diff --git a/graphify/extractors/commonlisp.py b/graphify/extractors/commonlisp.py
index dd3c08aee..f43e72c01 100644
--- a/graphify/extractors/commonlisp.py
+++ b/graphify/extractors/commonlisp.py
@@ -154,6 +154,31 @@ def extract_commonlisp(path: Path) -> dict:
             })
         return nid
 
+    def ensure_class_ref(name: str, line: int) -> str:
+        """Resolve a superclass name to a node id.
+
+        If the class is defined in THIS file, bind to its local node. Otherwise
+        mint a SOURCELESS stub (like `add_import_stub`) so the corpus-level
+        rewire can collapse it onto the real `defclass` in another file. Without
+        this, a cross-file superclass had no matching node and its `inherits`
+        edge was pruned by the dangling-edge filter — silently erasing every
+        inheritance edge whose parent lives in a different file."""
+        local = _cl_id(stem, name)
+        if local in seen_ids:
+            return local
+        stub = _cl_id(name)
+        if stub not in seen_ids:
+            seen_ids.add(stub)
+            nodes.append({
+                "id": stub,
+                "label": name,
+                "file_type": "code",
+                "source_file": "",
+                "source_location": "",
+                "origin_file": str_path,
+            })
+        return stub
+
     def _first_sym(node) -> str | None:
         """Get the first sym_lit text from a list_lit's children."""
         for child in node.children:
@@ -227,7 +252,7 @@ def extract_commonlisp(path: Path) -> dict:
             for sc in superclass_list.children:
                 if sc.type == "sym_lit":
                     sc_name = _text(sc)
-                    sc_nid = _cl_id(stem, sc_name)
+                    sc_nid = ensure_class_ref(sc_name, superclass_list.start_point[0] + 1)
                     add_edge(class_nid, sc_nid, "inherits",
                              superclass_list.start_point[0] + 1)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_languages.py b/tests/test_languages.py
index c3bef5645..80ea43865 100644
--- a/tests/test_languages.py
+++ b/tests/test_languages.py
@@ -3497,6 +3497,39 @@ def test_cl_inherits():
     assert len(inherit_edges) >= 1
     assert any("ssl_server" in e["source"] and "server" in e["target"] for e in inherit_edges)
 
+@_needs_commonlisp
+def test_cl_crossfile_superclass_inherits_edge_survives(tmp_path):
+    """A superclass defined in another file must still yield an inherits edge.
+
+    The edge target was a file-scoped id with no backing node, so when the
+    parent class lived in a different file the dangling-edge filter pruned the
+    inherits edge entirely. Cross-file references must resolve to a sourceless
+    stub (like imports do) so the corpus rewire can collapse it onto the real
+    defclass — while a same-file parent still binds to its local node.
+    """
+    f = tmp_path / "dogs.lisp"
+    f.write_text(
+        "(defclass animal () ())\n"
+        "(defclass dog (animal) ())\n"
+        "(defclass service-dog (base-animal) ())\n"
+    )
+    r = extract_commonlisp(f)
+    assert "error" not in r
+    id_to_node = {n["id"]: n for n in r["nodes"]}
+    inherits = {
+        (id_to_node[e["source"]]["label"], id_to_node[e["target"]]["label"])
+        for e in r["edges"]
+        if e["relation"] == "inherits"
+        and e["source"] in id_to_node and e["target"] in id_to_node
+    }
+    # same-file parent binds locally
+    assert ("dog", "animal") in inherits
+    # cross-file parent survives via a sourceless stub instead of being dropped
+    assert ("service-dog", "base-animal") in inherits
+    base = next(n for n in r["nodes"] if n["label"] == "base-animal")
+    assert base["source_file"] == "", "cross-file superclass must be a sourceless stub"
+
+
 @_needs_commonlisp
 def test_cl_imports():
     r = extract_commonlisp(FIXTURES / "sample.lisp")