diff --git a/src/storage/managed.rs b/src/storage/managed.rs
index fee2231..9efdec6 100644
--- a/src/storage/managed.rs
+++ b/src/storage/managed.rs
@@ -767,7 +767,26 @@ impl ManagedStore {
         if let Some(lease) = try_open_locked(generation.lease_path(), LockMode::Exclusive)? {
             drop(lease);
             ensure_directory_without_symlinks(generation.root())?;
-            remove_path_without_symlinks(generation.root())?;
+            let removal = remove_path_without_symlinks(generation.root());
+            // Windows can report ACCESS_DENIED (5) or SHARING_VIOLATION (32)
+            // while a reader still has a database file open after releasing
+            // its generation lease. Retry collection on the next cleanup.
+            #[cfg(windows)]
+            if matches!(&removal, Err(NativeError::Io(io)) if matches!(io.raw_os_error(), Some(5 | 32)))
+            {
+                // The recursive delete may already have removed the
+                // retirement marker. Restore it so a later cleanup will
+                // retry even if the ready marker survived.
+                write_json_atomically(
+                    &generation.retired_path(),
+                    &GenerationRetirement {
+                        schema_version: MANAGED_SCHEMA_VERSION,
+                        retired_at_ms: unix_time_ms(),
+                    },
+                )?;
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+            removal?;
         }
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/tests/generation_storage.rs b/tests/generation_storage.rs
index a669353..9f1706f 100644
--- a/tests/generation_storage.rs
+++ b/tests/generation_storage.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ use serde_json::json;
 use std::fs::{self, File, OpenOptions};
 #[cfg(unix)]
 use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+#[cfg(windows)]
+use std::os::windows::fs::OpenOptionsExt;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
 
@@ -51,6 +53,64 @@ fn managed_materialization_activates_generations_atomically() {
     assert!(active_manifest.graph_build_digest.is_some());
 }
 
+#[cfg(windows)]
+#[test]
+fn managed_reads_survive_deferred_retired_generation_deletion() {
+    let repo = temp_repo("gc_busy");
+    write_managed_config(&repo);
+    write_source(&repo, "pub fn old_symbol() {}\n");
+    materialize_ok(&repo, None, None);
+
+    let storage_root = repo.join(".codebaseGraph").join("storage");
+    let old_generation = active_generation_id(&storage_root);
+    let old_root = generation_root(&storage_root, &old_generation);
+    // Allow reads and writes, but deny deletion of this database file.
+    let held_file = OpenOptions::new()
+        .read(true)
+        .share_mode(0x0000_0001 | 0x0000_0002)
+        .open(old_root.join("graph.ldb"))
+        .expect("old database should open without delete sharing");
+
+    write_source(&repo, "pub fn new_symbol() {}\n");
+    let published = materialize_ok(&repo, None, None);
+    assert_eq!(published["cleanup_pending"], true);
+    let new_generation = active_generation_id(&storage_root);
+    assert_ne!(new_generation, old_generation);
+    assert_eq!(
+        published["active_generation"].as_str(),
+        Some(new_generation.as_str())
+    );
+    assert!(
+        old_root.exists(),
+        "busy retired generation must be preserved"
+    );
+
+    let result = CodebaseGraphApi::new()
+        .execute_operation(&OperationRequest::Search(SearchRequest {
+            repo: RepoSelector {
+                repo_root: Some(repo.clone()),
+                ..RepoSelector::default()
+            },
+            query: "new_symbol".to_string(),
+            layer: "semantic".to_string(),
+            profile: "brief".to_string(),
+            limit: 3,
+            budget: 0,
+            context_limit: 0,
+            max_depth: None,
+            detail: "slim".to_string(),
+            output_format: OutputFormat::Typed,
+        }))
+        .expect("new generation must remain queryable during deferred cleanup");
+    assert!(result.payload["results"].is_array());
+
+    drop(held_file);
+    write_source(&repo, "pub fn final_symbol() {}\n");
+    let published = materialize_ok(&repo, None, None);
+    assert_eq!(published["cleanup_pending"], false);
+    assert!(!old_root.exists(), "retired generation should be collected");
+}
+
 #[cfg(unix)]
 #[test]
 fn managed_publish_failure_preserves_active_generation() {