diff --git a/druntime/src/core/internal/gc/impl/conservative/gc.d b/druntime/src/core/internal/gc/impl/conservative/gc.d
index 1c7025a2062e..55ea74b8fb22 100644
--- a/druntime/src/core/internal/gc/impl/conservative/gc.d
+++ b/druntime/src/core/internal/gc/impl/conservative/gc.d
@@ -3621,6 +3621,8 @@ Lmark:
         else
             pullLoop!(false)();
 
+        evStackFilled.reset(); // symmetric with setIfInitialized() above; avoids livelock when no pop ever happened
+
         debug(PARALLEL_PRINTF) printf("waitForScanDone done\n");
     }
 
diff --git a/druntime/test/gc/Makefile b/druntime/test/gc/Makefile
index cb96de7f61b6..62751934e039 100644
--- a/druntime/test/gc/Makefile
+++ b/druntime/test/gc/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ TESTS:=attributes sentinel printf memstomp invariant logging \
 
 ifneq ($(OS),windows)
     # some .d files are for Posix only
-    TESTS+=sentinel1 sentinel2 forkgc sigmaskgc startbackgc
+    TESTS+=sentinel1 sentinel2 forkgc sigmaskgc startbackgc issue23081
     # and some tests require the `fork` GC, only supported on Posix
     TESTS+=concurrent precise_concurrent hospital
 endif
@@ -93,3 +93,4 @@ $(ROOT)/hospital$(DOTEXE): extra_dflags += -d
 $(ROOT)/hospital.done: run_args+=--DRT-gcopt=fork:1
 $(ROOT)/issue22843$(DOTEXE): extra_dflags += $(core_ut)
 $(ROOT)/issue22843.done: run_args+="--DRT-gcopt=fork:1 initReserve:0 minPoolSize:1"
+$(ROOT)/issue23081.done: run_args+="--DRT-gcopt=parallel:128 minPoolSize:1"
diff --git a/druntime/test/gc/issue23081.d b/druntime/test/gc/issue23081.d
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..11e050cfc25a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/druntime/test/gc/issue23081.d
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+// https://github.com/dlang/dmd/issues/23081
+// GC scan threads livelock when no global stack pop occurs during markParallel.
+//
+// evStackFilled is a manual-reset event.  markParallel sets it unconditionally
+// before the pull loop.  If toscanRoots is small enough that pointersPerThread==0
+// (nothing pre-pushed to the global scan stack) AND the live structure fits in
+// mark()'s 32-entry local stack (nothing spills), the event is never reset.
+// Background scan threads then spin forever: evStackFilled.wait() returns
+// immediately, pullFromScanStack is a no-op, evDone is broadcast, repeat.
+//
+// The fix resets evStackFilled after pullLoop returns, symmetrically with the
+// setIfInitialized() call above it.
+//
+// We use parallel:128 (capped to logical_cpus - 1 by startScanThreads) to push
+// numScanThreads as high as the host allows.  The bug only triggers when
+// numScanThreads + 1 exceeds toscanRoots.length, so on few-core CI runners this
+// test passes without exercising the regression path; on many-core machines
+// (>= ~20 cores) it reliably triggers without the fix.
+//
+// NOTE: GC.collect() calls fullcollect(isFinal=true) which disables parallel
+// scan threads.  To trigger parallel marking we rely on automatic collections
+// driven by allocations filling the initial pool.
+
+import core.memory;
+import core.thread;
+import core.stdc.stdio;
+import core.sys.posix.sys.resource;
+import core.time;
+
+void main()
+{
+    auto collections = GC.profileStats().numCollections;
+
+    // Allocate enough to fill the first GC pool (minPoolSize:1 = 1MB) so the
+    // allocator triggers an automatic collection (isFinal=false path) rather
+    // than growing the heap.  Keep each object tiny so the live set is small.
+    foreach (i; 0 .. 8192)
+        new int[32]; // 8192 * 128 bytes = 1MB of small allocations
+
+    assert(GC.profileStats().numCollections > collections,
+        "test did not trigger an automatic GC collection");
+
+    // Measure CPU consumption during a quiescent sleep.
+    // Without the fix, the scan threads from the last automatic collection
+    // are still spinning because evStackFilled was never reset.
+    rusage before, after;
+    getrusage(RUSAGE_SELF, &before);
+    Thread.sleep(500.msecs);
+    getrusage(RUSAGE_SELF, &after);
+
+    long userUs = (after.ru_utime.tv_sec  - before.ru_utime.tv_sec)  * 1_000_000L
+                + (after.ru_utime.tv_usec - before.ru_utime.tv_usec);
+    long sysUs  = (after.ru_stime.tv_sec  - before.ru_stime.tv_sec)  * 1_000_000L
+                + (after.ru_stime.tv_usec - before.ru_stime.tv_usec);
+    long totalCpuUs = userUs + sysUs;
+    long wallUs = 500_000L;
+
+    double ratio = cast(double)totalCpuUs / wallUs;
+    printf("CPU/wall ratio during quiescent sleep: %.2f\n", ratio);
+    assert(ratio < 2.0, "GC scan threads are spinning -- livelock detected (#23081)");
+}