diff --git a/challenges/birdsbirdbirds/server.mjs b/challenges/birdsbirdbirds/server.mjs
index 1f8a4bf..d046b5d 100644
--- a/challenges/birdsbirdbirds/server.mjs
+++ b/challenges/birdsbirdbirds/server.mjs
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ export const DEFAULT_PORT = 4322
 export const MAX_PNG_BYTES = 2 * 1024 * 1024
 export const PORT_BUSY_EXIT_CODE = 3
 
+/** How much of a refused upload the server reads and discards before it drops the connection. */
+const MAX_DISCARDED_BYTES = 4 * MAX_PNG_BYTES
+
 const LISTEN_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
 const PAGE_DIRECTORY = path.join(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), 'page')
 const PNG_SIGNATURE = Buffer.from([0x89, 0x50, 0x4e, 0x47, 0x0d, 0x0a, 0x1a, 0x0a])
@@ -157,10 +160,21 @@ async function saveBird({ request, response, workspace, port }) {
   send(response, 204)
 }
 
-/** Answers 413 and drops the connection once the answer is out, so the rest of the body is never read. */
+/**
+ * Answers 413, then reads and discards the rest of the body, so the client
+ * can finish sending and read the answer. Closing on a client that is still
+ * sending can make it see a reset instead, unless it reads answers that
+ * arrive mid-upload as Chromium does. Drops the connection once more than
+ * MAX_DISCARDED_BYTES arrive, so an endless upload can't hold it open.
+ */
 function refuseOversizedBody(request, response) {
-  response.setHeader('Connection', 'close')
-  response.on('finish', () => request.destroy())
+  let discardedBytes = 0
+  request.on('data', (chunk) => {
+    discardedBytes += chunk.length
+    if (discardedBytes > MAX_DISCARDED_BYTES) request.destroy()
+  })
+  // readBodyWithin pauses the body when it gives up; a paused stream stays paused when a listener is added.
+  request.resume()
   sendText(response, 413, `the image is over ${MAX_PNG_BYTES} bytes`)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/birdsbirdbirds.test.mjs b/test/birdsbirdbirds.test.mjs
index 5c3ba95..dae489a 100644
--- a/test/birdsbirdbirds.test.mjs
+++ b/test/birdsbirdbirds.test.mjs
@@ -465,11 +465,41 @@ const sendRequest = ({ port, method = 'GET', requestPath = '/', headers = {}, bo
   request.end(body)
 })
 
+/**
+ * Streams a chunked PNG upload over a raw socket until the server closes the
+ * connection or `maxBytes` have gone out, and resolves `{ status, dropped }`.
+ * `dropped` is true when the connection closed before the upload finished.
+ * A raw socket, since Node's HTTP client stops sending once it has a whole
+ * answer, and a browser doesn't.
+ */
+const streamUntilDropped = ({ port, maxBytes }) => new Promise((resolve) => {
+  const chunk = Buffer.alloc(64 * 1024)
+  const chunkFrame = Buffer.concat([Buffer.from(`${chunk.length.toString(16)}\r\n`), chunk, Buffer.from('\r\n')])
+  const socket = net.connect(port, '127.0.0.1')
+  let received = ''
+  let sentBytes = 0
+
+  /** Writes chunks until the socket pushes back or the cap is reached, then ends the body. */
+  const writeMore = () => {
+    while (sentBytes < maxBytes) {
+      sentBytes += chunk.length
+      if (!socket.write(chunkFrame)) return socket.once('drain', writeMore)
+    }
+    socket.end('0\r\n\r\n')
+  }
+
+  socket.setEncoding('latin1')
+  socket.on('data', (text) => { received += text })
+  socket.on('error', () => undefined)
+  socket.on('close', () => resolve({ status: Number(/^HTTP\/1\.1 (\d{3})/.exec(received)?.[1]), dropped: !socket.writableFinished }))
+  socket.write(`POST /bird.png HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: 127.0.0.1:${port}\r\nContent-Type: image/png\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n`)
+  writeMore()
+})
+
 /**
  * POSTs only the headers of a PNG upload claiming `contentLength` bytes and
- * resolves `{ status }`, then drops the request. The server refuses from
- * Content-Length alone; a client still writing the body can get EPIPE before
- * it reads the answer, as on macOS.
+ * resolves `{ status }`, then drops the request, since the server refuses
+ * from Content-Length alone.
  */
 const postHeadersOnly = ({ port, contentLength }) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
   const request = http.request({ host: '127.0.0.1', port, method: 'POST', path: '/bird.png', headers: { host: `127.0.0.1:${port}`, 'content-type': 'image/png', 'content-length': String(contentLength) } }, (response) => {
@@ -527,6 +557,26 @@ test('the server refuses a streamed body once it passes the cap, with no Content
   assert.deepEqual(await readdir(workspace), [])
 }))
 
+test('the server lets an oversized upload finish sending and answers 413', (testContext) => withWorkspace(async ({ workspace }) => {
+  const port = await startBirdServer(testContext, workspace)
+
+  const upload = await streamUntilDropped({ port, maxBytes: 3 * MAX_PNG_BYTES })
+
+  assert.equal(upload.status, 413)
+  assert.equal(upload.dropped, false)
+  assert.deepEqual(await readdir(workspace), [])
+}))
+
+test('the server drops an oversized upload that keeps sending past the discard limit', (testContext) => withWorkspace(async ({ workspace }) => {
+  const port = await startBirdServer(testContext, workspace)
+
+  const upload = await streamUntilDropped({ port, maxBytes: 64 * MAX_PNG_BYTES })
+
+  assert.equal(upload.status, 413)
+  assert.equal(upload.dropped, true)
+  assert.deepEqual(await readdir(workspace), [])
+}))
+
 const REFUSED_UPLOADS = [
   { behavior: 'a body that is not a PNG with 415', upload: { body: Buffer.from('GIF89a not a png at all') }, status: 415 },
   { behavior: 'a PNG signature without an IHDR chunk with 415', upload: { body: Buffer.concat([PNG_SIGNATURE, pngChunk('IEND', Buffer.alloc(0))]) }, status: 415 },