diff --git a/js/hang/src/container/consumer.test.ts b/js/hang/src/container/consumer.test.ts
index 69c8400a96..180c814f0a 100644
--- a/js/hang/src/container/consumer.test.ts
+++ b/js/hang/src/container/consumer.test.ts
@@ -1275,10 +1275,10 @@ test("Consumer delivers a contiguous group after one that completed out of order
 	consumer.close();
 });
 
-// While the cursor sits below every buffered group (a real PTS gap it is waiting out), the delivery
-// head still has to run the max age check on each frame. If only the head is receiving frames,
-// that check is the only thing left that can break the stall.
-test("Consumer age-skips a waited-out gap when only the head receives frames (CMAF)", async () => {
+// A resubscribe can replay a stale group, lose the group after it, then carry on live. Once the live
+// head reaches past where presentation left off by more than the budget, whatever is missing would
+// arrive too old to play, so the head is the group to play next and must not be dropped as "slow".
+test("Consumer plays the head once a waited-out gap exceeds the budget (CMAF)", async () => {
 	const track = new Track.Producer("test");
 	const consumer = new Consumer(replay(track), {
 		format: new CmafFormat(TEST_INIT),
@@ -1293,35 +1293,59 @@ test("Consumer age-skips a waited-out gap when only the head receives frames (CM
 	a.close();
 	expect((await consumer.next())?.frame).toBeUndefined(); // #active falls back to the 1001 phantom
 
-	// B (seq 2000) starts at 90_000 ticks (1_000_000µs), far past A's end: a real gap, so the cursor
-	// stays on the phantom and B is never promoted.
+	// The reader is parked on the missing 1001, as a decoder is while it waits for the next group.
+	const pending = consumer.next();
+
+	// B (seq 2000) starts at 90_000 ticks (1_000_000µs), a second past A's end: the missing group
+	// could only ever arrive far beyond the 100ms budget, so B plays from its first frame.
 	const b = new Group.Producer(2000);
 	track.writeGroup(b);
 	b.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x02, 90_000, 1), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
-	await settle();
 
-	// C (seq 3000) lands just behind B, inside the 100ms budget, then goes silent for the rest of
-	// the test. So C's frames can't be what re-runs the max age check.
-	const c = new Group.Producer(3000);
-	track.writeGroup(c);
-	c.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x03, 93_000, 2), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
-	await settle();
+	const result = await Promise.race([pending, settle(300).then(() => "timeout" as const)]);
+	expect(result).not.toBe("timeout");
+	const delivered = result as { frame?: Frame; continuous?: boolean } | undefined;
+	expect(delivered?.frame?.payload).toEqual(new Uint8Array([0x02]));
+	// The missing group's span was never delivered, so downstream must not bridge it.
+	expect(delivered?.continuous).toBe(false);
+
+	consumer.close();
+});
+
+// A gap still inside the budget is waited out: the missing group may yet arrive in time.
+test("Consumer waits on a gap within the budget, then plays the head once it exceeds it (CMAF)", async () => {
+	const track = new Track.Producer("test");
+	const consumer = new Consumer(replay(track), {
+		format: new CmafFormat(TEST_INIT),
+		maxAge: 100 as Time.Milli,
+	});
+
+	// A (seq 1000): one frame, ends at 3000 ticks (33_333µs).
+	const a = new Group.Producer(1000);
+	track.writeGroup(a);
+	a.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x01, 0, 0), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
+	expect((await consumer.next())?.frame?.payload).toEqual(new Uint8Array([0x01]));
+	a.close();
+	expect((await consumer.next())?.frame).toBeUndefined();
+
+	// B (seq 2000) starts at 6000 ticks (66_667µs): a gap, but only 33ms past A's end.
+	const b = new Group.Producer(2000);
+	track.writeGroup(b);
+	b.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x02, 6000, 1), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
 
 	const pending = consumer.next();
+	const early = await Promise.race([pending, settle(50).then(() => "waiting" as const)]);
+	expect(early).toBe("waiting");
 
-	// B alone grows past the budget (90_000 -> 108_000 ticks, a 200ms span).
-	for (let i = 1; i <= 6; i++) {
-		b.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x02, 90_000 + i * 3000, 3 + i), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
+	// B alone grows past the budget (up to 12_000 ticks, 100ms past A's end and beyond).
+	for (let i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
+		b.writeFrame({ payload: encodeCmafFrame(0x02, 6000 + i * 3000, 1 + i), timestamp: Time.Timestamp.now() });
 		await settle(10);
 	}
 
-	// The max age check drops B as the oldest and delivery resumes at C.
 	const result = await Promise.race([pending, settle(300).then(() => "timeout" as const)]);
 	expect(result).not.toBe("timeout");
-	const delivered = result as { frame?: Frame; continuous?: boolean } | undefined;
-	expect(delivered?.frame?.payload).toEqual(new Uint8Array([0x03]));
-	// B's content was thrown away, so downstream must not treat the span as delivered.
-	expect(delivered?.continuous).toBe(false);
+	expect((result as { frame?: Frame } | undefined)?.frame?.payload).toEqual(new Uint8Array([0x02]));
 
 	consumer.close();
 });
diff --git a/js/hang/src/container/consumer.ts b/js/hang/src/container/consumer.ts
index 6540d02445..912ada6fc7 100644
--- a/js/hang/src/container/consumer.ts
+++ b/js/hang/src/container/consumer.ts
@@ -465,16 +465,25 @@ export class Consumer {
 			// non-sequential) next group has since arrived -- promote #active to the first real
 			// group so delivery resumes instead of stalling on a nonexistent sequence.
 			// Promote #active to the first buffered group when it continues the timeline we left off at,
-			// when a completed empty group can be walked (empty groups mean nothing), or when a
-			// zero-budget hole is already proven. After track termination no missing group can arrive,
-			// so drain across any remaining gap. Otherwise wait: #checkMaxAge skips once the budget
-			// is spent, and #tryDurationSkip once the duration covers it.
+			// when a completed empty group can be walked (empty groups mean nothing), or when the hole
+			// is proven: the head already reaches past where presentation left off by more than the
+			// max age, so anything still missing in between would arrive too old to play. Proving it
+			// here matters: #checkMaxAge would instead drop the head, the very group to play next.
+			// After track termination no missing group can arrive, so drain across any remaining gap.
+			// Otherwise wait: #checkMaxAge skips once the budget is spent, and #tryDurationSkip once
+			// the duration covers it.
 			if (this.#active !== undefined && this.#groups.length > 0) {
 				const head = this.#groups[0];
 				if (head.consumer.sequence > this.#active) {
 					const contiguous = ptsContiguous(this.#presentedEnd, head.frames.at(0)?.timestamp);
 					const empty = head.empty && head.consumer.done;
-					const skipHole = this.#maxAge.peek() === 0 && head.frames.length > 0;
+					const maxAge = Moq.Time.Micro.fromMilli(this.#maxAge.peek());
+					const skipHole =
+						head.frames.length > 0 &&
+						(maxAge === 0 ||
+							(this.#presentedEnd !== undefined &&
+								head.latest !== undefined &&
+								head.latest - this.#presentedEnd > maxAge));
 					if (empty || contiguous || skipHole || ended !== undefined) {
 						if ((skipHole || ended !== undefined) && !contiguous && !empty) this.#markPlayhead();
 						if (!contiguous) this.#gap = true;