diff --git a/src/internal/broadcaster.zig b/src/internal/broadcaster.zig
index 69fc47d..d3d029a 100644
--- a/src/internal/broadcaster.zig
+++ b/src/internal/broadcaster.zig
@@ -350,7 +350,11 @@ pub const BroadcastQueue = struct {
             if (next_tail == self.head.load(.acquire)) {
                 // full — release lock, yield, retry
                 self.push_lock.store(0, .release);
-                full_spins += 1;
+                // saturate: this is a diagnostic counter, and the queue staying
+                // full is exactly when it must not take the process down. a
+                // stalled drain spun this past 2^32 and panicked the worker
+                // under ReleaseSafe, turning "consumers are slow" into a crash.
+                full_spins +|= 1;
                 std.atomic.spinLoopHint();
                 continue;
             }