diff --git a/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/channel/SemaphoreTest.java b/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/channel/SemaphoreTest.java
index 962ee4fd0..32faeb43c 100644
--- a/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/channel/SemaphoreTest.java
+++ b/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/channel/SemaphoreTest.java
@@ -215,6 +215,35 @@ private void nonBlockingFailsFast(ConnectionSemaphore semaphore) throws IOExcept
         semaphore.acquireChannelLock(PK, true); // must not throw
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @Timeout(unit = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, value = 1000)
+    public void combinedNonBlockingReleasesGlobalPermitWhenPerHostExhausted() throws IOException {
+        // global(2) > per-host(1): the non-blocking acquire takes a global permit, then fails on the
+        // per-host limit. It must release the global permit it just took (releaseGlobal); otherwise a
+        // request to a DIFFERENT host would be wrongly starved of the still-held global permit. With
+        // global == per-host (as in the fail-fast tests above) the acquire fails on the global limit first
+        // and this release branch is never exercised, so use a wider global limit to reach it.
+        CombinedConnectionSemaphore semaphore = new CombinedConnectionSemaphore(2, 1, NON_BLOCKING__LONG_TIMEOUT);
+        Object hostA = new Object();
+        Object hostB = new Object();
+
+        semaphore.acquireChannelLock(hostA); // global -> 1 free, per-host(A) -> 0
+
+        // The non-blocking acquire for hostA must be rejected by the PER-HOST limit (a global permit was
+        // still free), confirming it got past the global gate and into the releaseGlobal branch.
+        boolean perHostRejected = false;
+        try {
+            semaphore.acquireChannelLock(hostA, true);
+        } catch (TooManyConnectionsPerHostException e) {
+            perHostRejected = true;
+        }
+        assertTrue(perHostRejected, "second hostA acquire must be rejected by the per-host limit, not the global one");
+
+        // If the global permit taken during that failed attempt had leaked, 0 global permits would remain
+        // and this different-host acquire would wrongly throw. It must succeed, proving releaseGlobal ran.
+        semaphore.acquireChannelLock(hostB, true); // must not throw
+    }
+
     @Test
     @Timeout(unit = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, value = 1000)
     public void defaultNonBlockingOverloadDelegatesToBlockingAcquire() throws IOException {