diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStream.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStream.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..33ccef7ab0b15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStream.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.spark.api.python
+
+import java.io.{FilterOutputStream, OutputStream}
+
+/**
+ * An output stream that forwards writes to `underlying` but does not close it on [[close()]].
+ *
+ * Python runners serialize their input into a `DirectByteBufferOutputStream`, whose `close()`
+ * frees its native buffer. Arrow writers write that stream through `Channels.newChannel(...)`,
+ * an interruptible channel: when another thread interrupts the writing thread inside a channel
+ * write (e.g. a task kill with `interruptThread = true`), `Thread.interrupt()` closes the
+ * channel, and so the wrapped stream, on the interrupting thread while the writing thread may
+ * still be copying into the buffer. Handing the writer this stream keeps the buffer alive; the
+ * writing thread still stops with a `ClosedByInterruptException`, and the buffer is freed only
+ * by its owner.
+ */
+private[python] class CloseShieldOutputStream(underlying: OutputStream)
+  extends FilterOutputStream(underlying) {
+
+  // FilterOutputStream writes an array one byte at a time.
+  override def write(b: Array[Byte], off: Int, len: Int): Unit = out.write(b, off, len)
+
+  override def close(): Unit = flush()
+}
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRunner.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRunner.scala
index 0f58098d79b3e..1031a7a00d1cf 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRunner.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRunner.scala
@@ -1059,16 +1059,22 @@ private[spark] abstract class BasePythonRunner[IN, OUT](
     private[this] var writerIfbhThreadLocalValue: Object = null
     private[this] val temp = new Array[Byte](1)
     private[this] val bufferStream = new DirectByteBufferOutputStream()
+    // The writer gets `bufferStream` only through this stream. Arrow writers write through an
+    // interruptible channel, so a task kill that interrupts this thread closes the stream they
+    // write to on the killing thread; that must not free `bufferStream` under the writer. It is
+    // freed only on this thread, by `writeAdditionalInputToPythonWorker()`, once all input is
+    // sent or when writing fails. See `CloseShieldOutputStream`.
+    private[this] val writerStream = new CloseShieldOutputStream(bufferStream)
     /**
      * Buffers data to be written to the Python worker until the socket is
      * available for write.
      * A best-effort attempt is made to not grow the buffer beyond "spark.buffer.size". See
-     * `writeAdditionalInputToPythonWorker()` for details.
+     * `writeBufferedInputToPythonWorker()` for details.
      */
     private[this] var buffer: ByteBuffer = _
     private[this] var hasInput = true
 
-    writer.open(new DataOutputStream(bufferStream))
+    writer.open(new DataOutputStream(writerStream))
     buffer = bufferStream.toByteBuffer
 
     override def read(): Int = {
@@ -1228,11 +1234,27 @@ private[spark] abstract class BasePythonRunner[IN, OUT](
       }
     }
 
+    private def writeAdditionalInputToPythonWorker(): Unit = {
+      try {
+        writeBufferedInputToPythonWorker()
+      } catch {
+        case t: Throwable =>
+          // Writing failed or the task was killed mid-write, so the close at the end of
+          // `writeBufferedInputToPythonWorker()` is never reached. Free the buffer here, on the
+          // thread that writes into it, instead of leaving it to GC. `buffer` may be null or
+          // still point into that memory, so replace it with an empty one: a later call then
+          // fails fast in `bufferStream` instead of touching the freed memory.
+          buffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(0)
+          bufferStream.close()
+          throw t
+      }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Reads input data from `writer.inputIterator` into `buffer` and writes the buffer to the
      * Python worker if the socket is available for writing.
      */
-    private def writeAdditionalInputToPythonWorker(): Unit = {
+    private def writeBufferedInputToPythonWorker(): Unit = {
       var acceptsInput = true
       while (acceptsInput && (hasInput || buffer.hasRemaining)) {
         if (!buffer.hasRemaining && hasInput) {
@@ -1241,7 +1263,7 @@ private[spark] abstract class BasePythonRunner[IN, OUT](
           // Set the `buffer` to null to make it eligible for GC
           buffer = null
 
-          val dataOut = new DataOutputStream(bufferStream)
+          val dataOut = new DataOutputStream(writerStream)
           // Try not to grow the buffer much beyond `bufferSize`. This is inevitable for large
           // input rows.
           while (bufferStream.size() < bufferSize && hasInput && !shouldFlush()) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStreamSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStreamSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e34d34422557a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/CloseShieldOutputStreamSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.spark.api.python
+
+import java.io.{DataOutputStream, FilterOutputStream}
+import java.net.{InetAddress, InetSocketAddress}
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.channels.{Channels, ClosedByInterruptException, ServerSocketChannel, SocketChannel}
+import java.util.{ArrayList => JArrayList, HashMap => JHashMap}
+import java.util.concurrent.{CountDownLatch, TimeUnit}
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
+
+import org.apache.spark.{LocalSparkContext, SparkContext, SparkEnv, SparkException, SparkFunSuite}
+import org.apache.spark.util.DirectByteBufferOutputStream
+
+class CloseShieldOutputStreamSuite extends SparkFunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
+
+  test("SPARK-60305: forwards bulk writes and does not close the underlying stream") {
+    var byteWrites = 0
+    val bufferStream = new DirectByteBufferOutputStream() {
+      override def write(b: Int): Unit = {
+        byteWrites += 1
+        super.write(b)
+      }
+    }
+    val shielded = new CloseShieldOutputStream(bufferStream)
+    shielded.write(Array[Byte](1, 2, 3), 1, 2)
+    assert(byteWrites === 0)
+    shielded.write(4)
+    assert(byteWrites === 1)
+    shielded.close()
+    assert(bufferStream.size() === 3)
+    val bytes = new Array[Byte](3)
+    bufferStream.toByteBuffer.get(bytes)
+    assert(bytes.toSeq === Seq[Byte](2, 3, 4))
+    bufferStream.close()
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-60305: an interrupted channel write does not close the shielded buffer") {
+    val bufferStream = new DirectByteBufferOutputStream()
+    val channel =
+      Channels.newChannel(new DataOutputStream(new CloseShieldOutputStream(bufferStream)))
+    // With the interrupt flag already set, the channel closes itself, and the stream it writes
+    // to, on this thread before it writes.
+    Thread.currentThread().interrupt()
+    try {
+      intercept[ClosedByInterruptException](channel.write(ByteBuffer.wrap(new Array[Byte](16))))
+    } finally {
+      Thread.interrupted()
+    }
+    assert(bufferStream.size() === 16)
+    bufferStream.close()
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-60305: interrupting the task thread inside a channel write keeps the " +
+      "ReaderInputStream buffer alive") {
+    sc = new SparkContext("local", "test")
+    val func = SimplePythonFunction(Seq.empty[Byte], new JHashMap[String, String](),
+      new JArrayList[String](), "python3", "3", new JArrayList(), null)
+    val runner = new PythonRunner(Seq(ChainedPythonFunctions(Seq(func))), None)
+    val inWrite = new CountDownLatch(1)
+    val resume = new AtomicBoolean(false)
+    @volatile var writeError: Throwable = null
+
+    val server = ServerSocketChannel.open()
+    server.bind(new InetSocketAddress(InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress, 0))
+    val client = SocketChannel.open(server.getLocalAddress)
+    val accepted = server.accept()
+    client.configureBlocking(false)
+    val worker = PythonWorker(client).refresh()
+    try {
+      val writer = new runner.Writer(SparkEnv.get, worker, Iterator.empty, 0, null) {
+        // An interrupt closes the stream the writer writes to; with the shield, this only
+        // flushes.
+        override def open(dataOut: DataOutputStream): Unit = dataOut.close()
+        override protected def writeCommand(dataOut: DataOutputStream): Unit = {}
+        // Writes the way the Arrow inputs do: through `Channels.newChannel(dataOut)`, which the
+        // JVM closes, together with `dataOut`, when the writing thread is interrupted. The
+        // write blocks until the test has interrupted the thread, then forwards to `dataOut`.
+        override def writeNextInputToStream(dataOut: DataOutputStream): Boolean = {
+          val channel = Channels.newChannel(new FilterOutputStream(dataOut) {
+            override def write(b: Array[Byte], off: Int, len: Int): Unit = {
+              inWrite.countDown()
+              while (!resume.get()) Thread.onSpinWait()
+              try {
+                out.write(b, off, len)
+              } catch {
+                case t: Throwable =>
+                  writeError = t
+                  throw t
+              }
+            }
+          })
+          channel.write(ByteBuffer.wrap(new Array[Byte](16)))
+          false
+        }
+      }
+      val input = new runner.ReaderInputStream(worker, writer, None, 0, false, null)
+      @volatile var error: Throwable = null
+      val taskThread = new Thread(() => {
+        try {
+          input.read(new Array[Byte](1))
+        } catch {
+          case t: Throwable => error = t
+        }
+      })
+      taskThread.start()
+      assert(inWrite.await(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES), s"task thread failed before the write: $error")
+      // Like Task.kill(interruptThread = true). This closes the channel and `dataOut` on this
+      // thread while the task thread is still inside the write.
+      taskThread.interrupt()
+      resume.set(true)
+      taskThread.join(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toMillis(1))
+      assert(!taskThread.isAlive)
+      // The write into the buffer still succeeds: the buffer was not freed under the writer.
+      assert(writeError === null)
+      assert(error.isInstanceOf[ClosedByInterruptException])
+      // The failed write frees the buffer on the task thread instead of leaving it to GC, and
+      // a later read fails instead of reusing the freed buffer. Closing the peer first makes a
+      // regression return -1 rather than wait for output.
+      accepted.close()
+      val e = intercept[SparkException](input.read(new Array[Byte](1)))
+      assert(e.getMessage.contains("closed DirectByteBufferOutputStream"))
+    } finally {
+      // Never leave the writer spinning, even if the test failed before releasing it.
+      resume.set(true)
+      worker.stop()
+      accepted.close()
+      server.close()
+    }
+  }
+}