diff --git a/src/hooks/useRive.tsx b/src/hooks/useRive.tsx
index 3627513..8049b4f 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useRive.tsx
+++ b/src/hooks/useRive.tsx
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ export default function useRive(
 ): RiveState {
   const [canvasElem, setCanvasElem] = useState<HTMLCanvasElement | null>(null);
   const containerRef = useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+  const canvasRef = useRef<HTMLCanvasElement | null>(null);
   const riveRef = useRef<Rive | null>(null);
 
   const [rive, setRive] = useState<Rive | null>(null);
@@ -153,11 +154,17 @@ export default function useRive(
    */
   const setCanvasRef: RefCallback<HTMLCanvasElement> = useCallback(
     (canvas: HTMLCanvasElement | null) => {
-      if (canvas === null && canvasElem) {
-        canvasElem.height = 0;
-        canvasElem.width = 0;
+      // Safari releases a canvas' backing store when the element is
+      // collected, which can lag well behind unmount. Zeroing the dimensions
+      // frees it synchronously. Read the previous canvas from a ref, because
+      // canvasElem is never updated in this callback
+      const previousCanvas = canvasRef.current;
+      if (canvas === null && previousCanvas) {
+        previousCanvas.height = 0;
+        previousCanvas.width = 0;
       }
 
+      canvasRef.current = canvas;
       setCanvasElem(canvas);
     },
     []
@@ -264,6 +271,7 @@ export default function useRive(
       observe(canvasElem, onChange);
     }
     return () => {
+      clearTimeout(timeoutId);
       if (canvasElem) {
         unobserve(canvasElem);
       }
diff --git a/test/useRive.test.tsx b/test/useRive.test.tsx
index b81aa26..06512cc 100644
--- a/test/useRive.test.tsx
+++ b/test/useRive.test.tsx
@@ -431,6 +431,60 @@ describe('useRive', () => {
     expect(container.firstChild).not.toHaveStyle('width: 50%');
   });
 
+  it('releases the canvas backing store when the component unmounts', async () => {
+    // @ts-ignore
+    mocked(rive.Rive).mockImplementation(() => baseRiveMock);
+
+    let captured: HTMLCanvasElement | null = null;
+    function Harness() {
+      const { RiveComponent, canvas } = useRive({ src: 'file-src' });
+      React.useEffect(() => {
+        if (canvas) captured = canvas;
+      }, [canvas]);
+      return <RiveComponent />;
+    }
+
+    const { unmount } = render(<Harness />);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(captured).not.toBeNull());
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      captured!.width = 800;
+      captured!.height = 600;
+      controlledRiveloadCb();
+    });
+    expect(captured!.width).toBe(800);
+    expect(captured!.height).toBe(600);
+
+    unmount();
+
+    expect(captured!.width).toBe(0);
+    expect(captured!.height).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps setCanvasRef referentially stable across renders', async () => {
+    const params = { src: 'file-src' };
+
+    // @ts-ignore
+    mocked(rive.Rive).mockImplementation(() => baseRiveMock);
+
+    const canvasSpy = document.createElement('canvas');
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useRive(params));
+    const initialSetCanvasRef = result.current.setCanvasRef;
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      result.current.setCanvasRef(canvasSpy);
+    });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.canvas).toBe(canvasSpy));
+    expect(result.current.setCanvasRef).toBe(initialSetCanvasRef);
+
+    // Loading sets `rive` state, re-rendering the hook.
+    await act(async () => {
+      controlledRiveloadCb();
+    });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.rive).not.toBeNull());
+    expect(result.current.setCanvasRef).toBe(initialSetCanvasRef);
+  });
+
   it('has a canvas size of 0 by default', async () => {
     const params = {
       src: 'file-src',
diff --git a/test/useRiveIntersection.test.tsx b/test/useRiveIntersection.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a653a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/useRiveIntersection.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import { mocked } from 'jest-mock';
+import { act, render, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+
+import useRive from '../src/hooks/useRive';
+import * as rive from '@rive-app/canvas';
+import useIntersectionObserver from '../src/hooks/useIntersectionObserver';
+
+// Capture the callback useRive registers, so the test can drive intersection
+// changes directly. The real ElementObserver is a module-level singleton around
+// a browser IntersectionObserver, which never fires under jsdom.
+let onChange: ((entry: unknown) => void) | null = null;
+const unobserve = jest.fn();
+
+jest.mock('../src/hooks/useIntersectionObserver', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  default: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+describe('useRive intersection observer teardown', () => {
+  let riveMock: Partial<rive.Rive>;
+  let loadCb: (() => void) | null = null;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers();
+    onChange = null;
+    unobserve.mockClear();
+
+    mocked(useIntersectionObserver).mockReturnValue({
+      observe: (_element: Element, callback: Function) => {
+        onChange = callback as (entry: unknown) => void;
+      },
+      unobserve,
+    });
+
+    riveMock = {
+      on: (_: rive.EventType, cb: rive.EventCallback) => {
+        loadCb = cb as () => void;
+      },
+      stop: jest.fn(),
+      stopRendering: jest.fn(),
+      startRendering: jest.fn(),
+      cleanup: jest.fn(),
+      resizeToCanvas: jest.fn(),
+    };
+    // @ts-ignore
+    mocked(rive.Rive).mockImplementation(() => riveMock);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it('does not fire the offscreen retest after unmount', async () => {
+    let captured: HTMLCanvasElement | null = null;
+    function Harness() {
+      const { RiveComponent, canvas } = useRive({ src: 'file-src' });
+      React.useEffect(() => {
+        if (canvas) captured = canvas;
+      }, [canvas]);
+      return <RiveComponent />;
+    }
+
+    const { unmount } = render(<Harness />);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(captured).not.toBeNull());
+    await act(async () => {
+      loadCb!();
+    });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(onChange).not.toBeNull());
+
+    captured!.getBoundingClientRect = () =>
+      ({ width: 100, height: 100, top: 0, bottom: 100, left: 0, right: 100 } as DOMRect);
+
+    // Going offscreen with a zero-width rect is what schedules the 10ms retest.
+    act(() => {
+      onChange!({ isIntersecting: false, boundingClientRect: { width: 0 } });
+    });
+
+    const callsBeforeUnmount = mocked(riveMock.startRendering!).mock.calls.length;
+    unmount();
+
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(50);
+    });
+
+    expect(mocked(riveMock.startRendering!).mock.calls.length).toBe(
+      callsBeforeUnmount
+    );
+  });
+});