diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 17d0a0f..9db9dac 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -213,6 +213,14 @@ exactly 140.
   0x80-0xFF for MC-vendor-specific values, so an unnameable one keeps its raw `statusId` and leaves
   `statusMsg` to the body.
 
+- **A listener that rejects is routed by Node's `captureRejections`, not by hand-dispatching.** Both
+  emitters construct with `captureRejections: true` and implement
+  `[EventEmitter.captureRejectionSymbol]`, which lands a rejected `async` listener on `sessionError`
+  or `serverError` beside the synchronous guard in `emit()`. Dispatching `rawListeners()` from
+  `emit()` instead needs a cast to call them with the event's argument tuple, which hard rule 4
+  forbids. `Session.on()` still types its listeners as void-returning, because widening that needs
+  the same cast — which is why `test/*.test.ts` turns `no-misused-promises` off.
+
 - **The TLS tests build their own self-signed certificate in DER** (`test/tls.test.ts`) instead of
   adding a devDependency or shelling out to openssl. Maintainer's call, 2026-08-26: the dev image
   `node:24.18.0-bookworm-slim` ships no openssl binary, so a shelled-out fixture would pass in CI
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e4c47f3..44304ff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ TypeScript users can import `SmppLog` to have the compiler check one.
 | `messageDlr` | Every segment of a multipart message sent with `dlr: true` has been reported on, carrying the worst status of the segments. Merging needs the SMSC to number its segment ids `<base>-<n>`, which is this library's own server's convention — an SMSC that hands out unrelated ids per segment never fires it. |
 | `close` | The connection closed. |
 | `reconnected` | The client re-bound after a drop (only with `reconnect` configured). |
-| `sessionError` | Something failed on a live session, including a hook or listener that threw. |
+| `sessionError` | Something failed on a live session, including a hook or listener that threw or, if it was `async`, rejected. |
 | `data` | Raw bytes arrived on the socket. |
 | `incomingPdu` | A complete PDU arrived, as a buffer. |
 | `incomingPduObj` | The same PDU, parsed into an object. |
diff --git a/eslint.config.js b/eslint.config.js
index 307e09d..c8e8cfa 100644
--- a/eslint.config.js
+++ b/eslint.config.js
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ export default tseslint.config(
 		rules: { 'no-control-regex': 'off' },
 	},
 	{
-		// Mirrors the README's examples as written; an async event listener is part of what they show.
-		files: ['test/readme.test.ts'],
+		// An async event listener is a documented, supported shape; EventEmitter types listeners void.
+		files: ['test/*.test.ts'],
 		rules: { '@typescript-eslint/no-misused-promises': 'off' },
 	},
 	{
diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index 8352442..b1e52a6 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export class SmppServer extends EventEmitter<ServerEvents> {
 	private readonly server: NetServer;
 
 	constructor(server: NetServer, log: SmppLog) {
-		super();
+		super({ captureRejections: true });
 		this.log = log;
 		this.server = server;
 	}
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ export class SmppServer extends EventEmitter<ServerEvents> {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/** The same guard for a listener that rejects rather than throws; captureRejections routes here. */
+	override [EventEmitter.captureRejectionSymbol](
+		error: Error,
+		...args: [event: keyof ServerEvents, ...rest: unknown[]]
+	): void {
+		const [event] = args;
+
+		this.log.error('server - a listener rejected', { event, message: error.message });
+
+		if (event !== 'serverError') this.emit('serverError', error);
+	}
+
 	/** Stops listening and closes every live session. */
 	close(): Promise<void> {
 		return new Promise(resolve => {
diff --git a/src/session.ts b/src/session.ts
index 84ab472..93c492d 100644
--- a/src/session.ts
+++ b/src/session.ts
@@ -76,8 +76,20 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter<SessionEvents> {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/** The same guard for a listener that rejects rather than throws; captureRejections routes here. */
+	override [EventEmitter.captureRejectionSymbol](
+		error: Error,
+		...args: [event: keyof SessionEvents, ...rest: unknown[]]
+	): void {
+		const [event] = args;
+
+		this.log.error('session - a listener rejected', { event, message: error.message });
+
+		if (event !== 'sessionError') this.emit('sessionError', error);
+	}
+
 	constructor(options: SessionOptions) {
-		super();
+		super({ captureRejections: true });
 
 		this.log = options.log ?? silentLog;
 		this.options = options;
diff --git a/test/session.test.ts b/test/session.test.ts
index 16f9cc5..03a6224 100644
--- a/test/session.test.ts
+++ b/test/session.test.ts
@@ -1221,7 +1221,7 @@ describe('robustness', () => {
 	});
 });
 
-describe('application hooks that throw', () => {
+describe('application hooks that throw or reject', () => {
 	test('turns a throwing authenticate into a session error', async () => {
 		const smpp = await startServer({
 			authenticate: () => { throw new Error('authenticate exploded'); },
@@ -1291,6 +1291,77 @@ describe('application hooks that throw', () => {
 		await smpp.close();
 	});
 
+	test('turns a rejecting async sms listener into a session error', async () => {
+		const smpp = await startServer();
+		const failed = once<Error>(resolve => {
+			smpp.on('session', session => {
+				session.on('sessionError', resolve);
+				session.on('sms', async sms => {
+					await sms.sendResp();
+
+					throw new Error('listener rejected');
+				});
+			});
+		});
+		const { session } = await connect(smpp, { responseTimeout: 200 });
+
+		assert.ok(session);
+
+		const sent = await session.sendSms({
+			from: '46701113311',
+			message: 'rejects after answering',
+			to: '46709771337',
+		});
+		const reported = await raceWithin(500, failed);
+
+		assert.equal(sent.err, undefined);
+		assert.ok(reported instanceof Error, 'a rejecting sms listener should reach the session');
+		assert.equal(reported.message, 'listener rejected');
+
+		session.close();
+		await smpp.close();
+	});
+
+	test('survives a sessionError listener that rejects as well', async () => {
+		const smpp = await startServer();
+
+		smpp.on('session', session => {
+			session.on('sessionError', () => Promise.reject(new Error('the reporter rejected too')));
+			session.on('sms', () => Promise.reject(new Error('listener rejected')));
+		});
+
+		const { session } = await connect(smpp, { responseTimeout: 200 });
+
+		assert.ok(session);
+
+		const sent = await session.sendSms({
+			from: '46701113311',
+			message: 'rejects in both listeners',
+			to: '46709771337',
+		});
+
+		assert.ok(sent.err instanceof Error);
+
+		session.close();
+		await smpp.close();
+	});
+
+	test('turns a rejecting session listener into a server error', async () => {
+		const smpp = await startServer();
+		const failed = once<Error>(resolve => { smpp.on('serverError', resolve); });
+
+		smpp.on('session', () => Promise.reject(new Error('session listener rejected')));
+
+		const { session } = await connect(smpp);
+		const reported = await raceWithin(500, failed);
+
+		assert.ok(reported instanceof Error, 'a rejecting session listener should reach the server');
+		assert.equal(reported.message, 'session listener rejected');
+
+		session?.close();
+		await smpp.close();
+	});
+
 	test('closes even when an application close listener throws', async () => {
 		const smpp = await startServer();
 
diff --git a/todo.md b/todo.md
index 3d72fb8..1fa8fd9 100644
--- a/todo.md
+++ b/todo.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ rules there constrain every item below.
 
 ## Status
 
-The rewrite is **feature complete and green**: 231 tests, lint and typecheck clean, verified on Node
+The rewrite is **feature complete and green**: 234 tests, lint and typecheck clean, verified on Node
 18, 20, 22 and 24. What is left is release work and a few things worth adding before or after 1.0.0.
 
 ```bash
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ Rules the API follows:
 | Merged multipart DLRs, reconnect, reassembly bounds, per-send abort, the segment cap | `test/session-extras.test.ts` |
 | Every runnable README example | `test/readme.test.ts` |
 | Receipt-versus-message classification by `esm_class` | `test/dlr.test.ts`, `test/session.test.ts` |
+| A listener that throws, or rejects, reaching `sessionError`/`serverError` rather than the process | `test/session.test.ts` |
 | Cross-checked against node-smpp both ways and over a live session | `test/interop.test.ts` |
 | CI on Node 18/20/22/24, Renovate, tag-triggered publish | `.github/workflows/` |
 
@@ -110,15 +111,6 @@ session message is a change to every call site.
 
 ## Worth doing, not blocking
 
-- [ ] **An `async` event listener that rejects escapes the guard.** `Session.emit()` wraps
-      `super.emit()` in try/catch, which catches a listener that throws synchronously but not one
-      that returns a rejected promise — that surfaces as an unhandled rejection and takes the
-      process down, which hard rule 1 says must not happen. Every README example uses
-      `session.on('sms', async sms => …)`, so the shape is the one applications will write. The
-      library's own calls inside such a listener never reject, so the examples themselves are safe.
-      Fixing it means dispatching `rawListeners()` by hand in `emit()` and routing a rejection to
-      `sessionError` — a change to the hottest path, so it needs a decision before 1.0.0.
-
 - [ ] **In-flight sends across a reconnect.** They currently fail with "Session closed before a
       response arrived" and the caller retries. Re-queueing them automatically would be friendlier
       but risks duplicate delivery, so it needs a decision before it is built.