diff --git a/internal/api/db_rate_limiter.go b/internal/api/db_rate_limiter.go
index 58fb2034f..029af0411 100644
--- a/internal/api/db_rate_limiter.go
+++ b/internal/api/db_rate_limiter.go
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ func NewDBRateLimiter(pool *pgxpool.Pool) *DBRateLimiter {
 // tests with a short-lived context.
 func (rl *DBRateLimiter) StartCleanupWorker(ctx context.Context) {
 	go func() {
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				logging.Warnf("db_rate_limiter: StartCleanupWorker goroutine panic: %v", r)
+			}
+		}()
 		ticker := time.NewTicker(dbRateLimiterScheduledCleanupInterval)
 		defer ticker.Stop()
 		for {
@@ -169,6 +174,11 @@ func (rl *DBRateLimiter) maybeCleanup() {
 	// Run cleanup in background
 	go func() {
 		defer rl.cleanupRunning.Store(false)
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				logging.Warnf("db_rate_limiter: cleanup goroutine panic: %v", r)
+			}
+		}()
 		rl.cleanup()
 	}()
 }
diff --git a/internal/api/handler_accounts.go b/internal/api/handler_accounts.go
index 542caec39..0ea530c7f 100644
--- a/internal/api/handler_accounts.go
+++ b/internal/api/handler_accounts.go
@@ -881,6 +881,12 @@ func gcpTokenExchangeAttempt(ctx context.Context, ts oauth2.TokenSource) (Accoun
 	defer cancel()
 	tokenChan := make(chan tokenResult, 1)
 	go func() {
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				logging.Warnf("handler_accounts: gcp token-exchange goroutine panic: %v", r)
+				tokenChan <- tokenResult{err: fmt.Errorf("token exchange panic: %v", r)}
+			}
+		}()
 		tok, err := ts.Token()
 		tokenChan <- tokenResult{tok: tok, err: err}
 	}()
diff --git a/internal/api/handler_history.go b/internal/api/handler_history.go
index d6779670e..f1cfcba97 100644
--- a/internal/api/handler_history.go
+++ b/internal/api/handler_history.go
@@ -227,7 +227,14 @@ func (h *Handler) expireStaleExecutions(staleExecs []config.PurchaseExecution) {
 		h.expireStaleExecutionsSweep(staleExecs)
 		return
 	}
-	go h.expireStaleExecutionsSweep(staleExecs)
+	go func() {
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				logging.Warnf("history: expireStaleExecutionsAsync goroutine panic: %v", r)
+			}
+		}()
+		h.expireStaleExecutionsSweep(staleExecs)
+	}()
 }
 
 // expireStaleExecutionsSweep is the shared sweep body for both branches of
@@ -237,11 +244,10 @@ func (h *Handler) expireStaleExecutions(staleExecs []config.PurchaseExecution) {
 // should not abort the best-effort transitions.
 func (h *Handler) expireStaleExecutionsSweep(staleExecs []config.PurchaseExecution) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	for _rvc := range staleExecs {
-		exec := staleExecs[_rvc]
-		_, err := h.config.TransitionExecutionStatus(ctx, exec.ExecutionID, []string{"pending", "notified"}, "expired", nil)
+	for i := range staleExecs {
+		_, err := h.config.TransitionExecutionStatus(ctx, staleExecs[i].ExecutionID, []string{"pending", "notified"}, "expired", nil)
 		if err != nil {
-			logging.Warnf("history: expire sweep for execution %s failed: %v", exec.ExecutionID, err)
+			logging.Warnf("history: expire sweep for execution %s failed: %v", staleExecs[i].ExecutionID, err)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/auth/service_apikeys.go b/internal/auth/service_apikeys.go
index b8e2a5b94..79a80a3a3 100644
--- a/internal/auth/service_apikeys.go
+++ b/internal/auth/service_apikeys.go
@@ -291,6 +291,11 @@ func (s *Service) ValidateUserAPIKey(ctx context.Context, apiKey string) (*UserA
 	keyID := key.ID
 	go func() {
 		if _, sfErr, _ := s.lastUsedSFG.Do(keyID, func() (any, error) {
+			defer func() {
+				if r := recover(); r != nil {
+					logging.Warnf("service_apikeys: UpdateLastUsed goroutine panic: %v", r)
+				}
+			}()
 			updateCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 			defer cancel()
 			if err := s.UpdateLastUsed(updateCtx, keyID); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/auth/service_apikeys_test.go b/internal/auth/service_apikeys_test.go
index 364ba838e..beb142dc3 100644
--- a/internal/auth/service_apikeys_test.go
+++ b/internal/auth/service_apikeys_test.go
@@ -986,6 +986,58 @@ func TestService_HasAPIKeyPermissionForConstraintsAPI_OwnerCapEnforced(t *testin
 	})
 }
 
+// TestValidateUserAPIKey_UpdateLastUsedPanicIsRecovered proves that a panic
+// inside the fire-and-forget UpdateLastUsed goroutine is caught by the
+// recover() added in issue #672. Without the recover(), the panic would crash
+// the entire test binary (an unrecovered goroutine panic terminates the
+// process). The test uses a channel -- closed by the mock Run callback just
+// before panicking -- to wait for goroutine execution without time.Sleep.
+func TestValidateUserAPIKey_UpdateLastUsedPanicIsRecovered(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	apiKey := "test-api-key-panic-123"
+	hash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(apiKey))
+	keyHash := base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(hash[:])
+
+	user := &User{
+		ID:     "user-panic",
+		Email:  "panic@example.com",
+		Active: true,
+	}
+	apiKeyRecord := &UserAPIKey{
+		ID:       "key-panic",
+		UserID:   "user-panic",
+		KeyHash:  keyHash,
+		IsActive: true,
+	}
+
+	mockStore := new(MockStore)
+	service := &Service{store: mockStore}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { mockStore.AssertExpectations(t) })
+
+	mockStore.On("GetAPIKeyByHash", ctx, keyHash).Return(apiKeyRecord, nil)
+	mockStore.On("GetUserByID", mock.Anything, "user-panic").Return(user, nil)
+
+	// done is closed by the Run callback immediately before panicking so the
+	// test can wait for goroutine execution without time.Sleep.
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	mockStore.On("UpdateAPIKeyLastUsed", mock.Anything, "key-panic").
+		Run(func(args mock.Arguments) {
+			close(done)
+			panic("injected panic for #672 regression test")
+		}).
+		Return(nil)
+
+	resultKey, resultUser, err := service.ValidateUserAPIKey(ctx, apiKey)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, apiKeyRecord, resultKey)
+	require.Equal(t, user, resultUser)
+
+	// Block until the goroutine has executed (and panicked + recovered).
+	// Reaching this line means the process survived -- recover() caught the panic.
+	<-done
+}
+
 func TestService_validateAPIKeyPermissions(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.Background()