diff --git a/isolate.go b/isolate.go
index bac63e1..c0cdd88 100644
--- a/isolate.go
+++ b/isolate.go
@@ -342,14 +342,18 @@ func (i *Isolate) Dispose() {
 	unregisterIsolate(i)
 	// Serialise dispose against snapshotDeserMu: V8 14.x corrupts its
 	// shared-heap teardown state if a parallel goroutine is constructing
-	// a new isolate at the same moment we are tearing one down. The
-	// critical section is short (microseconds) and idiomatic v8::Locker
-	// rules continue to apply for everyday API calls.
+	// a new isolate at the same moment we are tearing one down.
+	// CreateCodeCache takes an RLock on the same mutex so it cannot
+	// overlap with Dispose — see unbound_script.go.
+	//
+	// i.ptr is set to nil inside the lock so that any RLock holder
+	// that re-checks after acquiring the lock sees the nil and bails
+	// instead of passing a dangling pointer to CGo.
 	snapshotDeserMu.Lock()
 	C.IsolateDisposeSnapshot(i.ptr)
 	C.IsolateDispose(i.ptr)
-	snapshotDeserMu.Unlock()
 	i.ptr = nil
+	snapshotDeserMu.Unlock()
 	if i.snapshotData != nil {
 		C.free(i.snapshotData)
 		i.snapshotData = nil
diff --git a/snapshot.go b/snapshot.go
index 83739d9..079a173 100644
--- a/snapshot.go
+++ b/snapshot.go
@@ -86,14 +86,23 @@ var ErrSnapshotCreatorConsumed = errors.New(
 // lets the embedder use the wrapper freely from any goroutine.
 var snapshotCreatorMu sync.Mutex
 
-// snapshotDeserMu serialises every Isolate::New call. The V8 binaries we
-// ship via tommie/v8go/deps assert and abort when two isolates are being
+// snapshotDeserMu serialises Isolate::New and Isolate::Dispose against
+// each other AND against CreateCodeCache. The V8 binaries we ship via
+// tommie/v8go/deps assert and abort when two isolates are being
 // constructed in parallel because the shared-heap initialiser (string
 // table forwarding, read-only heap shrink, etc) is not thread-safe in
-// the absence of v8::Locker. Holding this mutex around every isolate
-// construction keeps the wrapper safe to call from any goroutine, with
-// no cost outside the construction critical section.
-var snapshotDeserMu sync.Mutex
+// the absence of v8::Locker.
+//
+// RWMutex semantics:
+//   - NewIsolate / Dispose take Lock (exclusive writer) because they
+//     mutate V8 process-global shared-heap state.
+//   - CreateCodeCache takes RLock (shared reader) because it reads
+//     shared-heap objects (ReadOnlySpace roots, StringTable) that
+//     Dispose can tear down concurrently.
+//
+// Multiple CreateCodeCache calls on different isolates remain parallel;
+// they only block while an isolate is being created or disposed.
+var snapshotDeserMu sync.RWMutex
 
 // NewSnapshotCreator returns a new SnapshotCreator wired to the frozen
 // process-wide external_references registry. The very first call to this
diff --git a/unbound_script.cc b/unbound_script.cc
index 7a30f4a..d3265b5 100644
--- a/unbound_script.cc
+++ b/unbound_script.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ using namespace v8;
 ScriptCompilerCachedData* UnboundScriptCreateCodeCache(
     Isolate* iso,
     UnboundScriptPtr us_ptr) {
+  if (!iso || !us_ptr) return nullptr;
   ISOLATE_SCOPE(iso);
 
   Local<UnboundScript> unbound_script = us_ptr->ptr.Get(iso);
diff --git a/unbound_script.go b/unbound_script.go
index dbe5ff9..da36f12 100644
--- a/unbound_script.go
+++ b/unbound_script.go
@@ -22,9 +22,32 @@ func (u *UnboundScript) Run(ctx *Context) (*Value, error) {
 	return valueResult(ctx, rtn)
 }
 
-// Create a code cache from the unbound script.
+// CreateCodeCache serialises the compiled bytecode so it can be fed to
+// a future CompileUnboundScript call (on any isolate) to skip parsing.
+//
+// An RLock on snapshotDeserMu is held for the duration of the CGo call
+// so that Isolate.Dispose (which takes a write Lock) cannot tear down
+// V8 shared-heap state while CreateCodeCache is reading it. Multiple
+// concurrent CreateCodeCache calls on different isolates remain parallel.
+//
+// Returns nil without calling into V8 if the isolate has already been
+// disposed (ptr set to nil inside Dispose's write lock).
 func (u *UnboundScript) CreateCodeCache() *CompilerCachedData {
+	if u == nil || u.iso == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	snapshotDeserMu.RLock()
+	defer snapshotDeserMu.RUnlock()
+
+	if u.iso.ptr == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	rtn := C.UnboundScriptCreateCodeCache(u.iso.ptr, u.ptr)
+	if rtn == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	cachedData := &CompilerCachedData{
 		Bytes:    []byte(C.GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer(rtn.data), rtn.length)),