diff --git a/spark/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/shuffle/sort/CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync.java b/spark/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/shuffle/sort/CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync.java
index 33bcbc9cac..f5e3d9b686 100644
--- a/spark/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/shuffle/sort/CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync.java
+++ b/spark/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/shuffle/sort/CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync.java
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public final class CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync
   private final LinkedList<SpillInfo> spills = new LinkedList<>();
 
   /** Peak memory used by this sorter so far, in bytes. */
-  private long peakMemoryUsedBytes;
+  private volatile long peakMemoryUsedBytes;
 
   // Checksum calculator for each partition. Empty when shuffle checksum disabled.
   private final long[] partitionChecksums;
@@ -152,8 +152,16 @@ public CometShuffleExternalSorterAsync(
     this.tracingEnabled = (boolean) CometConf$.MODULE$.COMET_TRACING_ENABLED().get();
 
     this.threadNum = (int) CometConf$.MODULE$.COMET_COLUMNAR_SHUFFLE_ASYNC_THREAD_NUM().get();
-    assert (this.threadNum > 0);
+    if (this.threadNum <= 0) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          "spark.comet.columnar.shuffle.async.thread.num must be positive, got: " + this.threadNum);
+    }
     this.threadPool = ShuffleThreadPool.getThreadPool();
+    if (this.threadPool == null) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException(
+          "Async shuffle thread pool is not initialized. "
+              + "Ensure spark.comet.columnar.shuffle.async.enabled is true.");
+    }
 
     this.preferDictionaryRatio =
         (double) CometConf$.MODULE$.COMET_SHUFFLE_PREFER_DICTIONARY_RATIO().get();
@@ -215,10 +223,21 @@ public void spill() throws IOException {
     SpillSorter spillingSorter = activeSpillSorter;
     Callable<Void> task =
         () -> {
-          spillingSorter.writeSortedFileNative(false, tracingEnabled);
-          final long spillSize = spillingSorter.freeMemory();
-          spillingSorter.freeArray();
-          spillingSorters.remove(spillingSorter);
+          long spillSize = 0;
+          try {
+            spillingSorter.writeSortedFileNative(false, tracingEnabled);
+            spillSize = spillingSorter.freeMemory();
+          } finally {
+            // Ensure cleanup happens even if writeSortedFileNative() throws.
+            // freeMemory() may have already been called above, but it's safe to call again
+            // (returns 0 if already freed). freeArray() must be called to release the pointer
+            // array.
+            if (spillSize == 0) {
+              spillSize = spillingSorter.freeMemory();
+            }
+            spillingSorter.freeArray();
+            spillingSorters.remove(spillingSorter);
+          }
 
           // Reset the in-memory sorter's pointer array only after freeing up the memory pages
           // holding the records. Otherwise, if the task is over allocated memory, then without
@@ -233,11 +252,20 @@ public void spill() throws IOException {
     spillingSorters.add(spillingSorter);
     asyncSpillTasks.add(threadPool.submit(task));
 
-    while (asyncSpillTasks.size() == threadNum) {
-      for (Future<Void> spillingTask : asyncSpillTasks) {
-        if (spillingTask.isDone()) {
-          asyncSpillTasks.remove(spillingTask);
-          break;
+    // If we've reached the max concurrent spill tasks, block until one completes.
+    // This provides backpressure to avoid unbounded memory growth.
+    while (asyncSpillTasks.size() >= threadNum) {
+      Future<Void> oldestTask = asyncSpillTasks.peek();
+      if (oldestTask != null) {
+        try {
+          oldestTask.get(); // Block until the oldest task completes
+          asyncSpillTasks.poll(); // Remove the completed task
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+          Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+          throw new IOException("Interrupted while waiting for spill task", e);
+        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
+          asyncSpillTasks.poll(); // Remove the failed task
+          throw new IOException("Async spill task failed", e.getCause());
         }
       }
     }
@@ -288,6 +316,23 @@ private long freeMemory() {
   /** Force all memory and spill files to be deleted; called by shuffle error-handling code. */
   @Override
   public void cleanupResources() {
+    // Cancel any pending async spill tasks to stop background work.
+    // The tasks have try-finally blocks that will clean up their SpillSorter resources.
+    for (Future<Void> task : asyncSpillTasks) {
+      task.cancel(true);
+    }
+
+    // Wait briefly for cancelled tasks to complete their cleanup.
+    // This ensures SpillSorters are removed from spillingSorters before we iterate it.
+    for (Future<Void> task : asyncSpillTasks) {
+      try {
+        task.get(100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        // Ignore - task was cancelled or failed, we're cleaning up anyway
+      }
+    }
+    asyncSpillTasks.clear();
+
     freeMemory();
 
     for (SpillInfo spill : spills) {
@@ -383,23 +428,38 @@ public SpillInfo[] closeAndGetSpills() throws IOException {
       final TempShuffleBlockId blockId = spilledFileInfo._1();
       final SpillInfo spillInfo = new SpillInfo(numPartitions, file, blockId);
 
-      // Waits for all async tasks to finish.
+      // Waits for all async tasks to finish, collecting any exceptions.
+      // We wait for all tasks even if some fail to ensure proper cleanup.
+      IOException firstException = null;
       for (Future<Void> task : asyncSpillTasks) {
         try {
           task.get();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-          throw new IOException(e);
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+          Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+          if (firstException == null) {
+            firstException = new IOException("Interrupted while waiting for spill tasks", e);
+          }
+        } catch (ExecutionException e) {
+          if (firstException == null) {
+            firstException = new IOException("Async spill task failed", e.getCause());
+          } else {
+            firstException.addSuppressed(e.getCause());
+          }
         }
       }
 
       asyncSpillTasks.clear();
 
+      if (firstException != null) {
+        throw firstException;
+      }
+
       activeSpillSorter.setSpillInfo(spillInfo);
       activeSpillSorter.writeSortedFileNative(true, tracingEnabled);
 
       freeMemory();
     }
 
-    return spills.toArray(new SpillInfo[spills.size()]);
+    return spills.toArray(new SpillInfo[0]);
   }
 }