diff --git a/src/components/bottomSheetModal/BottomSheetModal.tsx b/src/components/bottomSheetModal/BottomSheetModal.tsx
index 2954b3f4..cef7a023 100644
--- a/src/components/bottomSheetModal/BottomSheetModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/bottomSheetModal/BottomSheetModal.tsx
@@ -272,6 +272,23 @@ function BottomSheetModalComponent<T = never>(
         });
       }
 
+      /**
+       * if the modal was never presented, or has already been fully torn down
+       * (`unmount()` resets the status back to `INITIAL`), then there is nothing
+       * to dismiss and no inner sheet to close.
+       *
+       * Falling through would set the status to `DISMISSING` and call
+       * `forceClose()` on a `bottomSheetRef` that is still `null` — a silent
+       * no-op. Since nothing is animating, `onClose` never fires, so nothing ever
+       * transitions the status out of `DISMISSING`, and `handlePortalRender`
+       * suppresses every subsequent render. The modal is then permanently wedged:
+       * later `present()` calls mount the portal but render nothing, with no
+       * error or warning.
+       */
+      if (statusRef.current === MODAL_STATUS.INITIAL) {
+        return;
+      }
+
       /**
        * if the modal position is already in a closed position,
        * then we unmount the node and early exit.
@@ -362,7 +379,7 @@ function BottomSheetModalComponent<T = never>(
 
   //#region callbacks
   const handlePortalOnUnmount = useCallback(
-    function handlePortalOnUnmount() {
+    function handlePortalOnUnmount(removePortalFromHost?: () => void) {
       if (__DEV__) {
         print({
           component: 'BottomSheetModal',
@@ -374,6 +391,27 @@ function BottomSheetModalComponent<T = never>(
       }
 
       if (statusRef.current === MODAL_STATUS.INITIAL) {
+        /**
+         * The sheet is already fully torn down — `unmount()` removed this portal
+         * from the host and reset the status.
+         *
+         * However `Portal`'s `handleOnUpdate` effect is keyed on `children`, whose
+         * element identity changes on every parent render. A trailing update can
+         * therefore land in the window between `unmount()`'s `removePortal` and
+         * this component actually unmounting, RE-ADDING the entry we just removed.
+         *
+         * Left behind, that orphan makes the host keep rendering the stale node,
+         * so the inner `BottomSheet` is never unmounted. The next `present()` then
+         * cannot open it: `handlePresent` reads a captured `mount` of `false`, so
+         * it skips the `snapToIndex` branch, while the still-mounted sheet already
+         * has `didAnimateOnMount === true` and so runs no mount animation either.
+         * The sheet silently never opens again, and every closed sheet leaks a
+         * live subtree.
+         *
+         * This is the last chance to drop that orphan. `removePortal` is
+         * idempotent, so this is a no-op when there is nothing stale to remove.
+         */
+        removePortalFromHost?.();
         return;
       }