diff --git a/system/kernel/process.zig b/system/kernel/process.zig
index 6fa297f..9897365 100644
--- a/system/kernel/process.zig
+++ b/system/kernel/process.zig
@@ -2146,9 +2146,18 @@ fn systemFsMount(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
 
     const flags = sync.enter();
     defer sync.leave(flags);
+    // The ownership gate. A LIVE owner's mount is its own: nobody else may
+    // replace it — displacement-by-remount would be worse than unmounting.
+    // A DEAD owner's mount is replaceable by anyone with a backend: that is
+    // the restart story (a respawned filesystem is a new task retaking its
+    // prefix). Kernel-installed mounts (owner 0) are never displaceable.
+    if (vfs.mountOwner(prefix)) |owner| {
+        const displaceable = owner != 0 and (owner == t.id or scheduler.taskByIdLocked(owner) == null);
+        if (!displaceable) return failErr(state, ipc.EPERM);
+    }
     const endpoint = ipc.resolveHandle(t, backend_handle) orelse return failErr(state, ipc.EBADF);
     endpoint.refcount += 1; // the mount table's reference
-    if (!vfs.mountBackend(prefix, endpoint, rewrite)) {
+    if (!vfs.mountBackend(prefix, endpoint, rewrite, t.id)) {
         ipc.dropRef(endpoint);
         return fail(state);
     }
@@ -2166,6 +2175,12 @@ fn systemFsUnmount(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
     if (!user_memory.copyFromUser(t.address_space, prefix_ptr, prefix)) return failErr(state, ipc.EFAULT);
     const flags = sync.enter();
     defer sync.leave(flags);
+    // Only the mounting task unmounts. No dead-owner exception here: a dead
+    // owner's mount is already being swept lazily by resolution, and a
+    // stranger gains nothing legitimate by racing that — the restart story
+    // goes through remount-replace, never through unmount.
+    const owner = vfs.mountOwner(prefix) orelse return fail(state);
+    if (owner != t.id) return failErr(state, ipc.EPERM);
     if (!vfs.unmount(prefix)) return fail(state);
     architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, 0);
 }
diff --git a/system/kernel/vfs.zig b/system/kernel/vfs.zig
index 4cdca03..c3842f7 100644
--- a/system/kernel/vfs.zig
+++ b/system/kernel/vfs.zig
@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@ const Mount = struct {
     backend: ?*ipc.Endpoint = null, // referenced while mounted
     rewrite: [maximum_rewrite]u8 = undefined,
     rewrite_len: usize = 0,
+    // The task that mounted this prefix — the ownership `fs_unmount` and
+    // remount-replace are gated on (storage-architecture.md, the lifecycle
+    // rule). Zero for kernel-installed mounts, which no task may displace.
+    owner: u32 = 0,
 
     fn prefixSlice(self: *const Mount) []const u8 {
         return self.prefix[0..self.prefix_len];
@@ -375,11 +379,25 @@ fn refusesProtocolMount(prefix: []const u8) bool {
     return protocolBound(); // /protocol itself: first mount wins
 }
 
-/// Mount `backend` at `prefix` with an optional backend-side `rewrite` prefix.
-/// The endpoint reference is taken by the caller (process.zig bumps it); refuses
-/// shadowing or replacing the initrd trees (/system, /test) — except the two
-/// carve-outs in `initrd_carve_outs`, the writable configuration/log subtrees.
-pub fn mountBackend(prefix: []const u8, backend: *ipc.Endpoint, rewrite: []const u8) bool {
+/// The task a backend mount at exactly `prefix` is recorded against, or null
+/// when nothing backend-shaped is mounted there. The syscall layer consults
+/// this before allowing a replace or an unmount — the ownership gate lives
+/// there, where the task table is; this table only remembers the fact.
+pub fn mountOwner(prefix: []const u8) ?u32 {
+    for (&mounts) |*m| {
+        if (m.used and m.kind == .backend and std.mem.eql(u8, m.prefixSlice(), prefix)) return m.owner;
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+/// Mount `backend` at `prefix` with an optional backend-side `rewrite` prefix,
+/// recorded against `owner`. The endpoint reference is taken by the caller
+/// (process.zig bumps it); refuses shadowing or replacing the initrd trees
+/// (/system, /test) — except the two carve-outs in `initrd_carve_outs`, the
+/// writable configuration/log subtrees. The replace-vs-refuse decision for an
+/// already-mounted prefix is the CALLER's (it can see task liveness); by the
+/// time this runs, replacing is decided.
+pub fn mountBackend(prefix: []const u8, backend: *ipc.Endpoint, rewrite: []const u8, owner: u32) bool {
     if (!isAbsolute(prefix) or prefix.len < 2 or prefix.len > maximum_prefix) return false;
     if (rewrite.len > maximum_rewrite) return false;
     if (refusesProtocolMount(prefix)) return false; // the registry's prefix is claimed once
@@ -389,12 +407,16 @@ pub fn mountBackend(prefix: []const u8, backend: *ipc.Endpoint, rewrite: []const
         }
     }
     installMount(prefix, .backend, backend, rewrite);
+    for (&mounts) |*m| {
+        if (m.used and std.mem.eql(u8, m.prefixSlice(), prefix)) m.owner = owner;
+    }
     return true;
 }
 
 pub fn unmount(prefix: []const u8) bool {
     // Unmounting /protocol would delete the naming layer for everyone; nobody
-    // may, init included. The mount lasts the boot.
+    // may, init included. The mount lasts the boot. Ownership is checked by
+    // the syscall layer (mountOwner) before this runs.
     if (std.mem.eql(u8, prefix, protocol_root)) return false;
     for (&mounts) |*m| {
         if (m.used and m.kind == .backend and std.mem.eql(u8, m.prefixSlice(), prefix)) {
diff --git a/test/system/services/vfs-test/vfs-test.zig b/test/system/services/vfs-test/vfs-test.zig
index 3b89f94..be7b95f 100644
--- a/test/system/services/vfs-test/vfs-test.zig
+++ b/test/system/services/vfs-test/vfs-test.zig
@@ -84,6 +84,28 @@ fn park() void {
         _ = logging.write("vfstest: park open failed\n");
         return;
     }
+
+    // Mount ownership (V0, docs/volume-manager-plan.md): the volume is
+    // provably mounted (the parked file just opened on it), it is FAT's mount,
+    // and this process is not fat — unmounting it must be REFUSED and the
+    // subtree must still resolve afterwards. Bailing here withholds the
+    // "parked" marker, which fails the vfs-client-death case: before the
+    // ownership gate existed, any process could unmount any prefix, and this
+    // fixture would have deleted the volume out from under the whole boot.
+    if (fs.fsUnmount("/volumes/usb")) {
+        _ = logging.write("vfstest: foreign unmount was ALLOWED\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    if (fs.open("/volumes/usb/parked", .{})) |resolved| {
+        var verification = resolved;
+        verification.close(); // the park below must be the client's ONLY open
+        // handle — the kernel test string-matches "released 1 handle(s)".
+    } else {
+        _ = logging.write("vfstest: /volumes/usb gone after refused unmount\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    _ = logging.write("vfstest: foreign unmount refused\n");
+
     while (true) {
         _ = logging.write("vfstest: parked\n");
         time.sleepMillis(500);