diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a8adf784a..0cdfbec7f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ and adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 - `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now link a file to a module it imports under a name of its own when the module is added after the file was indexed, comes back after being deleted, or gets the export in a later edit: a default import like `import tagsController from './tag/tag.controller'`, a namespace import like `import * as api from './api'`, or an aliased one like `import { Component as GroupsPageWrapper } from './groups_page'`, in JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, Svelte and Astro. Before, the import and every use of the name, such as a call, `new`, a base class, a JSX or template tag or an Express `app.use` mount, stayed unlinked until the importing file changed or the project was re-indexed, so the module looked unused and `codegraph affected` missed the files that use it. Re-index after upgrading to pick up links an earlier version missed.
 - `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now also link a call or read on a name a file imports, like `NODE_PATH_EXCLUDELIST.includes(path)` after `import { NODE_PATH_EXCLUDELIST } from './constants'`, `store.get(key)` through a default import or `api.get()` through a namespace import, when the module gets the export in a later edit, is added after the importing file was indexed, or comes back after being deleted, in JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, Svelte and Astro. Before, such a call stayed unlinked until the importing file changed or the project was re-indexed, because sync looked it up only by its method's name, which the module seldom declares, and skipped a name as common as `includes`, `get` or `map` altogether. Re-index after upgrading to pick up links an earlier version missed.
 - `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now also link a call on a variable or parameter declared with a class a file imports, like `cache.get(key)` after `const cache = new LRUCache(10)` or in a function that takes `cache: LRUCache<string, number>`, when the class's module gets the class in a later edit, is added after the file was indexed, or comes back after being deleted, in JavaScript and TypeScript. Before, such a call stayed unlinked until its own file changed or the project was re-indexed whenever its method's name, like `get`, was too common for sync to look up. Re-index after upgrading to pick up links an earlier version missed.
+- `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now link a call that had two candidates once a sync deletes the file holding one of them or renames it away, like `x.go()` with `go` defined in two classes, as a full index does. Before, the call stayed unlinked until its own file changed or the project was re-indexed. Thanks @inth3shadows for the report and the pull request. (#3006)
 - `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now also link a name a file imports from a barrel module, like `import { useInvocation } from './context'` where `context/index.ts` re-exports it from the file that declares it, when an edit gives the barrel that re-export after the importing file was indexed, in JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, Svelte and Astro. Before, the import and every use of the name, such as a call or a JSX or template tag, stayed unlinked until the importing file changed or the project was re-indexed, because a barrel declares none of the names it passes on. Re-index after upgrading to pick up links an earlier version missed.
 - `codegraph sync` and the file watcher now also update the files that import through a barrel module when an edit points one of its re-exports at another module, like `export { foo } from './a'` changed to `'./b'` or an `export *` moved the same way, takes one away, or drops a name from it, in JavaScript and TypeScript. Before, those files kept the names linked to the old module until they changed or the project was re-indexed. Thanks @inth3shadows for the report and @danusha2345. (#2978)
 - In TypeScript and JavaScript, a call of an array method, like `items.find(…)` or `items.push(…)`, on a variable or parameter annotated as an array of a class (`items: Item[]`) no longer links to the class's method of the same name. Before, the annotation was read as the class itself: in vscode, `distinctElements.find(…)` on an `ExplorerItem[]` linked to `ExplorerItem.find`, and `ranges.map(…)` on an `OffsetRange[]` to `OffsetRange.map`, so those methods showed callers they don't have. A call on an element that shares the array's name, as in `d.forEach(d => d.dispose())`, still links to the class. Re-index TypeScript and JavaScript projects after upgrading.
diff --git a/__tests__/sync-removed-competitor.test.ts b/__tests__/sync-removed-competitor.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ffb12889a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/sync-removed-competitor.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/**
+ * A call that only failed because a second candidate shared its name resolves
+ * once a sync removes that candidate.
+ *
+ * `x.go()` on a value of unknown type, with `go` defined in two classes, is
+ * ambiguous: a full index leaves it unresolved. Take one of the two away and a
+ * full index links the call to the other. Sync didn't: its failed-reference
+ * retry looked failed refs up by the names in the files it changed, so a
+ * deleted file (no names left) or an edit that renames the competitor away
+ * never brought the call up again, and a sync that only deleted files skipped
+ * the retry altogether.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import * as os from 'os';
+import CodeGraph from '../src/index';
+
+/** Every node and edge by natural key, so two indexes of the same files compare directly. */
+function graphOf(cg: CodeGraph): { nodes: string[]; edges: string[] } {
+  const keys = new Map(
+    cg.getFiles()
+      .flatMap((file) => cg.getNodesInFile(file.path))
+      .map((n) => [n.id, `${n.kind} ${n.filePath}:${n.qualifiedName}:${n.startLine}`] as const)
+  );
+  const edges = cg.getOutgoingEdgesFrom([...keys.keys()])
+    .map((e) => `${e.kind} ${keys.get(e.source)} -> ${keys.get(e.target) ?? e.target}`);
+  return { nodes: [...keys.values()].sort(), edges: edges.sort() };
+}
+
+async function reindexFromScratch(cg: CodeGraph): Promise<CodeGraph> {
+  const root = cg.getProjectRoot();
+  cg.close();
+  const rebuilt = await CodeGraph.recreate(root);
+  await rebuilt.indexAll();
+  return rebuilt;
+}
+
+const REINDEX_TIMEOUT = 60_000;
+
+describe('sync re-resolves a call whose competing candidate went away', () => {
+  let dir: string;
+  let cg: CodeGraph;
+  const write = (rel: string, content: string) => fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, rel), content);
+
+  function callTargets(caller: string): string[] {
+    const node = cg.searchNodes(caller).map((r) => r.node).find((n) => n.name === caller && n.kind === 'function');
+    return node ? cg.getCallees(node.id).map((c) => c.node.qualifiedName).sort() : [];
+  }
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    cg?.destroy();
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  describe('Python', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'cg-competitor-py-'));
+      write('a.py', 'class A:\n    def go(self):\n        return 1\n');
+      write('b.py', 'class B:\n    def go(self):\n        return 2\n');
+      write('t.py', 'from a import A\n\ndef make():\n    return A()\n\ndef use():\n    x = make()\n    x.go()\n');
+      cg = CodeGraph.initSync(dir);
+      await cg.indexAll();
+      // Two candidates: the call stays unresolved.
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['make']);
+    });
+
+    it('after the file holding the other candidate is deleted', async () => {
+      fs.unlinkSync(path.join(dir, 'b.py'));
+      const result = await cg.sync();
+      expect(result.filesRemoved).toBe(1);
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['A::go', 'make']);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+
+    it('after an edit renames the other candidate away', async () => {
+      write('b.py', 'class B:\n    def stop(self):\n        return 2\n');
+      await cg.sync();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['A::go', 'make']);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+
+    it('a deletion that leaves the call ambiguous changes nothing', async () => {
+      write('c.py', 'class C:\n    def go(self):\n        return 3\n');
+      await cg.sync();
+      fs.unlinkSync(path.join(dir, 'b.py'));
+      await cg.sync();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['make']);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+  });
+
+  describe('TypeScript', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'cg-competitor-ts-'));
+      write('a.ts', 'export class A {\n  go(): number { return 1; }\n}\n');
+      write('b.ts', 'export class B {\n  go(): number { return 2; }\n}\n');
+      write('t.ts', 'export function use(x: any): void {\n  x.go();\n}\n');
+      cg = CodeGraph.initSync(dir);
+      await cg.indexAll();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('after the file holding the other candidate is deleted', async () => {
+      fs.unlinkSync(path.join(dir, 'b.ts'));
+      await cg.sync();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['A::go']);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+
+    it('after an edit renames the other candidate away', async () => {
+      write('b.ts', 'export class B {\n  stop(): number { return 2; }\n}\n');
+      await cg.sync();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual(['A::go']);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+
+    it('a deletion that leaves the call ambiguous changes nothing', async () => {
+      write('c.ts', 'export class C {\n  go(): number { return 3; }\n}\n');
+      await cg.sync();
+      fs.unlinkSync(path.join(dir, 'b.ts'));
+      await cg.sync();
+      expect(callTargets('use')).toEqual([]);
+      const synced = graphOf(cg);
+      cg = await reindexFromScratch(cg);
+      expect(synced).toEqual(graphOf(cg));
+    }, REINDEX_TIMEOUT);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/docs/benchmarks/index-drift-cg33.md b/docs/benchmarks/index-drift-cg33.md
index 2778beaf0..2c97af8bb 100644
--- a/docs/benchmarks/index-drift-cg33.md
+++ b/docs/benchmarks/index-drift-cg33.md
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ identical graph still picked a different candidate.
   edges targeting a symbol of that name whose source is in an *unchanged* file,
   and re-inserts each as the reference that created it (the `metadata.refName`
   stamp). The existing orphan sweep then resolves them against the post-sync
-  graph — the same input a rebuild resolves from. Kill switch:
+  graph — the same input a rebuild resolves from.
+- Failed references parked under a delta name go back to pending for the same
+  sweep: a call that failed only because a second definition shared its name
+  links once that definition is deleted or renamed away. Kill switch for both:
   `CODEGRAPH_NO_REBIND=1`.
 
 The delta is compared **per file**, not as one name set over the whole batch: a
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 6275ffe9d..a181cd620 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1526,7 +1526,8 @@ export class CodeGraph {
         // as a full index resolves.
         //
         // `definitionDelta` is empty for a body-only edit, so the overwhelmingly
-        // common sync pays one branch. CODEGRAPH_NO_REBIND=1 disables it.
+        // common sync pays one branch. CODEGRAPH_NO_REBIND=1 disables it, and
+        // the failed-ref re-open that follows the rebind with it.
         if (result.definitionDelta && process.env.CODEGRAPH_NO_REBIND !== '1') {
           const tRebind = Date.now();
           const rebound = this.orchestrator.resurrectStaleResolutionEdges(
@@ -1534,9 +1535,19 @@ export class CodeGraph {
             result.changedFilePaths ?? [],
             edgesBeforeRetry
           );
+          // And the failed refs under those names: a call that failed only
+          // because two definitions shared its name (`x.go()` with `go` in two
+          // classes) resolves once one of them is gone. The retry above looks
+          // failed refs up by the names the changed files carry now, which a
+          // deleted file or a name renamed away no longer has, and a sync that
+          // only deletes files skips it. The sweep below resolves what this
+          // re-opens.
+          const reopenedFailed = this.queries.reopenFailedReferences(
+            this.queries.getRetryableFailedReferences(result.definitionDelta).flatMap((ref) => (ref.rowId === undefined ? [] : [ref.rowId]))
+          );
           if (process.env.CODEGRAPH_SYNTH_TIMINGS) {
             console.error(
-              `[phase-timing] sync-rebind: ${Date.now() - tRebind}ms (${result.definitionDelta.length} changed names, ${rebound} edges re-opened)`
+              `[phase-timing] sync-rebind: ${Date.now() - tRebind}ms (${result.definitionDelta.length} changed names, ${rebound} edges and ${reopenedFailed} failed refs re-opened)`
             );
           }
         }