diff --git a/src/artifacts/extraction/ArtifactExtraction.ts b/src/artifacts/extraction/ArtifactExtraction.ts
index c4a6fc8e12..165bf628c4 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/extraction/ArtifactExtraction.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/extraction/ArtifactExtraction.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import type { ArtifactCleanupAttempt } from "../ArtifactResourceScope.js";
 import { lstat, realpath } from "node:fs/promises";
 
 import { compareUnicodeCodePoints } from "../../domain/unicodeCodePointOrder.js";
@@ -245,13 +246,9 @@ const materializeSelection = async ({
     localReaderOwner = undefined;
     const closeAttempt = await input.resourceScope.release(readerOwner);
     if (closeAttempt.kind === "failed")
-      throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-        closeAttempt.cause,
-        ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(
-          closeAttempt.cause,
-          readerOwner.resource,
-        ),
-      );
+      throw input.resourceScope.cleanupFailure({ kind: "completed" }, [
+        closeAttempt,
+      ]);
     extracted.sort((left, right) =>
       compareUnicodeCodePoints(left.relative_path, right.relative_path),
     );
@@ -265,19 +262,11 @@ const materializeSelection = async ({
       output,
       input.outputRoot,
     );
-    if (cleanupFailures.length > 0) {
-      const observations = cleanupFailures.map(
-        ({ cause: cleanupCause, resource }) =>
-          ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(cleanupCause, resource),
-      );
-      throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-        cause,
-        {
-          reason: observations.map(({ reason }) => reason).join("; "),
-          resources: [
-            ...new Set(observations.flatMap(({ resources }) => resources)),
-          ],
-        },
+    const [firstCleanup, ...remainingCleanup] = cleanupFailures;
+    if (firstCleanup !== undefined) {
+      throw input.resourceScope.cleanupFailure(
+        { kind: "failed", cause },
+        [firstCleanup, ...remainingCleanup],
         output?.published === true && completed !== undefined
           ? { kind: "artifact-extraction", extraction: completed }
           : undefined,
@@ -346,12 +335,14 @@ const releaseExtractionOwners = async (
   readerOwner: ArtifactResourceOwner | undefined,
   output: SafeOutputTree | undefined,
   outputRoot: string,
-): Promise<{ readonly cause: unknown; readonly resource: string }[]> => {
-  const failures: { readonly cause: unknown; readonly resource: string }[] = [];
+): Promise<Extract<ArtifactCleanupAttempt, { readonly kind: "failed" }>[]> => {
+  const failures: Extract<
+    ArtifactCleanupAttempt,
+    { readonly kind: "failed" }
+  >[] = [];
   if (readerOwner !== undefined) {
     const attempt = await resourceScope.release(readerOwner);
-    if (attempt.kind === "failed")
-      failures.push({ cause: attempt.cause, resource: readerOwner.resource });
+    if (attempt.kind === "failed") failures.push(attempt);
   }
   if (output !== undefined) {
     const owner: ArtifactResourceOwner = {
@@ -360,8 +351,7 @@ const releaseExtractionOwners = async (
       resource: outputRoot,
     };
     const attempt = await resourceScope.release(owner);
-    if (attempt.kind === "failed")
-      failures.push({ cause: attempt.cause, resource: owner.resource });
+    if (attempt.kind === "failed") failures.push(attempt);
   }
   return failures;
 };
diff --git a/src/artifacts/inventory/classify.ts b/src/artifacts/inventory/classify.ts
index 73cc6d760b..0df8784ebb 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/inventory/classify.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/inventory/classify.ts
@@ -66,13 +66,9 @@ export const classifyAndHashRoot = async (
       };
       const cleanupAttempt = await options.resourceScope.release(owner);
       if (cleanupAttempt.kind === "failed")
-        throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-          cleanupAttempt.cause,
-          ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(
-            cleanupAttempt.cause,
-            owner.resource,
-          ),
-        );
+        throw options.resourceScope.cleanupFailure({ kind: "completed" }, [
+          cleanupAttempt,
+        ]);
     }
     return { format: result.format, digest: result.digest };
   });
@@ -136,13 +132,7 @@ export const classifyAndHashRootForInventory = async (
   if (outcome.kind === "failed" || outcome.value.rootSource === undefined) {
     const cleanupAttempt = await options.resourceScope.release(owner);
     if (cleanupAttempt.kind === "failed")
-      throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-        outcome.kind === "failed" ? outcome.cause : cleanupAttempt.cause,
-        ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(
-          cleanupAttempt.cause,
-          owner.resource,
-        ),
-      );
+      throw options.resourceScope.cleanupFailure(outcome, [cleanupAttempt]);
   }
   if (outcome.kind === "failed") throw outcome.cause;
   return outcome.value;
diff --git a/src/artifacts/inventory/hashStableRootArtifact.ts b/src/artifacts/inventory/hashStableRootArtifact.ts
index cf57b804a2..5c5ef95334 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/inventory/hashStableRootArtifact.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/inventory/hashStableRootArtifact.ts
@@ -55,10 +55,9 @@ export const openRootArtifact = async (
         handle: cause.owner,
       });
       if (cleanup.kind === "failed")
-        throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-          failure,
-          ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(cleanup.cause, resource),
-        );
+        throw resourceScope.cleanupFailure({ kind: "failed", cause: failure }, [
+          cleanup,
+        ]);
     }
     throw failure;
   }
@@ -91,10 +90,7 @@ export const hashStableRootArtifact = async (
     handle: owner,
   });
   if (cleanup.kind === "failed")
-    throw ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-      outcome.kind === "failed" ? outcome.cause : cleanup.cause,
-      ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(cleanup.cause, resource),
-    );
+    throw resourceScope.cleanupFailure(outcome, [cleanup]);
   if (outcome.kind === "failed") throw outcome.cause;
   return outcome.value;
 };
diff --git a/src/artifacts/inventory/scanCanonical.ts b/src/artifacts/inventory/scanCanonical.ts
index 93d12b4fe2..e1521a2092 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/inventory/scanCanonical.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/inventory/scanCanonical.ts
@@ -173,12 +173,11 @@ const cleanupInventoryOwners = async ({
   for (const owner of owners) {
     const attempt = await options.resourceScope.release(owner);
     if (attempt.kind === "released") continue;
-    const primary =
-      cleanupFailure ??
-      (outcome.kind === "failed" ? outcome.cause : attempt.cause);
-    cleanupFailure = ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-      primary,
-      ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(attempt.cause, owner.resource),
+    cleanupFailure = options.resourceScope.cleanupFailure(
+      cleanupFailure === undefined
+        ? outcome
+        : { kind: "failed", cause: cleanupFailure },
+      [attempt],
       outcome.kind === "completed"
         ? { kind: "artifact-inventory", inventory: outcome.snapshot }
         : undefined,
diff --git a/src/artifacts/javascript/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts b/src/artifacts/javascript/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
index d1149836b3..562235eed7 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/javascript/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/javascript/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
@@ -306,9 +306,11 @@ const visitReader = async (
       });
       if (cleanup.kind === "failed") {
         failure = {
-          cause: ArtifactReaderFailure.withCleanup(
-            failure === undefined ? cleanup.cause : failure.cause,
-            ArtifactReaderFailure.cleanupObservation(cleanup.cause, resource),
+          cause: context.resources.cleanupFailure(
+            failure === undefined
+              ? { kind: "completed" }
+              : { kind: "failed", cause: failure.cause },
+            [cleanup],
           ),
         };
       }
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/artifactInventoryDescriptorCleanup.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/artifactInventoryDescriptorCleanup.test.ts
index d89714ceb1..1817d7c3ea 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/artifactInventoryDescriptorCleanup.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/artifactInventoryDescriptorCleanup.test.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ it.each([false, true])(
       invalidated ? attemptsBeforeRecovery : attemptsBeforeRecovery + 1,
     );
     expect(descriptor?.fd).toBe(-1);
+    if (!invalidated && !inventory.ok)
+      expect(inventory.error.cleanupIncomplete).toBe(false);
     if (invalidated) expect(closeAttempts).toBe(1);
   },
 );
diff --git a/tests/boundary/providers/native/artifactProvider.cleanupRetry.test.ts b/tests/boundary/providers/native/artifactProvider.cleanupRetry.test.ts
index ca20ee7ea6..d216d18cbc 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/providers/native/artifactProvider.cleanupRetry.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/providers/native/artifactProvider.cleanupRetry.test.ts
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ it("retains a failed reader close, blocks new work, and retries the same reader"
   expect(await client.close()).toMatchObject({ ok: true });
   expect(closeOwners).toHaveLength(5);
   expect(closeOwners[4]).toBe(closeOwners[1]);
+  if (!extraction.ok) expect(extraction.error.cleanupIncomplete).toBe(false);
+  expect(incompleteClose.error.cleanupIncomplete).toBe(false);
   const closed = await client.execute("inventory_artifact", {});
   expect(closed).toMatchObject({
     ok: false,