diff --git a/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/TerminatedWorkflowStickyCacheReproducer.java b/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/TerminatedWorkflowStickyCacheReproducer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e93bd20abc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/TerminatedWorkflowStickyCacheReproducer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package io.temporal.worker;
+
+import io.temporal.client.WorkflowClient;
+import io.temporal.client.WorkflowOptions;
+import io.temporal.client.WorkflowStub;
+import io.temporal.testing.TestEnvironmentOptions;
+import io.temporal.testing.TestWorkflowEnvironment;
+import io.temporal.workflow.Workflow;
+import io.temporal.workflow.WorkflowInterface;
+import io.temporal.workflow.WorkflowMethod;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Reproducer: externally terminated workflows are retained by the sticky cache until LRU capacity
+ * evicts them. The server dispatches no workflow task on termination, so the worker never learns
+ * the run is closed; each dead run keeps its full cached state and its workflow thread.
+ *
+ * <p>Observed (sdk-java 1.34, 300 terminated runs holding a 1 MB char[] each, in-process test
+ * server): heap 18 -> 510 MB, 164 workflow threads pinned.
+ */
+public class TerminatedWorkflowStickyCacheReproducer {
+
+  @WorkflowInterface
+  public interface LeakWorkflow {
+    @WorkflowMethod
+    String run(int ballastKb);
+  }
+
+  public static class LeakWorkflowImpl implements LeakWorkflow {
+    private char[] ballast;
+
+    @Override
+    public String run(int ballastKb) {
+      ballast = new char[ballastKb * 1024];
+      Workflow.await(() -> ballast.length == 0);
+      return "done";
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static long heapMb() {
+    System.gc();
+    try {
+      Thread.sleep(200);
+    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+      Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+    }
+    Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
+    return (rt.totalMemory() - rt.freeMemory()) / 1048576;
+  }
+
+  private static long workflowThreads() {
+    return Thread.getAllStackTraces().keySet().stream()
+        .filter(t -> t.getName().contains("workflow-method"))
+        .count();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void terminatedWorkflowsStayInCacheUntilLruCapacity() throws Exception {
+    int count = 300;
+    int ballastKb = 1024;
+
+    TestWorkflowEnvironment env =
+        TestWorkflowEnvironment.newInstance(TestEnvironmentOptions.newBuilder().build());
+    env.newWorker("leak-lab").registerWorkflowImplementationTypes(LeakWorkflowImpl.class);
+    env.start();
+    WorkflowClient client = env.getWorkflowClient();
+
+    System.out.printf("baseline: heap %d MB, %d workflow threads%n", heapMb(), workflowThreads());
+
+    List<WorkflowStub> stubs = new ArrayList<>(count);
+    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+      LeakWorkflow stub =
+          client.newWorkflowStub(
+              LeakWorkflow.class, WorkflowOptions.newBuilder().setTaskQueue("leak-lab").build());
+      WorkflowClient.start(stub::run, ballastKb);
+      stubs.add(WorkflowStub.fromTyped(stub));
+    }
+    Thread.sleep(10000);
+    for (WorkflowStub stub : stubs) {
+      stub.terminate("reproducer");
+    }
+    Thread.sleep(2000);
+
+    System.out.printf(
+        "after %d terminated (%dKB ballast): heap %d MB, %d workflow threads%n",
+        count, ballastKb, heapMb(), workflowThreads());
+
+    env.close();
+  }
+}