diff --git a/src/lib/rag.ts b/src/lib/rag.ts
index 2939b5a67..f3183a125 100644
--- a/src/lib/rag.ts
+++ b/src/lib/rag.ts
@@ -549,9 +549,14 @@ function recordRetrievalLayer(
   }
 }
 
+/** Whether a release-rank score is safe to use for bounded release ordering. */
+function isBoundedReleaseRankScore(value: number | undefined): value is number {
+  return typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value);
+}
+
 /** Whether the current result set carries bounded second-stage release scores. */
 function resultsHaveReleaseRankScore(results: SearchResult[]) {
-  return results.some((result) => result.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore !== undefined);
+  return results.some((result) => isBoundedReleaseRankScore(result.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -559,7 +564,9 @@ function resultsHaveReleaseRankScore(results: SearchResult[]) {
  *
  * App-layer rank scores remain available to answer evidence ranking and telemetry, but the
  * live corpus gate has not validated using them as the final retrieval order. Resolve duplicate
- * chunks to their strongest released-hybrid copy before sorting the distinct results.
+ * chunks to their strongest released-hybrid copy. Distinct results keep the clinical selection's
+ * existing order unless `preferSecondStageScore` is enabled and the current set carries bounded
+ * second-stage release scores.
  */
 export function stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder(results: SearchResult[], preferSecondStageScore = false) {
   const useSecondStageReleaseOrder = preferSecondStageScore && resultsHaveReleaseRankScore(results);
@@ -575,9 +582,12 @@ export function stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder(results: SearchResult[], preferSeco
     return left.id.localeCompare(right.id);
   };
   const compareReleasedSearchOrder = (left: SearchResult, right: SearchResult) => {
-    if (!useSecondStageReleaseOrder) return compareReleasedHybridStrength(left, right);
-    const leftReleaseScore = left.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore ?? left.hybrid_score ?? left.similarity ?? 0;
-    const rightReleaseScore = right.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore ?? right.hybrid_score ?? right.similarity ?? 0;
+    const leftReleaseScore = isBoundedReleaseRankScore(left.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore)
+      ? left.score_explanation.releaseRankScore
+      : (left.hybrid_score ?? left.similarity ?? 0);
+    const rightReleaseScore = isBoundedReleaseRankScore(right.score_explanation?.releaseRankScore)
+      ? right.score_explanation.releaseRankScore
+      : (right.hybrid_score ?? right.similarity ?? 0);
     if (rightReleaseScore !== leftReleaseScore) return rightReleaseScore - leftReleaseScore;
     const leftSimilarity = left.similarity ?? 0;
     const rightSimilarity = right.similarity ?? 0;
@@ -591,13 +601,15 @@ export function stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder(results: SearchResult[], preferSeco
     const current = strongestById.get(result.id);
     if (!current || compareReleasedHybridStrength(result, current) < 0) strongestById.set(result.id, result);
   }
-  const deduped = [...strongestById.values()]
-    .sort(compareReleasedSearchOrder)
-    .map((result, index) =>
-      result.score_explanation
-        ? { ...result, score_explanation: { ...result.score_explanation, finalRank: index + 1 } }
-        : result,
-    );
+  const distinctResults = [...strongestById.values()];
+  const releasedResults = useSecondStageReleaseOrder
+    ? distinctResults.sort(compareReleasedSearchOrder)
+    : distinctResults;
+  const deduped = releasedResults.map((result, index) =>
+    result.score_explanation
+      ? { ...result, score_explanation: { ...result.score_explanation, finalRank: index + 1 } }
+      : result,
+  );
   results.length = 0;
   results.push(...deduped);
   return results;
diff --git a/tests/rag-second-stage-ranking.test.ts b/tests/rag-second-stage-ranking.test.ts
index d6979d2e9..a19c8be40 100644
--- a/tests/rag-second-stage-ranking.test.ts
+++ b/tests/rag-second-stage-ranking.test.ts
@@ -234,18 +234,27 @@ describe("second-stage rank score", () => {
       result({
         id: "lithium-monitoring",
         hybrid_score: 0.79,
+        content: "Lithium monitoring evidence selected first by the clinical layer.",
         score_explanation: explanation(0.9),
       }),
       result({
         id: "cardiac-dose",
-        hybrid_score: 0.8,
+        hybrid_score: 0.95,
         score_explanation: explanation(0.5),
       }),
+      result({
+        id: "lithium-monitoring",
+        hybrid_score: 0.85,
+        content: "Stronger released-hybrid copy of the lithium evidence.",
+        score_explanation: explanation(0.85),
+      }),
     ];
 
-    expect(stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([...clinicallyOrdered], true).map((item) => item.id)).toEqual(
-      stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([...clinicallyOrdered], false).map((item) => item.id),
-    );
+    const stabilized = stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([...clinicallyOrdered], true);
+
+    expect(stabilized.map((item) => item.id)).toEqual(["lithium-monitoring", "cardiac-dose"]);
+    expect(stabilized[0].content).toBe("Stronger released-hybrid copy of the lithium evidence.");
+    expect(stabilized.map((item) => item.score_explanation?.finalRank)).toEqual([1, 2]);
   });
 
   it("only applies bounded release ordering when the current result set carries releaseRankScore", () => {
@@ -264,8 +273,28 @@ describe("second-stage rank score", () => {
       "release-ranked",
       "hybrid-leading",
     ]);
-    expect(stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([withoutReleaseScore, withReleaseScore], false).map((item) => item.id)).toEqual(
-      ["hybrid-leading", "release-ranked"],
+    expect(stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([withReleaseScore, withoutReleaseScore], false).map((item) => item.id)).toEqual(
+      ["release-ranked", "hybrid-leading"],
     );
   });
+
+  it("preserves clinical order when releaseRankScore values are not finite", () => {
+    const clinicallyOrdered = [
+      result({
+        id: "first",
+        hybrid_score: 0.7,
+        score_explanation: { ...explanation(0.7), releaseRankScore: Number.NaN },
+      }),
+      result({
+        id: "second",
+        hybrid_score: 0.9,
+        score_explanation: { ...explanation(0.9), releaseRankScore: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY },
+      }),
+    ];
+
+    expect(stabilizeReleasedSearchOrder([...clinicallyOrdered], true).map((item) => item.id)).toEqual([
+      "first",
+      "second",
+    ]);
+  });
 });