diff --git a/codex-rs/thread-store/src/local/thread_history_materialization.rs b/codex-rs/thread-store/src/local/thread_history_materialization.rs
index 34eeede51b..a543302c38 100644
--- a/codex-rs/thread-store/src/local/thread_history_materialization.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/thread-store/src/local/thread_history_materialization.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::io::Read;
+use std::io::Seek;
 use std::io::SeekFrom;
 use std::path::Path;
 
@@ -6,8 +8,6 @@ use codex_app_server_protocol::ThreadHistoryChangeSet;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::project_rollout_line;
 use codex_protocol::ThreadId;
 use codex_rollout::RolloutItem;
-use tokio::io::AsyncReadExt;
-use tokio::io::AsyncSeekExt;
 use tracing::warn;
 
 use super::LocalThreadStore;
@@ -90,20 +90,39 @@ async fn read_projection_steps(
     subagent_history_start_ordinal: Option<u64>,
 ) -> ThreadStoreResult<(Vec<RolloutProjectionStep>, u64)> {
     let path = rollout_path.to_path_buf();
-    let file =
-        tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || codex_rollout::open_rollout_seekable_reader(&path))
-            .await
-            .map_err(|err| ThreadStoreError::Internal {
-                message: format!("failed to join rollout projection read: {err}"),
-            })?;
-    let mut file = match file {
-        Ok(file) => tokio::fs::File::from_std(file),
+    let span = tracing::Span::current();
+    tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+        let _entered = span.enter();
+        read_projection_steps_sync(
+            &path,
+            start_offset,
+            expected_ordinal,
+            thread_id,
+            subagent_history_start_ordinal,
+        )
+    })
+    .await
+    .map_err(|err| ThreadStoreError::Internal {
+        message: format!("failed to join rollout projection read: {err}"),
+    })?
+}
+
+/// Read and project the complete durable prefix in one blocking task.
+fn read_projection_steps_sync(
+    rollout_path: &Path,
+    start_offset: u64,
+    expected_ordinal: u64,
+    thread_id: ThreadId,
+    subagent_history_start_ordinal: Option<u64>,
+) -> ThreadStoreResult<(Vec<RolloutProjectionStep>, u64)> {
+    let mut file = match codex_rollout::open_rollout_seekable_reader(rollout_path) {
+        Ok(file) => file,
         Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound && start_offset == 0 => {
             return Ok((Vec::new(), 0));
         }
         Err(err) => return Err(thread_store_io_error(err)),
     };
-    let file_end_offset = file.metadata().await.map_err(thread_store_io_error)?.len();
+    let file_end_offset = file.metadata().map_err(thread_store_io_error)?.len();
     let byte_count =
         file_end_offset
             .checked_sub(start_offset)
@@ -115,10 +134,8 @@ async fn read_projection_steps(
     })?;
     let mut bytes = vec![0; byte_count];
     file.seek(SeekFrom::Start(start_offset))
-        .await
         .map_err(thread_store_io_error)?;
     file.read_exact(bytes.as_mut_slice())
-        .await
         .map_err(thread_store_io_error)?;
     // Only project the newline-terminated prefix; leave a trailing partial record for the next
     // pass.