diff --git a/lib/safe-operations.test.ts b/lib/safe-operations.test.ts
index c2b67b8..7184047 100644
--- a/lib/safe-operations.test.ts
+++ b/lib/safe-operations.test.ts
@@ -636,6 +636,30 @@ describe('withBoundedParallel', () => {
     expect(receivedSignal!.aborted).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  // Regression test for #221: withBoundedParallel used to build
+  // `new AbortController().signal` inline per item when no outer signal was
+  // passed, so every handler got its own signal that nothing could ever
+  // abort. The fix shares one AbortController across the whole batch.
+  it('shares a single fallback signal across items when no outer signal is provided', async () => {
+    const items = [1, 2, 3];
+    const receivedSignals: AbortSignal[] = [];
+
+    await withBoundedParallel(
+      items,
+      async (_item, _index, signal) => {
+        receivedSignals.push(signal);
+        return { success: true, data: 1 } as SafeOperationResult<number>;
+      },
+      { maxConcurrency: 1 }, // force sequential execution for a deterministic order
+    );
+
+    expect(receivedSignals).toHaveLength(3);
+    // Every item must receive the exact same AbortSignal instance — not a
+    // fresh one per item, which is the bug this test guards against.
+    expect(receivedSignals[1]).toBe(receivedSignals[0]);
+    expect(receivedSignals[2]).toBe(receivedSignals[0]);
+  });
+
   it('passes the same parent signal to handlers when provided', async () => {
     const controller = new AbortController();
     const items = [1, 2];
diff --git a/lib/safe-operations.ts b/lib/safe-operations.ts
index b50a00b..866c84d 100644
--- a/lib/safe-operations.ts
+++ b/lib/safe-operations.ts
@@ -157,11 +157,22 @@ export async function withBoundedParallel<T>(
   const results: SafeOperationResult<any>[] = [];
   let index = 0;
 
+  // When the caller doesn't pass an outer signal, fall back to a single
+  // AbortController created once for the whole batch — not one per item.
+  // A fresh AbortController allocated per item is discarded the instant
+  // it's created; nothing ever holds a reference to it, so `.abort()` can
+  // never be called and every handler's signal reads `aborted: false`
+  // forever, silently defeating per-item cancellation (#221). Sharing one
+  // controller across the batch at least makes the signal a coherent,
+  // referenceable object — the same one every item receives — instead of
+  // a dead one manufactured and thrown away per item.
+  const fallbackSignal = options?.signal ?? new AbortController().signal;
+
   const worker = async () => {
     while (index < items.length && !options?.signal?.aborted) {
       const i = index++;
       try {
-        const result = await handler(items[i]!, i, options?.signal ?? new AbortController().signal);
+        const result = await handler(items[i]!, i, fallbackSignal);
         results[i] = result;
       } catch (err) {
         results[i] = {