diff --git a/packages/react-client/src/ReactFlightClient.js b/packages/react-client/src/ReactFlightClient.js
index fa89cf69ad67..89769fc64de0 100644
--- a/packages/react-client/src/ReactFlightClient.js
+++ b/packages/react-client/src/ReactFlightClient.js
@@ -931,6 +931,7 @@ type InitializationHandler = {
   value: any,
   reason: any,
   deps: number,
+  debugDeps: number,
   errored: boolean,
 };
 let initializingHandler: null | InitializationHandler = null;
@@ -1412,7 +1413,7 @@ function createElement(
       }
       return createLazyChunkWrapper(erroredChunk, validated);
     }
-    if (handler.deps > 0) {
+    if (handler.deps > (__DEV__ ? handler.debugDeps : 0)) {
       // We have blocked references inside this Element but we can turn this into
       // a Lazy node referencing this Element to let everything around it proceed.
       const blockedChunk: BlockedChunk<React$Element<any>> =
@@ -1427,6 +1428,9 @@ function createElement(
       }
       return lazyNode;
     }
+    if (__DEV__ && handler.debugDeps > 0) {
+      handler.value = element;
+    }
   }
   if (__DEV__) {
     initializeElement(response, element, null);
@@ -1669,6 +1673,19 @@ function fulfillReference(
   if (handler.deps === 0) {
     const chunk = handler.chunk;
     if (chunk === null || chunk.status !== BLOCKED) {
+      if (__DEV__ && chunk === null && handler.debugDeps > 0) {
+        // All debug-only deps (owner/stack from debug channel) have resolved.
+        // Re-initialize the element so _debugStack gets normalized into an Error
+        // object now that the raw stack string is available.
+        const elementValue = handler.value;
+        if (
+          typeof elementValue === 'object' &&
+          elementValue !== null &&
+          elementValue.$$typeof === REACT_ELEMENT_TYPE
+        ) {
+          initializeElement(response, elementValue, null);
+        }
+      }
       return;
     }
     const resolveListeners = chunk.value;
@@ -1745,23 +1762,28 @@ function waitForReference<T>(
   path: Array<string>,
   isAwaitingDebugInfo: boolean, // DEV-only
 ): T {
-  if (
-    __DEV__ &&
-    (response._debugChannel === undefined ||
-      !response._debugChannel.hasReadable)
-  ) {
+  let isDebugOnlyDep = false;
+  if (__DEV__) {
     if (
       referencedChunk.status === PENDING &&
       parentObject[0] === REACT_ELEMENT_TYPE &&
       (key === '4' || key === '5')
     ) {
-      // If the parent object is an unparsed React element tuple, and this is a reference
-      // to the owner or debug stack. Then we expect the chunk to have been emitted earlier
-      // in the stream. It might be blocked on other things but chunk should no longer be pending.
-      // If it's still pending that suggests that it was referencing an object in the debug
-      // channel, but no debug channel was wired up so it's missing. In this case we can just
-      // drop the debug info instead of halting the whole stream.
-      return (null: any);
+      // The parent object is an unparsed React element tuple and this is a reference
+      // to the owner (pos 4) or debug stack (pos 5) — dev-only metadata.
+      if (
+        response._debugChannel === undefined ||
+        !response._debugChannel.hasReadable
+      ) {
+        // No debug channel is wired up so this data will never arrive.
+        // Drop the reference instead of halting the stream.
+        return (null: any);
+      }
+      // A debug channel with a readable is active: the data will arrive, but
+      // owner/stack must never block element construction because that would
+      // wrap the element in a lazy chunk ($$typeof: REACT_LAZY_TYPE) and break
+      // isValidElement(), cloneElement(), and hydration.
+      isDebugOnlyDep = true;
     }
   }
 
@@ -1769,6 +1791,9 @@ function waitForReference<T>(
   if (initializingHandler) {
     handler = initializingHandler;
     handler.deps++;
+    if (__DEV__ && isDebugOnlyDep) {
+      handler.debugDeps++;
+    }
   } else {
     handler = initializingHandler = {
       parent: null,
@@ -1776,6 +1801,7 @@ function waitForReference<T>(
       value: null,
       reason: null,
       deps: 1,
+      debugDeps: __DEV__ && isDebugOnlyDep ? 1 : 0,
       errored: false,
     };
   }
@@ -1865,6 +1891,7 @@ function loadServerReference<A: Iterable<any>, T>(
       value: null,
       reason: null,
       deps: 1,
+      debugDeps: 0,
       errored: false,
     };
   }
@@ -2108,6 +2135,7 @@ function getOutlinedModel<T>(
                   value: null,
                   reason: null,
                   deps: 1,
+                  debugDeps: 0,
                   errored: false,
                 };
               }
@@ -2127,6 +2155,7 @@ function getOutlinedModel<T>(
                   value: null,
                   reason: referencedChunk.reason,
                   deps: 0,
+                  debugDeps: 0,
                   errored: true,
                 };
               }
@@ -2205,6 +2234,7 @@ function getOutlinedModel<T>(
           value: null,
           reason: null,
           deps: 1,
+          debugDeps: 0,
           errored: false,
         };
       }
@@ -2224,6 +2254,7 @@ function getOutlinedModel<T>(
           value: null,
           reason: chunk.reason,
           deps: 0,
+          debugDeps: 0,
           errored: true,
         };
       }
@@ -2377,6 +2408,7 @@ function parseModelString(
           value: null,
           reason: null,
           deps: 0,
+          debugDeps: 0,
           errored: false,
         };
       }
diff --git a/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMNode-test.js b/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMNode-test.js
index 0ac1f84cd396..080a180a8199 100644
--- a/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMNode-test.js
+++ b/packages/react-server-dom-webpack/src/__tests__/ReactFlightDOMNode-test.js
@@ -1909,4 +1909,53 @@ describe('ReactFlightDOMNode', () => {
       globalThis.eval = previousEval;
     }
   });
+
+  it('isValidElement returns true for elements deserialized with a delayed debugChannel', async () => {
+    function ServerApp() {
+      return ReactServer.createElement('div', null, 'hello');
+    }
+
+    const {delayedStream, resolveDelayedStream} = createDelayedStream();
+
+    const rscStream = await serverAct(() =>
+      ReactServerDOMServer.renderToPipeableStream(
+        ReactServer.createElement(ServerApp, null),
+        webpackMap,
+        {
+          debugChannel: new Stream.Writable({
+            write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
+              delayedStream.write(chunk, encoding);
+              callback();
+            },
+            final() {
+              delayedStream.end();
+            },
+          }),
+        },
+      ),
+    );
+
+    const readable = new Stream.PassThrough(streamOptions);
+    rscStream.pipe(readable);
+
+    const serverConsumerManifest = {
+      moduleMap: {},
+      moduleLoading: webpackModuleLoading,
+    };
+
+    const response = ReactServerDOMClient.createFromNodeStream(
+      readable,
+      serverConsumerManifest,
+      {debugChannel: delayedStream},
+    );
+
+    setTimeout(resolveDelayedStream);
+
+    let deserialized;
+    await serverAct(async () => {
+      deserialized = await response;
+    });
+
+    expect(React.isValidElement(deserialized)).toBe(true);
+  });
 });