diff --git a/.changeset/pre/get-request-response-close.md b/.changeset/pre/get-request-response-close.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..318e3c8aa801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/pre/get-request-response-close.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': minor
+'@sveltejs/adapter-node': patch
+---
+
+feat: abort `request.signal` when the response closes prematurely, via a new `response` option for `getRequest`
diff --git a/packages/adapter-node/src/handler.js b/packages/adapter-node/src/handler.js
index ae424dc55fbf..f79534e3dcad 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-node/src/handler.js
+++ b/packages/adapter-node/src/handler.js
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ const ssr = async (req, res) => {
 		request = getRequest({
 			base: request_origin,
 			request: req,
+			response: res,
 			bodySizeLimit: body_size_limit
 		});
 	} catch {
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.js
index 52814bb3d893..1720d73f25a7 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.js
@@ -116,12 +116,13 @@ function get_raw_body(req, body_size_limit) {
 /**
  * @param {{
  *   request: import('http').IncomingMessage;
+ *   response?: import('http').ServerResponse;
  *   base: string;
  *   bodySizeLimit?: number;
  * }} options
  * @returns {Request}
  */
-export function getRequest({ request, base, bodySizeLimit }) {
+export function getRequest({ request, response, base, bodySizeLimit }) {
 	let headers = /** @type {Record<string, string>} */ (request.headers);
 	if (request.httpVersionMajor >= 2) {
 		// the Request constructor rejects headers with ':' in the name
@@ -144,6 +145,15 @@ export function getRequest({ request, base, bodySizeLimit }) {
 		}
 	});
 
+	// `readableAborted` stays false once the request has been fully read (or drained),
+	// so a client disconnect must also be detected on the response side. `writableEnded`
+	// rather than `writableFinished` because HTTP/2 marks cancelled streams as finished
+	response?.once('close', () => {
+		if (!response.writableEnded) {
+			controller.abort();
+		}
+	});
+
 	return new Request(base + request.url, {
 		// @ts-expect-error
 		duplex: 'half',
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.spec.js
index 5fa0f52cb20e..aa9f04224afd 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/node/index.spec.js
@@ -103,8 +103,9 @@ function create_response(req) {
 /**
  * @param {Record<string, string>} [headers]
  * @param {import('stream').PassThrough} [stream]
+ * @param {import('http').ServerResponse} [response]
  */
-function setup_post_request(headers = {}, stream) {
+function setup_post_request(headers = {}, stream, response) {
 	const req = stream ?? new PassThrough();
 	const incoming = /** @type {import('http').IncomingMessage} */ (/** @type {unknown} */ (req));
 	incoming.headers = {
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ function setup_post_request(headers = {}, stream) {
 	incoming.url = '/';
 	incoming.httpVersionMajor = 1;
 
-	const request = getRequest({ request: incoming, base: 'http://localhost' });
+	const request = getRequest({ request: incoming, response, base: 'http://localhost' });
 
 	return { req, incoming, request };
 }
@@ -213,6 +214,38 @@ test('does not remove unrelated data listeners when draining', async () => {
 	expect(unrelated).toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
 
+// https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/issues/16778
+test('aborts the request signal when the response closes before finishing', async () => {
+	const res = /** @type {any} */ (new EventEmitter());
+	res.writableEnded = false;
+
+	const { req, request } = setup_post_request({ 'content-length': '10' }, undefined, res);
+
+	// fully read the body, so the request stream can no longer report the disconnect
+	req.write(Buffer.from('0123456789'));
+	req.end();
+	await request.text();
+
+	res.emit('close');
+
+	expect(request.signal.aborted).toBe(true);
+});
+
+test('does not abort the request signal when the response finishes normally', async () => {
+	const res = /** @type {any} */ (new EventEmitter());
+	res.writableEnded = true;
+
+	const { req, request } = setup_post_request({ 'content-length': '10' }, undefined, res);
+
+	req.write(Buffer.from('0123456789'));
+	req.end();
+	await request.text();
+
+	res.emit('close');
+
+	expect(request.signal.aborted).toBe(false);
+});
+
 // Test for fix of CVE-2026-40073
 test('requests with no content-length and no transfer-encoding return null body', async () => {
 	const { request, req } = create_request({
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
index 6057b70cb612..38b295be9e99 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
@@ -593,7 +593,8 @@ export async function dev(
 
 				const request = getRequest({
 					base,
-					request: req
+					request: req,
+					response: res
 				});
 
 				if (manifest_error) {
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/preview/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/preview/index.js
index 37524cab3604..c16b7ef2e8cf 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/preview/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/preview/index.js
@@ -206,7 +206,8 @@ export async function preview(vite, vite_config, svelte_config) {
 
 			const request = getRequest({
 				base: `${protocol}://${host}`,
-				request: req
+				request: req,
+				response: res
 			});
 
 			setResponse(
diff --git a/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts b/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
index 2694326106bc..b8a0c2cf11e7 100644
--- a/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
@@ -1418,8 +1418,9 @@ declare module '@sveltejs/kit/hooks' {
 }
 
 declare module '@sveltejs/kit/node' {
-	export function getRequest({ request, base, bodySizeLimit }: {
+	export function getRequest({ request, response, base, bodySizeLimit }: {
 		request: import("http").IncomingMessage;
+		response?: import("http").ServerResponse;
 		base: string;
 		bodySizeLimit?: number;
 	}): Request;