diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 0993c65..8e083bc 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -308,12 +308,9 @@ Grouped by what each one constrains.
   `attach()`, which is why a second drop emits again.
 
 - **An answer belongs to the link the message arrived on; a receipt does not.** Maintainer's call,
-  2026-09-01: `sendResp()` carries the peer's own sequence number, which the next link knows nothing
-  about, so on a message whose link went it writes nothing and returns an `err`. Writing it to the
-  new socket instead succeeds and reports `{}` for a response that correlates with nothing, which is
-  goal 2's wrong answer. `sendDlr()` still goes out, because a receipt is a request of its own
-  correlated by `receipted_message_id`; the accepted cost is that one sent after a refused response
-  names an id the peer has no record of.
+  2026-09-01. Rejected: answering on the new link, which succeeds and reports `{}` for a response
+  that correlates with nothing — goal 2's wrong answer. Accepted: a receipt sent after a refused
+  response names an id the peer has no record of.
 
 - **`reconnect` takes `{ minDelay, maxDelay }` to retune and `false` to turn off**, so absent means
   on and there is one spelling for each. Only `client()` reconnects — a `server()` session is a
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7e48f98..5c10c48 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ TypeScript users can import `SmppLog` to have the compiler check one.
 
 | Event | Fires when |
 | --- | --- |
-| `sms` | An SMS arrives, reassembled if it was multipart. Carries `sendResp()`, `sendDlr()` and the `smsId` it was answered with. |
+| `sms` | An SMS arrives, reassembled if it was multipart. Carries `sendResp()`, `sendDlr()` and its `smsId`. |
 | `dlr` | A delivery report arrives, one per segment. `smsId` is undefined when the peer marked a receipt whose body carries no readable id. `statusMsg` names `statusId` unless the peer sent a `message_state` this library cannot name — then `statusId` is that raw value and `statusMsg` is whatever the body said, or `UNKNOWN`. |
 | `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. A base is merged once: a later message the SMSC gives the same ids is reported on through `dlr` alone, and an earlier one still collecting loses its merged report as well. |
 | `close` | The session is over, because nothing will bring the link back. Fires once, whether you closed it or the link failed for good. |
diff --git a/src/incoming-requests.ts b/src/incoming-requests.ts
index 748dc14..621ed9d 100644
--- a/src/incoming-requests.ts
+++ b/src/incoming-requests.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ export class IncomingRequests {
 	private readonly session: Session;
 	private readonly smsIdFormat: SmsIdFormat;
 	private readonly systemId: string;
-	/** Bumped when a link goes, so a message from an earlier one knows its answer cannot correlate. */
 	private linkGeneration = 0;
 
 	constructor(options: IncomingRequestsOptions) {
@@ -64,8 +63,13 @@ export class IncomingRequests {
 	}
 
 	async handle(pduObj: PduObject): Promise<void> {
+		const generation = this.linkGeneration;
+
 		if (this.onRequest && await this.onRequest(this.session, pduObj)) return;
 
+		// The link it arrived on went while the hook ran, so nothing we answer now correlates.
+		if (this.linkGeneration !== generation) return;
+
 		if (!this.session.bindAllows(pduObj.cmdName)) {
 			this.log.info('session - command the peer\'s bind direction does not carry', {
 				bindType: this.session.boundAs ?? '',
diff --git a/src/sms.ts b/src/sms.ts
index 7a679be..8b74b1d 100644
--- a/src/sms.ts
+++ b/src/sms.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export type Sms = {
 	/** Answers every segment. Part of the protocol, not optional. Defaults to ESME_ROK. */
 	sendResp: (options?: SendRespOptions) => Promise<VoidResult>;
 	session: Session;
-	/** The id answered to the peer: what sendResp() was given, or a generated UUID v7. */
+	/** The id `sendResp()` was given, or a generated UUID v7. */
 	readonly smsId: string;
 	submitTime: Date;
 	to: string;
diff --git a/test/session-extras.test.ts b/test/session-extras.test.ts
index c8b17a7..6a7ca54 100644
--- a/test/session-extras.test.ts
+++ b/test/session-extras.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import type { Sms } from '../src/sms.ts';
 import type { SmppServer } from '../src/server.ts';
 import type { TestContext } from 'node:test';
 import { HeldMessages } from '../src/held-messages.ts';
+import { IncomingRequests } from '../src/incoming-requests.ts';
 import { UnansweredError } from '../src/unanswered-error.ts';
 import { createSms } from '../src/sms.ts';
 import { LinkGate } from '../src/link-gate.ts';
@@ -589,6 +590,7 @@ describe('reconnect', () => {
 
 		assert.ok(answered);
 		assert.ok(held);
+		assert.equal(answered.message, 'answered before the drop');
 		assert.equal((await answered.sendResp()).err, undefined);
 
 		const reconnected = once<true>(resolve => { session.on('reconnected', () => { resolve(true); }); });
@@ -596,17 +598,43 @@ describe('reconnect', () => {
 		await peerOf(smpp).close({ signal: AbortSignal.abort() });
 		await reconnected;
 
-		const taken: string[] = [];
+		let taken = 0;
 
-		peerOf(smpp).on('incomingPduObj', pduObj => { taken.push(pduObj.cmdName); });
+		// A response is dispatched before `incomingPduObj`, so only the raw event sees one arrive.
+		peerOf(smpp).on('incomingPdu', () => { taken++; });
 
 		// The answered one is out of the hold and the held one is not, so neither may reach the answer.
 		assert.match((await answered.sendResp()).err?.message ?? '', /link this message arrived on is gone/);
 		assert.match((await held.sendResp()).err?.message ?? '', /link this message arrived on is gone/);
 
-		// A receipt is a request of its own, correlated by its id, so the new link carries it.
 		assert.equal((await held.sendDlr('DELIVERED')).err, undefined);
-		assert.deepEqual(taken, ['deliver_sm'], 'a response reached the new link');
+		assert.equal(taken, 1, 'a refused response reached the new link');
+	});
+
+	test('drops a message whose link went while onRequest was still running', async t => {
+		const session = new Session({ sock: new net.Socket() });
+
+		closeAfter(t, session);
+		session.boundAs = 'transceiver';
+
+		const incoming = new IncomingRequests({
+			dlrMerger: new DlrMerger({ log: silentLog, max: 10, timeout: 10_000 }),
+			log: silentLog,
+			onRequest: async () => { await delay(10); return false; },
+			sendPastDrain: () => Promise.resolve({ err: new Error('never sent') }),
+			session,
+		});
+		let messages = 0;
+
+		session.on('sms', () => { messages++; });
+
+		const handled = incoming.handle(submitPdu(1));
+
+		incoming.clear();
+
+		await handled;
+
+		assert.equal(messages, 0);
 	});
 
 	test('does not reconnect after an explicit close', async t => {