diff --git a/agent/conversation_compression.py b/agent/conversation_compression.py
index d2df6f25a39f..09df0c66c4d0 100644
--- a/agent/conversation_compression.py
+++ b/agent/conversation_compression.py
@@ -1402,7 +1402,10 @@ def compress_context(
     # `name #N` renumber, no contextvar/env/logging re-sync, no memory/context-
     # engine session-switch. The conversation keeps one durable id for life,
     # eliminating the session-rotation bug cluster. Default True (2107b86024).
-    in_place = bool(getattr(agent, "compression_in_place", False))
+    # Default True matches DEFAULT_CONFIG / #38763. A missing attribute must
+    # NOT fall back to rotation mode — that re-enables the pre-lease drift
+    # path and can wedge busy sessions that never set the flag.
+    in_place = bool(getattr(agent, "compression_in_place", True))
     # Set True once the in-place DB write actually completes (the DB block can
     # raise and skip it). Surfaced to the gateway via agent._last_compaction_in_place.
     compacted_in_place = False
@@ -1712,6 +1715,13 @@ def compress_context(
         # non-destructive — pre-compaction rows are soft-archived (active=0,
         # compacted=1), stay searchable and recoverable, so snapshot/durable
         # drift cannot lose data there and must not abort compaction.
+        #
+        # When durable DID grow, ADOPT it and continue rather than aborting.
+        # Aborting returned the stale snapshot unchanged, so busy sessions
+        # (memory review / shared session_id writers) stayed permanently
+        # behind the DB: every /compress and auto-compress saw
+        # "changed before lease acquisition", surfaced as the misleading
+        # "No changes from compression", and never reclaimed tokens.
         if not in_place and _lock_db is not None and _lock_sid:
             durable_loader = getattr(
                 type(_lock_db), "get_messages_as_conversation", None
@@ -1719,16 +1729,18 @@ def compress_context(
             if callable(durable_loader):
                 durable_parent = durable_loader(_lock_db, _lock_sid)
                 if isinstance(durable_parent, list) and len(durable_parent) > len(messages):
-                    logger.warning(
-                        "compression aborted: session=%s changed before lease "
-                        "acquisition; preserving newer durable messages",
+                    logger.info(
+                        "compression: session=%s grew before lease "
+                        "(%d → %d msgs); adopting durable snapshot",
                         _lock_sid,
+                        len(messages),
+                        len(durable_parent),
                     )
-                    _release_lock()
-                    existing_prompt = getattr(agent, "_cached_system_prompt", None)
-                    if not existing_prompt:
-                        existing_prompt = agent._build_system_prompt(system_message)
-                    return messages, existing_prompt
+                    messages = durable_parent
+                    # Token estimate was for the stale snapshot; clear it so
+                    # the compressor re-derives from the adopted transcript
+                    # instead of under-counting the newly visible rows.
+                    approx_tokens = 0
 
         # Notify external memory provider before compression discards context.
         # The provider's on_pre_compress() may return a string of insights it
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_compression_concurrent_fork.py b/tests/agent/test_compression_concurrent_fork.py
index b7c696ecb75b..bc20dfcb7afa 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_compression_concurrent_fork.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_compression_concurrent_fork.py
@@ -340,10 +340,17 @@ def test_concurrent_compression_does_not_fork_session(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     )
 
 
-def test_durable_message_committed_before_lease_aborts_stale_snapshot(
+def test_durable_message_committed_before_lease_is_adopted(
     tmp_path: Path,
 ) -> None:
-    """A durable row absent from the caller snapshot must survive in the parent."""
+    """A durable row absent from the caller snapshot must still be compressed.
+
+    Previously this path aborted and returned the stale snapshot unchanged,
+    which permanently wedged busy sessions: every compress attempt saw the
+    DB ahead of the in-memory list, logged "changed before lease
+    acquisition", and never called the compressor. Adopting the durable
+    transcript keeps the late-committed turn and lets compression proceed.
+    """
     db = SessionDB(db_path=tmp_path / "state.db")
     parent_sid = "PRE_LEASE_DURABLE_RACE"
     db.create_session(parent_sid, source="webui")
@@ -359,15 +366,21 @@ def test_durable_message_committed_before_lease_aborts_stale_snapshot(
         stale_snapshot, "sys", approx_tokens=120_000
     )
 
-    assert returned is stale_snapshot
-    assert agent.session_id == parent_sid
-    assert db.find_live_compression_child(parent_sid) is None
-    assert [m["content"] for m in db.get_messages_as_conversation(parent_sid)] == [
+    agent.context_compressor.compress.assert_called_once()
+    compressed_arg = agent.context_compressor.compress.call_args.args[0]
+    assert [m["content"] for m in compressed_arg] == [
         "old durable",
         "late committed before lease",
     ]
-    agent.context_compressor.compress.assert_not_called()
-
+    # Must not echo the stale snapshot — compression proceeded on the
+    # adopted durable transcript (rotation publishes a child session).
+    assert returned is not stale_snapshot
+    assert returned[0]["content"] == "[CONTEXT COMPACTION] summary"
+    assert agent.session_id != parent_sid
+    child = db.find_live_compression_child(parent_sid)
+    assert child is not None
+    child_id = child["id"] if isinstance(child, dict) else child
+    assert child_id == agent.session_id
 
 def test_skipped_compression_returns_messages_unchanged(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     """The loser of the lock race must return its input messages verbatim.