diff --git a/storm-client/src/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueue.java b/storm-client/src/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueue.java
index aeb822798a0..0c26158fad8 100644
--- a/storm-client/src/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueue.java
+++ b/storm-client/src/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueue.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.storm.utils;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.apache.storm.metrics2.StormMetricRegistry;
@@ -345,11 +346,16 @@ public boolean tryFlush() {
     /* Not thread safe. Have one instance per producer thread or synchronize externally */
     private static class BatchInserter implements Inserter {
         private final int batchSz;
-        private final JCQueue queue;
+        // WeakReference breaks the ThreadLocal retention cycle: thdLocalBatcher is an instance field
+        // of JCQueue, so the ThreadLocalMap key (the ThreadLocal object) is kept strongly reachable
+        // via value(BatchInserter) -> queue(JCQueue) -> field. A WeakReference here cuts that path,
+        // allowing the key to become weakly-reachable and the entry to be expunged once the JCQueue
+        // is no longer externally referenced.
+        private final WeakReference<JCQueue> queueRef;
         private final ArrayList<Object> currentBatch;
 
         BatchInserter(JCQueue queue, int batchSz) {
-            this.queue = queue;
+            this.queueRef = new WeakReference<>(queue);
             this.batchSz = batchSz;
             this.currentBatch = new ArrayList<>(batchSz + 1);
         }
@@ -402,6 +408,13 @@ public void flush() throws InterruptedException {
             if (currentBatch.isEmpty()) {
                 return;
             }
+            JCQueue queue = queueRef.get();
+            if (queue == null) {
+                // The JCQueue was GC'd (topology stopped on a long-lived thread, e.g. LocalCluster).
+                // Nothing to flush; discard the buffered batch and return cleanly.
+                currentBatch.clear();
+                return;
+            }
             boolean wasFull = currentBatch.size() >= batchSize();
             int publishCount = queue.tryPublishInternal(currentBatch);
             int retryCount = 0;
@@ -432,6 +445,13 @@ public boolean tryFlush() {
             if (currentBatch.isEmpty()) {
                 return true;
             }
+            JCQueue queue = queueRef.get();
+            if (queue == null) {
+                // The JCQueue was GC'd (topology stopped on a long-lived thread, e.g. LocalCluster).
+                // Nothing to flush; discard the buffered batch and report success.
+                currentBatch.clear();
+                return true;
+            }
             boolean wasFull = currentBatch.size() >= batchSize();
             int publishCount = queue.tryPublishInternal(currentBatch);
             if (publishCount == 0) {
diff --git a/storm-client/test/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueueTest.java b/storm-client/test/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueueTest.java
index 576cdd4b312..e6bf54e1982 100644
--- a/storm-client/test/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueueTest.java
+++ b/storm-client/test/jvm/org/apache/storm/utils/JCQueueTest.java
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
+import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import org.apache.storm.metrics2.StormMetricRegistry;
@@ -230,6 +233,46 @@ public void testDynamicBatchGrowsNotShrinksUnderBackpressure() throws Exception
         assertEquals(3, inserter.batchSize());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testQueueIsCollectedAfterLongLivedProducerPublishes() {
+        Assertions.assertTimeoutPreemptively(Duration.ofSeconds(30), () -> {
+            ExecutorService producerPool = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
+            try {
+                WeakReference<JCQueue> ref = publishFromLongLivedThread(producerPool);
+                assertTrue(awaitGarbageCollection(ref),
+                    "JCQueue was not garbage collected — BatchInserter may still hold a strong reference to it");
+            } finally {
+                producerPool.shutdownNow();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    // Publishes a few tuples from a pooled thread so that the BatchInserter's ThreadLocal entry is
+    // created on that thread. Once .get() returns the lambda is done and its closure ref is gone;
+    // when the method returns the local `queue` variable goes out of scope. The only remaining
+    // reference is the WeakReference — if it is not cleared after GC, the ThreadLocal cycle is still live.
+    private WeakReference<JCQueue> publishFromLongLivedThread(ExecutorService pool) throws Exception {
+        JCQueue queue = createQueue("leak", 100, 1024);
+        pool.submit(() -> {
+            try {
+                for (long i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+                    queue.publish(i);
+                }
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+            }
+        }).get();
+        return new WeakReference<>(queue);
+    }
+
+    private boolean awaitGarbageCollection(WeakReference<JCQueue> ref) throws InterruptedException {
+        for (int i = 0; i < 50 && ref.get() != null; i++) {
+            System.gc();
+            Thread.sleep(100);
+        }
+        return ref.get() == null;
+    }
+
     /** Drive the inserter with full flushes until the effective batch size reaches the target. */
     private void growEffectiveTo(JCQueue.DynamicBatchInserter inserter, int target) throws InterruptedException {
         long val = 0;