diff --git a/components/freertos/test_apps/freertos/kernel/queue/test_freertos_mutex.c b/components/freertos/test_apps/freertos/kernel/queue/test_freertos_mutex.c
index 598205bae8..6373ee790c 100644
--- a/components/freertos/test_apps/freertos/kernel/queue/test_freertos_mutex.c
+++ b/components/freertos/test_apps/freertos/kernel/queue/test_freertos_mutex.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022-2023 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022-2026 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
@@ -7,35 +7,73 @@
 #include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
 #include "freertos/task.h"
 #include "freertos/semphr.h"
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include "esp_attr.h"
+#include "soc/soc_caps.h"
+#if SOC_CACHE_INTERNAL_MEM_VIA_L1CACHE
+#include "hal/cache_ll.h"
+#endif
 #include "unity.h"
 #include "test_utils.h"
-#include "esp_system.h"
 
 /* If assertions aren't set to fail this code still crashes, but not with an abort... */
-#if CONFIG_FREERTOS_CHECK_MUTEX_GIVEN_BY_OWNER && !CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_ASSERTIONS_DISABLE
+#if !CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_ASSERTIONS_DISABLE
+
+/* Persists across reset so stage 2 can confirm stage 1 reached the failure path. */
+static __NOINIT_ATTR bool s_restart_marker;
+/* Reinitialized on reboot so stage 2 can distinguish a real restart from normal return. */
+static bool s_runtime_marker;
 
 static void mutex_release_task(void* arg)
 {
     SemaphoreHandle_t mutex = (SemaphoreHandle_t) arg;
     xSemaphoreGive(mutex);
+    /* The spawned task gives a mutex it does not own. Because the mutex is still held by the
+       main task, the give flows through xSemaphoreGive(), xQueueGenericSend(),
+       prvCopyDataToQueue(), and xTaskPriorityDisinherit(), where configASSERT(pxTCB ==
+       pxCurrentTCB) fires and the panic resets the chip. */
     TEST_FAIL_MESSAGE("should not be reached");
 }
 
-static void check_reset_reason_panic(void)
+static void setup_restart_markers(void)
 {
-    TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(ESP_RST_PANIC, esp_reset_reason());
+    s_restart_marker = true;
+    s_runtime_marker = true;
+
+#if SOC_CACHE_INTERNAL_MEM_VIA_L1CACHE
+    /* If internal data is behind a cache it might not be written to the physical memory when we crash
+       force a full writeback here to ensure this */
+    cache_ll_writeback_all(CACHE_LL_LEVEL_INT_MEM, CACHE_TYPE_DATA, CACHE_LL_ID_ALL);
+#endif
+}
+
+static void check_system_restarted(void)
+{
+    /* s_restart_marker is NOINIT so it still holds the true value set in stage 1 across the
+     * software reset; s_runtime_marker is BSS so it is re-initialized to false on every boot. */
+    TEST_ASSERT_TRUE(s_restart_marker);
+    TEST_ASSERT_FALSE(s_runtime_marker);
+
+    s_restart_marker = false;
 }
 
 static void do_mutex_release_assert(void)
 {
+    setup_restart_markers();
+
     SemaphoreHandle_t mutex = xSemaphoreCreateMutex();
     xSemaphoreTake(mutex, portMAX_DELAY);
     xTaskCreate(&mutex_release_task, "mutex_release", 2048, mutex, UNITY_FREERTOS_PRIORITY + 1, NULL);
-    vTaskDelay(1);
+    /* Stage 1 must not return to Unity before the releaser trips the panic. */
+    vTaskSuspend(NULL);
 }
 
-TEST_CASE_MULTIPLE_STAGES("mutex released not by owner causes an assert", "[freertos][reset=assert,SW_CPU_RESET]",
+TEST_CASE_MULTIPLE_STAGES("mutex released not by owner causes an assert", "[freertos]",
+                          /* On dual-core ESP32 the panic handler can deadlock on S32C1I if the
+                           * stalled core was mid-atomic, causing an RTC WDT reset (ESP_RST_WDT)
+                           * instead of ESP_RST_PANIC. Stage 2 therefore verifies a real reboot
+                           * via NOINIT and BSS state instead of checking the reset reason. */
                           do_mutex_release_assert,
-                          check_reset_reason_panic)
+                          check_system_restarted)
 
 #endif