diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-post-unit.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-post-unit.ts
index 5d6b7deeb..4bd6812b0 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-post-unit.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-post-unit.ts
@@ -249,6 +249,18 @@ export async function postUnitPreVerification(pctx: PostUnitContext, opts?: PreV
       debugLog("postUnit", { phase: "prune-bg-shell", error: String(e) });
     }
 
+    // Tear down browser between units to prevent Chrome process accumulation (#1733)
+    try {
+      const { getBrowser } = await import("../browser-tools/state.js");
+      if (getBrowser()) {
+        const { closeBrowser } = await import("../browser-tools/lifecycle.js");
+        await closeBrowser();
+        debugLog("postUnit", { phase: "browser-teardown", status: "closed" });
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      debugLog("postUnit", { phase: "browser-teardown", error: String(e) });
+    }
+
     // Sync worktree state back to project root (skipped for lightweight sidecars)
     if (!opts?.skipWorktreeSync && s.originalBasePath && s.originalBasePath !== s.basePath) {
       try {
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto.ts
index 4d76027c9..8ffc0097a 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto.ts
@@ -691,6 +691,15 @@ export async function stopAuto(
     }
   } finally {
     // ── Critical invariants: these MUST execute regardless of errors ──
+    // Browser teardown — prevent orphaned Chrome processes across retries (#1733)
+    try {
+      const { getBrowser } = await import("../browser-tools/state.js");
+      if (getBrowser()) {
+        const { closeBrowser } = await import("../browser-tools/lifecycle.js");
+        await closeBrowser();
+      }
+    } catch { /* non-fatal: browser-tools may not be loaded */ }
+
     // External cleanup (not covered by session reset)
     clearInFlightTools();
     clearSliceProgressCache();
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/browser-teardown.test.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/browser-teardown.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..379940ae5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/browser-teardown.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+/**
+ * browser-teardown.test.ts — Verifies browser cleanup at unit boundaries (#1733).
+ *
+ * Tests that the browser-tools lifecycle module is correctly called to tear
+ * down Chrome/Playwright processes during stopAuto() and between units.
+ */
+
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+// Direct imports of browser-tools state to verify teardown behavior
+import {
+  getBrowser,
+  setBrowser,
+  getContext,
+  setContext,
+  resetAllState,
+} from "../../browser-tools/state.ts";
+import { closeBrowser } from "../../browser-tools/lifecycle.ts";
+
+// ─── closeBrowser clears state ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test("closeBrowser resets browser state even when no browser is running", async () => {
+  // Ensure clean state
+  resetAllState();
+  assert.equal(getBrowser(), null, "browser should be null initially");
+  assert.equal(getContext(), null, "context should be null initially");
+
+  // closeBrowser should be safe to call with no active browser
+  await closeBrowser();
+
+  assert.equal(getBrowser(), null, "browser should remain null after closeBrowser");
+  assert.equal(getContext(), null, "context should remain null after closeBrowser");
+});
+
+test("closeBrowser calls browser.close() and resets all state", async () => {
+  resetAllState();
+
+  let closeCalled = false;
+  const fakeBrowser = {
+    close: async () => { closeCalled = true; },
+  } as any;
+
+  setBrowser(fakeBrowser);
+  setContext({ /* fake context */ } as any);
+
+  assert.ok(getBrowser(), "browser should be set before teardown");
+  assert.ok(getContext(), "context should be set before teardown");
+
+  await closeBrowser();
+
+  assert.equal(closeCalled, true, "browser.close() should have been called");
+  assert.equal(getBrowser(), null, "browser should be null after teardown");
+  assert.equal(getContext(), null, "context should be null after teardown");
+});
+
+// ─── getBrowser guard pattern ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test("getBrowser() guard prevents unnecessary closeBrowser calls", async () => {
+  resetAllState();
+
+  // This is the pattern used in stopAuto and postUnitPreVerification:
+  //   if (getBrowser()) { await closeBrowser(); }
+  // Verify the guard works correctly when no browser is active.
+
+  let teardownAttempted = false;
+  if (getBrowser()) {
+    await closeBrowser();
+    teardownAttempted = true;
+  }
+
+  assert.equal(teardownAttempted, false, "should not attempt teardown when no browser is active");
+});
+
+test("getBrowser() guard triggers closeBrowser when browser is active", async () => {
+  resetAllState();
+
+  let closeCalled = false;
+  setBrowser({
+    close: async () => { closeCalled = true; },
+  } as any);
+
+  let teardownAttempted = false;
+  if (getBrowser()) {
+    await closeBrowser();
+    teardownAttempted = true;
+  }
+
+  assert.equal(teardownAttempted, true, "should attempt teardown when browser is active");
+  assert.equal(closeCalled, true, "browser.close() should have been called");
+  assert.equal(getBrowser(), null, "browser should be null after guarded teardown");
+});
+
+// ─── Source code verification ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test("stopAuto finally block includes browser teardown", async () => {
+  // Verify the source code contains the browser teardown call
+  const { readFileSync } = await import("node:fs");
+  const { resolve } = await import("node:path");
+  const autoSource = readFileSync(resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..", "auto.ts"), "utf-8");
+
+  assert.ok(
+    autoSource.includes("closeBrowser"),
+    "auto.ts should reference closeBrowser for teardown in stopAuto",
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    autoSource.includes("getBrowser"),
+    "auto.ts should check getBrowser() before calling closeBrowser",
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    autoSource.includes("browser-tools/lifecycle"),
+    "auto.ts should import from browser-tools/lifecycle",
+  );
+});
+
+test("postUnitPreVerification includes browser teardown between units", async () => {
+  const { readFileSync } = await import("node:fs");
+  const { resolve } = await import("node:path");
+  const postUnitSource = readFileSync(resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..", "auto-post-unit.ts"), "utf-8");
+
+  assert.ok(
+    postUnitSource.includes("closeBrowser"),
+    "auto-post-unit.ts should reference closeBrowser for inter-unit teardown",
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    postUnitSource.includes("getBrowser"),
+    "auto-post-unit.ts should check getBrowser() before calling closeBrowser",
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    postUnitSource.includes("browser-teardown"),
+    "auto-post-unit.ts should have browser-teardown debug phase",
+  );
+});