diff --git a/tests/ipc/test_server.py b/tests/ipc/test_server.py
index 1d63bd1b..01ddb222 100644
--- a/tests/ipc/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/ipc/test_server.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ High-level `.ipc._server` unit tests.
 
 '''
 from __future__ import annotations
+import errno
 
 import pytest
 import trio
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@ from tractor import (
 from tractor._testing.addr import (
     get_rando_addr,
 )
+from tractor._exceptions import TransportClosed
+from tractor.ipc._transport import MsgpackTransport
 # TODO, use/check-roundtripping with some of these wrapper types?
 #
 # from .._addr import Address
@@ -23,6 +26,49 @@ from tractor._testing.addr import (
 # from ._tcp import TCPAddress
 
 
+def test_send_normalizes_peer_reset():
+    '''
+    Normalize Darwin's pre-handshake peer reset as transport closure.
+
+    A raw UDS readiness client connects and immediately disconnects.
+    Darwin reports the server's first handshake write as
+    `ECONNRESET`, wrapped by `trio.BrokenResourceError`; allowing
+    that raw error to escape cancels the daemon's shared IPC nursery.
+    This fake stream reproduces the exact exception chain and proves
+    `.send()` raises the expected `TransportClosed` boundary instead.
+
+    '''
+    class ResetStream:
+        async def send_all(self, data: bytes) -> None:
+            try:
+                raise OSError(
+                    errno.ECONNRESET,
+                    'Connection reset by peer',
+                )
+            except OSError as reset_err:
+                raise trio.BrokenResourceError from reset_err
+
+    async def main():
+        transport = object.__new__(MsgpackTransport)
+        transport.stream = ResetStream()
+        transport._send_lock = trio.StrictFIFOLock()
+        transport._laddr = 'local'
+        transport._raddr = 'remote'
+        transport._task = trio.lowlevel.current_task()
+
+        with pytest.raises(TransportClosed) as exc_info:
+            await transport.send(
+                {'probe': True},
+                strict_types=False,
+            )
+
+        assert exc_info.value.src_exc.__cause__.errno == (
+            errno.ECONNRESET
+        )
+
+    trio.run(main)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     '_tpt_proto',
     ['uds', 'tcp']
diff --git a/tractor/ipc/_transport.py b/tractor/ipc/_transport.py
index dd3be179..48692f79 100644
--- a/tractor/ipc/_transport.py
+++ b/tractor/ipc/_transport.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from collections.abc import (
     AsyncGenerator,
     AsyncIterator,
 )
+import errno
 import struct
 
 import trio
@@ -61,6 +62,33 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 log = get_logger()
 
 
+def _peer_closed_errno(exc: BaseException) -> int|None:
+    '''
+    Find a peer-close errno in a transport exception chain.
+
+    '''
+    seen: set[int] = set()
+    while (
+        exc
+        and
+        id(exc) not in seen
+    ):
+        seen.add(id(exc))
+        if (
+            isinstance(exc, OSError)
+            and
+            exc.errno in {
+                errno.ECONNRESET,
+                errno.EPIPE,
+            }
+        ):
+            return exc.errno
+
+        exc = exc.__cause__ or exc.__context__
+
+    return None
+
+
 # (codec, transport)
 MsgTransportKey = tuple[str, str]
 
@@ -443,23 +471,23 @@ class MsgpackTransport(MsgTransport):
                 trans_err = _re
                 tpt_name: str = f'{type(self).__name__!r}'
 
-                trans_err_msg: str = trans_err.args[0]
+                trans_err_msg: str = (
+                    str(trans_err.args[0])
+                    if trans_err.args
+                    else ''
+                )
                 by_whom: str = {
                     'another task closed this fd': 'locally',
                     'this socket was already closed': 'by peer',
                 }.get(trans_err_msg)
                 match trans_err:
 
-                    # XXX, specifc to UDS transport and its,
-                    # well, "speediness".. XD
-                    # |_ likely todo with races related to how fast
-                    #    the socket is setup/torn-down on linux
-                    #    as it pertains to rando pings from the
-                    #    `.discovery` subsys and protos.
+                    # UDS peers can disconnect before handshake.
+                    # Linux normally reports `EPIPE`; Darwin reports
+                    # `ECONNRESET` for the same expected closure.
                     case trio.BrokenResourceError() if (
-                        '[Errno 32] Broken pipe'
-                        in
-                        trans_err_msg
+                        _peer_closed_errno(trans_err)
+                        is not None
                     ):
                         tpt_closed = TransportClosed.from_src_exc(
                             message=(