diff --git a/bin/gstack-redact b/bin/gstack-redact
index 45bb1235f..fdf4e6363 100755
--- a/bin/gstack-redact
+++ b/bin/gstack-redact
@@ -307,7 +307,9 @@ function main() {
           "\n",
       );
     }
-    process.exit(0);
+    // Same truncation class as the report path below: the redacted BODY can
+    // be arbitrarily large; let stdout drain instead of process.exit(0).
+    return;
   }
 
   const result = scan(input, opts);
@@ -326,7 +328,12 @@ function main() {
       process.stdout.write(`  HIGH=${HIGH} MEDIUM=${MEDIUM} LOW=${LOW} WARN=${WARN}\n`);
     }
   }
-  process.exit(code);
+  // process.exit() discards stdout still buffered in the pipe: a report past
+  // ~145 KB read by a slow consumer (node's gate-secret-scan.mjs collector)
+  // arrived truncated, JSON.parse failed, and the CI quality gate failed
+  // CLOSED on a clean scan. Set the exit code and let the runtime drain
+  // stdout instead — same contract, no truncation.
+  process.exitCode = code;
 }
 
 main();
diff --git a/test/regression-pr1169-mktemp-fallbacks.test.ts b/test/regression-pr1169-mktemp-fallbacks.test.ts
index ea727705b..02cfd78f0 100644
--- a/test/regression-pr1169-mktemp-fallbacks.test.ts
+++ b/test/regression-pr1169-mktemp-fallbacks.test.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ echo "SHOULD NOT REACH: $TMP_DIR"`;
     const r = spawnSync(
       "bun",
       [path.join(ROOT, "bin", "gstack-redact"), "--from-file", "", "--json"],
-      { encoding: "utf-8", input: "sk-ant-api03-not-really-a-key", timeout: 15_000 },
+      { encoding: "utf-8", input: "placeholder stdin content (never read on the error path)", timeout: 15_000 },
     );
     expect(r.status).toBe(1);
     expect(r.stderr).toContain("non-empty path");