diff --git a/src/frame_worker.zig b/src/frame_worker.zig
index ff41796..76f44a1 100644
--- a/src/frame_worker.zig
+++ b/src/frame_worker.zig
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ fn microTimestamp(io: Io) i64 {
 pub const FrameWork = struct {
     data: []u8, // raw frame bytes (heap-duped by reader, freed by worker)
     host_id: u64,
-    hostname: []const u8, // borrowed from subscriber (stable lifetime)
+    hostname: []const u8, // owned (heap-duped at submit, freed by worker)
     allocator: Allocator,
     io: Io,
     // shared references (all thread-safe, all outlive the work item)
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ pub const FrameWork = struct {
 pub fn processFrame(work: *FrameWork) void {
     _ = work.bc.stats.pool_queued_bytes.fetchSub(work.data.len, .monotonic);
     defer work.allocator.free(work.data);
+    defer work.allocator.free(work.hostname);
 
     var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(work.allocator);
     defer arena.deinit();
diff --git a/src/subscriber.zig b/src/subscriber.zig
index 51ed362..bb4c1b8 100644
--- a/src/subscriber.zig
+++ b/src/subscriber.zig
@@ -478,11 +478,19 @@ const FrameHandler = struct {
                 break :blk if (d) |s| std.hash.Wyhash.hash(0, s) else sub.options.host_id;
             };
             const duped = sub.allocator.dupe(u8, data) catch return;
+            // dupe hostname per-frame: subscriber teardown (slurper.runWorker)
+            // frees sub.options.hostname after sub.run() returns, but FrameWorks
+            // can still be queued in the pool. borrowing the slice would be a
+            // use-after-free (corrupt hostnames in chain-break logs, etc.).
+            const hostname_dup = sub.allocator.dupe(u8, sub.options.hostname) catch {
+                sub.allocator.free(duped);
+                return;
+            };
             const t0 = nanoTimestamp(io);
             if (pool.submit(did_key, .{
                 .data = duped,
                 .host_id = sub.options.host_id,
-                .hostname = sub.options.hostname,
+                .hostname = hostname_dup,
                 .allocator = sub.allocator,
                 .io = sub.pool_io orelse sub.io, // pool_io (Threaded) for worker-safe ops
                 .bc = sub.bc,
@@ -500,6 +508,7 @@ const FrameHandler = struct {
             } else {
                 // shutdown requested — don't advance cursor so reconnect replays this frame
                 sub.allocator.free(duped);
+                sub.allocator.free(hostname_dup);
             }
             return;
         }