diff --git a/src/PreciseDelay.h b/src/PreciseDelay.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..503727ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/PreciseDelay.h
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#pragma once
+
+/* Microsecond delays that mean what they say on every platform.
+ *
+ * std::this_thread::sleep_for is fine for short waits on Linux, but on
+ * Windows no sleep ends before the next scheduler tick: 15.6 ms by default,
+ * 1 ms at best with timeBeginPeriod(1). The Kestrel bring-up and the vendored
+ * halbb/halrf calibrations wait tens of microseconds thousands of times, so a
+ * 50 us wait turning into 15.6 ms stretches a seconds-long bring-up into many
+ * minutes.
+ *
+ * On Windows the wait spins on steady_clock (QPC-backed) and only sleeps
+ * while more time is left than a sleep can take. The tick is process-global
+ * state that any library may change, so that bound is learned rather than
+ * assumed: it starts at one default tick, follows shorter sleeps down slowly
+ * (e.g. once timeBeginPeriod(1) is active) and jumps back up at once when a
+ * sleep runs long. A wait shorter than the current tick (the 5 ms EDCCA settle
+ * under the default 15.6 ms tick) therefore never sleeps. Other platforms keep
+ * sleep_for unchanged. */
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <atomic>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <thread>
+
+namespace devourer {
+
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+namespace detail {
+/* Longest a 1 ms sleep_for is expected to take right now, in microseconds.
+ * Starts at (and is capped to) the default 15.625 ms tick plus slack. */
+inline constexpr uint32_t kMaxSleepUs = 16000;
+inline std::atomic<uint32_t> &sleep_bound_us() {
+  static std::atomic<uint32_t> bound{kMaxSleepUs};
+  return bound;
+}
+} // namespace detail
+#endif
+
+inline void precise_delay_us(uint32_t us) {
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+  using clock = std::chrono::steady_clock;
+  using std::chrono::microseconds;
+  /* Kept free after the last sleep for wakeup latency on a busy system. */
+  constexpr int64_t kMarginUs = 500;
+  const auto deadline = clock::now() + microseconds(us);
+  auto &bound = detail::sleep_bound_us();
+  for (;;) {
+    const auto start = clock::now();
+    const int64_t left =
+        std::chrono::duration_cast<microseconds>(deadline - start).count();
+    const uint32_t b = bound.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    if (left <= int64_t(b) + kMarginUs)
+      break;
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1));
+    const auto took = static_cast<uint32_t>(std::min<int64_t>(
+        std::chrono::duration_cast<microseconds>(clock::now() - start).count(),
+        detail::kMaxSleepUs));
+    bound.store(took >= b ? took : b - (b - took) / 8,
+                std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  }
+  while (clock::now() < deadline)
+    std::this_thread::yield();
+#else
+  std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(us));
+#endif
+}
+
+} // namespace devourer
diff --git a/src/kestrel/HalKestrel.cpp b/src/kestrel/HalKestrel.cpp
index 208a8f4d..6b315351 100644
--- a/src/kestrel/HalKestrel.cpp
+++ b/src/kestrel/HalKestrel.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 #include "KestrelFw.h"
 #include "MacRegAx.h"
+#include "PreciseDelay.h"
 #include "kestrel_halbb_glue.h" /* vendored halbb-G6 BB bring-up (C) */
 #include "kestrel_halrf_glue.h" /* vendored halrf-G6 RF cals (C) */
 
@@ -16,9 +17,7 @@ namespace kestrel {
 namespace {
 namespace r = kestrel::reg;
 
-void delay_us(uint32_t us) {
-  std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(us));
-}
+void delay_us(uint32_t us) { devourer::precise_delay_us(us); }
 
 } /* namespace */
 
diff --git a/src/kestrel/KestrelFw.cpp b/src/kestrel/KestrelFw.cpp
index 2a122cc3..9da7abb3 100644
--- a/src/kestrel/KestrelFw.cpp
+++ b/src/kestrel/KestrelFw.cpp
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 #include "KestrelFw.h"
 
-#include <chrono>
 #include <cstring>
-#include <thread>
 #include <utility>
 
 #include "KestrelLe.h"
 #include "MacRegAx.h"
+#include "PreciseDelay.h"
 #include "SignalStop.h" /* g_devourer_should_stop — set by demo signal handlers */
 #if defined(DEVOURER_HAVE_KESTREL_8852B)
 #include "hal8852b_fw.h"
@@ -20,9 +19,7 @@ namespace kestrel {
 namespace {
 namespace r = kestrel::reg;
 
-void delay_us(uint32_t us) {
-  std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(us));
-}
+void delay_us(uint32_t us) { devourer::precise_delay_us(us); }
 
 /* le32 / put_le32 now live in KestrelLe.h (shared with KestrelFwSched.cpp);
  * pull them into this anonymous namespace so existing unqualified uses below