diff --git a/backend/app/downloads/service.py b/backend/app/downloads/service.py
index 5d79a4a6..ad601cf6 100644
--- a/backend/app/downloads/service.py
+++ b/backend/app/downloads/service.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from app.config import settings
 from app.downloads import adapters
 from app.downloads import edit as editmod
 from app.downloads import formats, quota, storage
+from app.downloads.status import HOLDING
 from app.models import Channel, DownloadJob, MediaAsset, Video
 
 
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ def release_asset(db: Session, job: DownloadJob) -> None:
     +1 it, and deleting it under that would FK-null the new job's asset (a lost update on ref_count).
     A ready asset is still freed at ref==0 (its file is the point); an orphaned errored row is cheap
     (no file) and gets reused+reset by the next enqueue, or reclaimed by a later GC pass."""
-    if not job.asset_id or job.status not in ("queued", "running", "paused", "done", "error"):
+    if not job.asset_id or job.status not in HOLDING:
         return
     asset = db.get(MediaAsset, job.asset_id)
     if asset is None:
diff --git a/backend/app/downloads/status.py b/backend/app/downloads/status.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ee2a05f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/downloads/status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""Canonical download-job status values — the ONE source of truth for the lifecycle literals.
+
+A job's status is written from several places: the worker (claim → running, terminal done/error,
+requeue), the routes (pause/cancel/redownload/delete), the service (enqueue), and the GC. Keeping the
+literals here is a data-safety measure, not tidiness. A British/American drift once silently broke
+cancellation: the supervisor compared the live status against ``"cancelled"`` while the cancel route
+wrote ``"canceled"`` (models.py), so the supervisor's "a route stopped it → kill the child, free the
+asset" branch was DEAD. A canceled job's child then ran to completion and wrote ``"done"``
+unconditionally over the route's ``"canceled"``; because ``done`` counts as a holding state but
+``canceled`` does not (see ``service.release_asset``), a later delete released the asset a SECOND time,
+dropping ``ref_count`` below the live holder count and deleting a file still in use. Import these names
+instead of typing the strings.
+"""
+
+from enum import StrEnum
+
+
+class JobStatus(StrEnum):
+    QUEUED = "queued"
+    RUNNING = "running"
+    PAUSED = "paused"
+    DONE = "done"
+    ERROR = "error"
+    CANCELED = "canceled"
+
+
+# A job "holds" its media asset (the +1 on ``ref_count`` from enqueue) while in any of these states;
+# ``release_asset`` on a status OUTSIDE this set is a no-op. ``CANCELED`` is deliberately excluded: the
+# cancel route releases once while the job is still holding, then sets ``CANCELED``, so a later delete
+# does not double-release. This invariant only holds while a finishing child cannot flip ``CANCELED``
+# back into the set — hence the worker's terminal writes are conditional on the row still being RUNNING.
+HOLDING = frozenset(
+    {JobStatus.QUEUED, JobStatus.RUNNING, JobStatus.PAUSED, JobStatus.DONE, JobStatus.ERROR}
+)
+
+# States a route sets to STOP a running job. The worker's supervisor must step in (kill the child, free
+# the asset, leave the route's status intact) when it observes one of these on a job it is running.
+STOPPED_BY_ROUTE = frozenset({JobStatus.PAUSED, JobStatus.CANCELED})
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/downloads.py b/backend/app/routes/downloads.py
index e1fe1503..2b1c08c9 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/downloads.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/downloads.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from app.db import get_db
 from app.downloads import edit as editmod
 from app.downloads import links as linksmod
 from app.downloads import formats, quota, service, storage
+from app.downloads.status import JobStatus
 from app.models import (
     DownloadJob,
     DownloadLink,
@@ -544,9 +545,9 @@ def cancel_download(
     job_id: int, user: User = Depends(require_human), db: Session = Depends(get_db)
 ) -> dict:
     job = _own_job(db, user, job_id)
-    if job.status not in ("done", "canceled"):
+    if job.status not in (JobStatus.DONE, JobStatus.CANCELED):
         service.release_asset(db, job)  # release while the job still counts as holding
-        job.status = "canceled"
+        job.status = JobStatus.CANCELED
         db.commit()
     return _serialize_job(db, job)
 
diff --git a/backend/app/worker.py b/backend/app/worker.py
index 0749bd42..d7624203 100644
--- a/backend/app/worker.py
+++ b/backend/app/worker.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ from app.db import SessionLocal
 from app.downloads import edit as editmod
 from app.downloads import errors as dlerrors
 from app.downloads import adapters, formats, quota, service, storage
+from app.downloads.status import STOPPED_BY_ROUTE, JobStatus
 from app.models import DownloadJob, MediaAsset
 from app.notifications import create_notification
 from app.titles import normalize_title
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ def _run_supervised(job_id: int, asset_id: int) -> None:
             except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
                 pass
             status, stale = _job_liveness(job_id)
-            if status is None or status in ("paused", "cancelled"):
+            if status is None or status in STOPPED_BY_ROUTE:
                 reason = "cancelled"  # a route stopped it (or the row vanished)
                 break
             if status == "running":
@@ -481,8 +482,11 @@ def _finish_from_cache(job_id: int, asset_id: int) -> None:
     with SessionLocal() as db:
         job = db.get(DownloadJob, job_id)
         asset = db.get(MediaAsset, asset_id)
-        if job and asset:
-            job.status = "done"
+        # Only finalize a job the route hasn't stopped: the flip is conditional on the row still being
+        # RUNNING so a concurrent cancel/pause is never resurrected to `done` (which would break the
+        # no-double-release invariant in service.release_asset — see downloads/status.py).
+        if job and asset and job.status == JobStatus.RUNNING:
+            job.status = JobStatus.DONE
             job.progress = 100
             job.phase = None
             if not job.display_name:
@@ -868,8 +872,12 @@ def _download(job_id: int, asset_id: int, source_kind: str, source_ref: str, spe
                 asset.last_access_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
                 asset.expires_at = expires
             job = db.get(DownloadJob, job_id)
-            if job:
-                job.status = "done"
+            # Conditional terminal write: only finalize while the row is still RUNNING, so a child that
+            # finishes AFTER a route cancel/pause (narrow window past the cooperative checkpoints) can't
+            # overwrite `canceled`/`paused` with `done` and re-open the double-release class fixed here.
+            finalized = bool(job and job.status == JobStatus.RUNNING)
+            if finalized:
+                job.status = JobStatus.DONE
                 job.progress = 100
                 job.phase = None
                 job.speed_bps = None
@@ -880,7 +888,8 @@ def _download(job_id: int, asset_id: int, source_kind: str, source_ref: str, spe
             # Capture the owner before commit expires the row (avoids a refresh SELECT just to notify).
             owner_id = job.user_id if job else None
             db.commit()
-            _notify_download_done(db, owner_id, meta.title, job_id, kind="download")
+            if finalized:
+                _notify_download_done(db, owner_id, meta.title, job_id, kind="download")
         log.info("job %s done: %s", job_id, rel)
 
     except (_Aborted, editmod.EditAborted):
@@ -896,8 +905,10 @@ def _download(job_id: int, asset_id: int, source_kind: str, source_ref: str, spe
                 asset.status = "error"
                 asset.error = msg
             job = db.get(DownloadJob, job_id)
-            if job:
-                job.status = "error"
+            # Don't overwrite a route-set cancel/pause with `error` (error also holds the asset, so it
+            # would re-open the double-release class): only fail a job that is still RUNNING.
+            if job and job.status == JobStatus.RUNNING:
+                job.status = JobStatus.ERROR
                 job.error = msg
                 job.error_code = dlerrors.classify(msg)
                 job.phase = None
@@ -928,8 +939,10 @@ def _fail_edit(job_id: int, asset_id: int, msg: str) -> None:
             asset.status = "error"
             asset.error = msg
         job = db.get(DownloadJob, job_id)
-        if job:
-            job.status = "error"
+        # Only fail a job that is still RUNNING — never overwrite a route-set cancel/pause (see the
+        # download error path).
+        if job and job.status == JobStatus.RUNNING:
+            job.status = JobStatus.ERROR
             job.error = msg
             job.error_code = dlerrors.classify(msg)
             job.phase = None
@@ -1008,15 +1021,18 @@ def _process_edit(job_id: int, asset_id: int) -> None:
                 asset.last_access_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
                 asset.expires_at = expires
             job = db.get(DownloadJob, job_id)
-            if job:
-                job.status = "done"
+            # Conditional terminal write (see the download path): don't resurrect a route-stopped job.
+            finalized = bool(job and job.status == JobStatus.RUNNING)
+            if finalized:
+                job.status = JobStatus.DONE
                 job.progress = 100
                 job.phase = None
             # Capture owner + title before commit expires the rows (avoids a refresh SELECT).
             owner_id = job.user_id if job else None
             dl_title = asset.title if asset else None
             db.commit()
-            _notify_download_done(db, owner_id, dl_title, job_id, kind="edit")
+            if finalized:
+                _notify_download_done(db, owner_id, dl_title, job_id, kind="edit")
         log.info("edit job %s done: %s", job_id, rel)
 
     except editmod.EditAborted:
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_worker_supervisor.py b/backend/tests/test_worker_supervisor.py
index e4b66006..a01b85c2 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_worker_supervisor.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_worker_supervisor.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def test_no_progress_stall_kills_and_fails_the_job(monkeypatch, rec):
 
 
 def test_route_pause_kills_but_keeps_the_route_status(monkeypatch, rec):
-    # A route flipped the job to 'paused'/'cancelled'. Kill + free the asset, but do NOT overwrite the
+    # A route flipped the job to 'paused'. Kill + free the asset, but do NOT overwrite the
     # status with an error and do NOT requeue.
     _spawn(monkeypatch, _FakeProc(["timeout"]))
     _liveness(monkeypatch, ("paused", 1.0))
@@ -98,6 +98,19 @@ def test_route_pause_kills_but_keeps_the_route_status(monkeypatch, rec):
     assert "set_job" not in names and "requeue" not in names
 
 
+def test_route_cancel_kills_but_keeps_the_route_status(monkeypatch, rec):
+    # B-sub-1 regression: the cancel ROUTE writes the literal 'canceled' (models.py), but the supervisor
+    # used to compare against 'cancelled' — so this branch was DEAD and a canceled job's child ran on to
+    # completion, overwriting 'canceled' with 'done' and double-releasing its asset. The supervisor MUST
+    # treat the route's actual literal as a stop: kill + free the asset, no error write, no requeue.
+    _spawn(monkeypatch, _FakeProc(["timeout"]))
+    _liveness(monkeypatch, ("canceled", 1.0))
+    worker._run_supervised(1, 99)
+    names = _names(rec)
+    assert "stop_child" in names and "reset_asset" in names
+    assert "set_job" not in names and "requeue" not in names
+
+
 def test_wall_clock_cap_kills_even_while_progressing(monkeypatch, rec):
     monkeypatch.setattr(worker.settings, "download_wall_clock_max_seconds", 0)
     _spawn(monkeypatch, _FakeProc(["timeout"]))