_reader()?;