diff --git a/packages/hal/src/validators/ebds/ebds-fsm.ts b/packages/hal/src/validators/ebds/ebds-fsm.ts
index 1373427..ea4b4a8 100644
--- a/packages/hal/src/validators/ebds/ebds-fsm.ts
+++ b/packages/hal/src/validators/ebds/ebds-fsm.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,14 @@
 import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events'
 import type { ParseResult } from './ebds-rs232.js'
 
+// MEI's internal escrow grace expires around 5s. We want any escrow that
+// sits open for >500ms (5× our 100ms poll cadence) to surface in field
+// logs so we can spot drift toward the autonomous-return failure mode.
+const ESCROW_WATCHDOG_WARN_MS = 500
+
 export class EbdsFsm extends EventEmitter {
   private currentStatus: string | null = null
+  private escrowOpenedAt: number | null = null
 
   constructor() {
     super()
@@ -38,6 +44,26 @@ export class EbdsFsm extends EventEmitter {
     this.currentStatus = status
     console.log('[EBDS] %d status: %s → %s', Date.now(), prev ?? '(init)', status)
 
+    // Escrow watchdog: time the bill's stay in `billsRead`. Anything past
+    // ESCROW_WATCHDOG_WARN_MS means the host took too long to decide
+    // stack/reject relative to the validator's grace window — exactly
+    // the timing that produces torn bills on MEI hardware.
+    if (prev === 'billsRead' && this.escrowOpenedAt !== null) {
+      const elapsed = Date.now() - this.escrowOpenedAt
+      this.escrowOpenedAt = null
+      if (elapsed > ESCROW_WATCHDOG_WARN_MS) {
+        console.warn(
+          '[EBDS] escrow held %dms before transition to %s (threshold %dms) — ' +
+            'host decision latency creeping toward MEI grace window',
+          elapsed,
+          status,
+          ESCROW_WATCHDOG_WARN_MS
+        )
+      } else {
+        console.log('[EBDS] escrow → %s in %dms', status, elapsed)
+      }
+    }
+
     switch (status) {
       case 'accepting':
         // Transient: bill is being read by the validator head. Diagnostic
@@ -53,6 +79,7 @@ export class EbdsFsm extends EventEmitter {
             this.emit('reject')
             return
           }
+          this.escrowOpenedAt = Date.now()
           this.emit('billsAccepted')
           // Emit billsRead on next tick (matches lamassu-machine behavior)
           process.nextTick(() => this.emit('billsRead', bill))
@@ -107,5 +134,6 @@ export class EbdsFsm extends EventEmitter {
   /** Reset status tracking (e.g., after reload) */
   reset(): void {
     this.currentStatus = null
+    this.escrowOpenedAt = null
   }
 }