diff --git a/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.cpp b/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.cpp
index cab36f8..8078234 100644
--- a/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.cpp
+++ b/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.cpp
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@
 // Forward declarations
 extern void start_video_streaming(void *arg);
 
-bool startupCommandReceived = false;
+static bool s_startupCommandReceived = false;
 bool getStartupCommandReceived()
 {
-    return startupCommandReceived;
+    return s_startupCommandReceived;
 }
 
 void setStartupCommandReceived(bool startupCommandReceived)
 {
-    startupCommandReceived = startupCommandReceived;
+    s_startupCommandReceived = startupCommandReceived;
 }
 
 static TaskHandle_t *g_serial_manager_handle = nullptr;
@@ -27,15 +27,15 @@ void setSerialManagerHandle(TaskHandle_t *serialManagerHandle)
 }
 
 // Global pause state
-bool startupPaused = false;
+static bool s_startupPaused = false;
 bool getStartupPaused()
 {
-    return startupPaused;
+    return s_startupPaused;
 }
 
 void setStartupPaused(bool startupPaused)
 {
-    startupPaused = startupPaused;
+    s_startupPaused = startupPaused;
 }
 
 // Function to manually activate streaming
@@ -47,4 +47,9 @@ void activateStreaming(bool disableSetup)
     void *serialTaskHandle = (serialHandle && *serialHandle) ? *serialHandle : nullptr;
 
     start_video_streaming(serialTaskHandle);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+// USB handover state
+static bool s_usbHandoverDone = false;
+bool getUsbHandoverDone() { return s_usbHandoverDone; }
+void setUsbHandoverDone(bool done) { s_usbHandoverDone = done; }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.hpp b/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.hpp
index 5602c2c..7fe93c9 100644
--- a/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.hpp
+++ b/components/Helpers/Helpers/main_globals.hpp
@@ -21,4 +21,8 @@ void setStartupCommandReceived(bool startupCommandReceived);
 bool getStartupPaused();
 void setStartupPaused(bool startupPaused);
 
+// Tracks whether USB handover from usb_serial_jtag to TinyUSB was performed
+bool getUsbHandoverDone();
+void setUsbHandoverDone(bool done);
+
 #endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.cpp b/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.cpp
index c666acf..8cfa168 100644
--- a/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.cpp
+++ b/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.cpp
@@ -24,13 +24,36 @@ void SerialManager::try_receive()
   int current_position = 0;
   int len = usb_serial_jtag_read_bytes(this->temp_data, 256, 1000 / 20);
 
+  // If driver is uninstalled or an error occurs, abort read gracefully
+  if (len < 0)
+  {
+    return;
+  }
+
   // since we've got something on the serial port
   // we gotta keep reading until we've got the whole message
-  while (len)
+  while (len > 0)
   {
-    memcpy(this->data + current_position, this->temp_data, len);
+    // Prevent buffer overflow
+    if (current_position + len >= BUF_SIZE)
+    {
+      int copy_len = BUF_SIZE - 1 - current_position;
+      if (copy_len > 0)
+      {
+        memcpy(this->data + current_position, this->temp_data, copy_len);
+        current_position += copy_len;
+      }
+      // Drop the rest of the input to avoid overflow
+      break;
+    }
+    memcpy(this->data + current_position, this->temp_data, (size_t)len);
     current_position += len;
     len = usb_serial_jtag_read_bytes(this->temp_data, 256, 1000 / 20);
+    if (len < 0)
+    {
+      // Driver likely uninstalled during handover; stop processing this cycle
+      break;
+    }
   }
 
   if (current_position)
@@ -42,9 +65,10 @@ void SerialManager::try_receive()
     // Notify main that a command was received during startup
     notify_startup_command_received();
 
-    const auto result = this->commandManager->executeFromJson(std::string_view(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(this->data)));
-    const auto resultMessage = result.getResult();
-    usb_serial_jtag_write_bytes(resultMessage.c_str(), resultMessage.length(), 1000 / 20);
+  const auto result = this->commandManager->executeFromJson(std::string_view(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(this->data)));
+  const auto resultMessage = result.getResult();
+  int written = usb_serial_jtag_write_bytes(resultMessage.c_str(), resultMessage.length(), 1000 / 20);
+  (void)written; // ignore errors if driver already uninstalled
   }
 }
 
@@ -79,6 +103,7 @@ void SerialManager::send_heartbeat()
   sprintf(heartbeat, "{\"heartbeat\":\"openiris_setup_mode\",\"serial\":\"%s\"}\n", serial_number);
 
   usb_serial_jtag_write_bytes(heartbeat, strlen(heartbeat), 1000 / 20);
+  // Ignore return value; if the driver was uninstalled, this is a no-op
 }
 
 bool SerialManager::should_send_heartbeat()
@@ -123,4 +148,19 @@ void HandleSerialManagerTask(void *pvParameters)
       lastHeartbeat = currentTime;
     }
   }
+}
+
+void SerialManager::shutdown()
+{
+  // Stop heartbeats; timer will be deleted by main if needed.
+  // Uninstall the USB Serial JTAG driver to free the internal USB for TinyUSB.
+  esp_err_t err = usb_serial_jtag_driver_uninstall();
+  if (err == ESP_OK)
+  {
+    ESP_LOGI("[SERIAL]", "usb_serial_jtag driver uninstalled");
+  }
+  else if (err != ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE)
+  {
+    ESP_LOGW("[SERIAL]", "usb_serial_jtag_driver_uninstall returned %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.hpp b/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.hpp
index 5205a69..a612957 100644
--- a/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.hpp
+++ b/components/SerialManager/SerialManager/SerialManager.hpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ public:
   void send_heartbeat();
   bool should_send_heartbeat();
   void notify_startup_command_received();
+  void shutdown();
 
 private:
   std::shared_ptr<CommandManager> commandManager;
diff --git a/components/UVCStream/CMakeLists.txt b/components/UVCStream/CMakeLists.txt
index d748e3f..8deee2a 100644
--- a/components/UVCStream/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/components/UVCStream/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 idf_component_register(SRCS "UVCStream/UVCStream.cpp"
   INCLUDE_DIRS "UVCStream"
-  REQUIRES esp_timer esp32-camera StateManager usb_device_uvc CameraManager
+  REQUIRES esp_timer esp32-camera StateManager usb_device_uvc CameraManager Helpers
 )
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/UVCStream/UVCStream/UVCStream.cpp b/components/UVCStream/UVCStream/UVCStream.cpp
index f0d8985..77b51e0 100644
--- a/components/UVCStream/UVCStream/UVCStream.cpp
+++ b/components/UVCStream/UVCStream/UVCStream.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #include "UVCStream.hpp"
 #include <cstdio> // for snprintf
+#include "driver/usb_serial_jtag.h" // for clean handover from COM to TinyUSB
+#include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
+#include "freertos/task.h"
+// no deps on main globals here; handover is performed in main before calling setup when needed
 
 static const char *UVC_STREAM_TAG = "[UVC DEVICE]";
 
@@ -33,7 +37,6 @@ extern "C" {
 
 static esp_err_t UVCStreamHelpers::camera_start_cb(uvc_format_t format, int width, int height, int rate, void *cb_ctx)
 {
-  auto *mgr = static_cast<UVCStreamManager *>(cb_ctx);
   ESP_LOGI(UVC_STREAM_TAG, "Camera Start");
   ESP_LOGI(UVC_STREAM_TAG, "Format: %d, width: %d, height: %d, rate: %d", format, width, height, rate);
   framesize_t frame_size = FRAMESIZE_QVGA;
@@ -79,6 +82,7 @@ static void UVCStreamHelpers::camera_stop_cb(void *cb_ctx)
 static uvc_fb_t *UVCStreamHelpers::camera_fb_get_cb(void *cb_ctx)
 {
   auto *mgr = static_cast<UVCStreamManager *>(cb_ctx);
+  (void)mgr;
   s_fb.cam_fb_p = esp_camera_fb_get();
 
   if (!s_fb.cam_fb_p)
diff --git a/main/openiris_main.cpp b/main/openiris_main.cpp
index 69a4139..4fbfa4a 100644
--- a/main/openiris_main.cpp
+++ b/main/openiris_main.cpp
@@ -98,6 +98,18 @@ void start_video_streaming(void *arg)
 #ifdef CONFIG_GENERAL_WIRED_MODE
         ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "Starting UVC streaming mode.");
         ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "Initializing UVC hardware...");
+        // If we were given the Serial task handle, stop the task and uninstall the driver
+        if (arg != nullptr)
+        {
+            const auto serialTaskHandle = static_cast<TaskHandle_t>(arg);
+            vTaskDelete(serialTaskHandle);
+            ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "Serial task deleted before UVC init");
+            serialManager->shutdown();
+            ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "Serial driver uninstalled");
+            // Leave a small gap for the host to see COM disappear
+            vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS(200));
+            setUsbHandoverDone(true);
+        }
         esp_err_t ret = uvcStream.setup();
         if (ret != ESP_OK)
         {
@@ -105,6 +117,8 @@ void start_video_streaming(void *arg)
             return;
         }
         uvcStream.start();
+        ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "UVC streaming started");
+        return; // UVC path complete, do not fall through to WiFi
 #else
         ESP_LOGE("[MAIN]", "UVC mode selected but the board likely does not support it.");
         ESP_LOGI("[MAIN]", "Falling back to WiFi mode if credentials available");