diff --git a/.changeset/toast-dismiss-without-row.md b/.changeset/toast-dismiss-without-row.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..abd1ab11247c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/toast-dismiss-without-row.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@astryxdesign/core': patch
+---
+
+[fix] A toast dismissed while it had no row on screen — hidden past `maxVisible`, or dismissed before it first rendered — now leaves the stack. Before, it stayed as an empty, invisible row that took a visible slot when it came back into view and kept the "Notifications" landmark (and its F6 stop) present after every real toast was gone.
+
+@vjeux
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.test.tsx b/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.test.tsx
index 4f6ea0be722c8..98305eac4db5d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.test.tsx
@@ -442,6 +442,143 @@ describe('ToastViewport visible limit', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('dismissing a toast that has no mounted row', () => {
+  function ShowAndKeepDismiss({
+    options,
+    label,
+    onShown,
+  }: {
+    options: ToastOptions;
+    label: string;
+    onShown: (dismiss: () => void) => void;
+  }) {
+    const toast = useToast();
+    return (
+      <button type="button" onClick={() => onShown(toast(options))}>
+        {label}
+      </button>
+    );
+  }
+
+  it('reports a hidden toast once when it is dismissed twice before the viewport renders again', () => {
+    const onHideA = vi.fn();
+    let dismissA: (() => void) | null = null;
+    render(
+      <ToastViewport isTopLayer={false} maxVisible={1}>
+        <ShowAndKeepDismiss
+          options={{body: 'Toast A', isAutoHide: false, onHide: onHideA}}
+          label="Show A"
+          onShown={dismiss => {
+            dismissA = dismiss;
+          }}
+        />
+        <ShowToastButton
+          options={{body: 'Toast B', isAutoHide: false}}
+          triggerLabel="Show B"
+        />
+      </ToastViewport>,
+    );
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show A'));
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show B'));
+    });
+    expect(screen.queryByText('Toast A')).toBeNull();
+
+    // Both calls land in one batch, before the list renders without A.
+    act(() => {
+      dismissA?.();
+      dismissA?.();
+    });
+    expect(onHideA).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('frees the slot of a toast dismissed while it was hidden past maxVisible', () => {
+    const onHideA = vi.fn();
+    let dismissA: (() => void) | null = null;
+    render(
+      <ToastViewport isTopLayer={false} maxVisible={2}>
+        <ShowAndKeepDismiss
+          options={{body: 'Toast A', isAutoHide: false, onHide: onHideA}}
+          label="Show A"
+          onShown={dismiss => {
+            dismissA = dismiss;
+          }}
+        />
+        <ShowToastButton
+          options={{body: 'Toast B', isAutoHide: false}}
+          triggerLabel="Show B"
+        />
+        <ShowToastButton
+          options={{body: 'Toast C', isAutoHide: false}}
+          triggerLabel="Show C"
+        />
+      </ToastViewport>,
+    );
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show A'));
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show B'));
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show C'));
+    });
+    // Only the newest two are shown: A is hidden past the limit.
+    expect(screen.queryByText('Toast A')).toBeNull();
+
+    act(() => {
+      dismissA?.();
+    });
+    expect(onHideA).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(onHideA).toHaveBeenCalledWith('manual');
+
+    // C leaves. A was dismissed, so it must not come back to hold the slot
+    // as an empty row: B is the only toast left.
+    const toastC = getToastWrapperByText('Toast C');
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.click(
+        within(toastC).getByRole('button', {name: 'Dismiss notification'}),
+      );
+    });
+    act(() => {
+      completeExit(toastC.dataset.toastId ?? '');
+    });
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[data-toast-id]')).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(screen.getByText('Toast B')).toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    // Once B leaves too, nothing is left: no row, no empty landmark.
+    const toastB = getToastWrapperByText('Toast B');
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.click(
+        within(toastB).getByRole('button', {name: 'Dismiss notification'}),
+      );
+    });
+    act(() => {
+      completeExit(toastB.dataset.toastId ?? '');
+    });
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[data-toast-id]')).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('region', {name: 'Notifications'})).toBeNull();
+    expect(onHideA).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('never shows a toast dismissed before it rendered, and reports it once', () => {
+    const onHide = vi.fn();
+    render(
+      <ToastViewport isTopLayer={false}>
+        <ShowAndKeepDismiss
+          options={{body: 'Toast gone', isAutoHide: false, onHide}}
+          label="Show and dismiss"
+          onShown={dismiss => dismiss()}
+        />
+      </ToastViewport>,
+    );
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByText('Show and dismiss'));
+    });
+
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[data-toast-id]')).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('region', {name: 'Notifications'})).toBeNull();
+    expect(onHide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(onHide).toHaveBeenCalledWith('manual');
+  });
+});
+
 describe('ToastViewport keyboard reach + focus', () => {
   it('F6 moves focus into the newest toast', () => {
     renderViewport(
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.tsx b/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.tsx
index 7202d4082725a..f91e443541fad 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/Toast/ToastViewport.tsx
@@ -348,6 +348,9 @@ export function ToastViewport({
   // Toast ids whose exit has begun — guards onHide from double-firing (see
   // removeToast). Mirrors exitingIds state, readable synchronously.
   const exitingIdsRef = useRef<Set<string>>(new Set());
+  // Toasts dispatched since the last commit, by id: a dismiss() called
+  // before the toast first renders still finds it (and its onHide).
+  const pendingEntriesRef = useRef<Map<string, ToastEntry>>(new Map());
   // The element that was focused before the user jumped into the viewport
   // (via F6). Used to restore focus once all toasts are dismissed so focus
   // never falls to <body>.
@@ -423,6 +426,16 @@ export function ToastViewport({
         // else to the polite region (role="status") — mirrors Toast.tsx.
         announce(text, entry.options.type === 'error' ? 'assertive' : 'polite');
       }
+      const pending = pendingEntriesRef.current;
+      if (uniqueID) {
+        // An overwrite replaces a toast that has not rendered yet too.
+        for (const [pendingId, pendingEntry] of pending) {
+          if (pendingEntry.options.uniqueID === uniqueID) {
+            pending.delete(pendingId);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      pending.set(entry.id, entry);
       // An overwrite swaps a new entry, with a new id, into the replaced
       // toast's place, so the old row leaves the DOM without ever being
       // dismissed. Its settled id is dropped by the prune below, which covers
@@ -449,11 +462,15 @@ export function ToastViewport({
     if (exitingIdsRef.current.has(id)) {
       return;
     }
-    exitingIdsRef.current.add(id);
-    const entry = toastsRef.current.find(t => t.id === id);
-    if (entry) {
-      entry.options.onHide?.(reason);
+    const entry =
+      toastsRef.current.find(t => t.id === id) ??
+      pendingEntriesRef.current.get(id);
+    if (entry == null) {
+      // Already gone: nothing to hide or report.
+      return;
     }
+    exitingIdsRef.current.add(id);
+    entry.options.onHide?.(reason);
     // If focus currently lives inside the toast being dismissed, remember
     // that its removal must hand focus off to a neighbor (or the element
     // focused before the user entered the viewport) rather than <body>.
@@ -480,6 +497,20 @@ export function ToastViewport({
         pendingFocusRef.current = 'restore';
       }
     }
+    if (dismissedNode == null) {
+      // No row is mounted for it: it is hidden past `maxVisible`, or it has
+      // not rendered yet. Nothing animates out, so it leaves the list now.
+      // Waiting for its row to finish exiting would keep it forever: when it
+      // surfaced, its row would mount already collapsed, with no transition
+      // left to end, and hold a visible slot as an empty row.
+      // It leaves the committed list now too, so a second dismissal before
+      // the next render finds nothing to report.
+      exitingIdsRef.current.delete(id);
+      pendingEntriesRef.current.delete(id);
+      toastsRef.current = toastsRef.current.filter(t => t.id !== id);
+      setToasts(prev => prev.filter(t => t.id !== id));
+      return;
+    }
     setExitingIds(prev => {
       if (prev.has(id)) {
         return prev;
@@ -490,6 +521,7 @@ export function ToastViewport({
 
   const handleExited = useCallback((id: string) => {
     exitingIdsRef.current.delete(id);
+    pendingEntriesRef.current.delete(id);
     setExitingIds(withoutId(id));
     setToasts(prev => prev.filter(t => t.id !== id));
   }, []);