diff --git a/sdk/core/allocator/main.cc b/sdk/core/allocator/main.cc
index 8db5936..3b8e6cd 100644
--- a/sdk/core/allocator/main.cc
+++ b/sdk/core/allocator/main.cc
@@ -1175,16 +1175,24 @@
 	auto [sealed, obj] = allocate_sealed_unsealed(
 	  timeout, heapCapability, key, sz, {Permission::Seal, Permission::Unseal});
 	{
+		/*
+		 * Write the unsealed capability through the out parameter, while
+		 * holding the allocator lock.  That's a little heavy-handed, but it
+		 * suffices to ensure that it won't be freed out from under us, so
+		 * if it passes `check_pointer`, then the store won't trap.
+		 */
 		LockGuard g{lock};
 		if (check_pointer<PermissionSet{
 		      Permission::Store, Permission::LoadStoreCapability}>(unsealed))
 		{
 			*unsealed = obj;
-			return sealed;
 		}
 	}
-	heap_free(heapCapability, obj);
-	return INVALID_SOBJ;
+	/*
+	 * Regardless of whether we were able to store the unsealed pointer, return
+	 * the sealed object.
+	 */
+	return sealed;
 }
 
 __cheriot_minimum_stack(0x260) SObj token_sealed_alloc(Timeout *timeout,
diff --git a/sdk/include/thread_pool.h b/sdk/include/thread_pool.h
index bbf7fbd..c5e5d3c 100644
--- a/sdk/include/thread_pool.h
+++ b/sdk/include/thread_pool.h
@@ -158,9 +158,14 @@
 			    detail::sealing_key_for_type<LambdaType>(),
 			    sizeof(lambda),
 			    &buffer);
-			// Copy the lambda into the new allocation.
-			// Note: We silence a warning here because we *do* want to
-			// explicitly move, not forward.
+			/*
+			 * Copy the lambda into the new allocation.
+			 *
+			 * If the above allocation has failed, this will trap.
+			 *
+			 * Note: We silence a warning here because we *do* want to
+			 * explicitly move, not forward.
+			 */
 			T *copy = new (buffer) T(
 			  std::move(lambda)); // NOLINT(bugprone-move-forwarding-reference)
 			// Create the wrapper that will unseal and invoke the lambda.
diff --git a/sdk/include/token.h b/sdk/include/token.h
index 00111ec..76aec99 100644
--- a/sdk/include/token.h
+++ b/sdk/include/token.h
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@
  *
  * An unsealed pointer to the newly allocated object is returned in
  * `*unsealed`, the sealed pointer is returned as the return value.
+ * An invalid `unsealed` pointer does not constitute an error; the caller will
+ * still be given the sealed return value, assuming allocation was otherwise
+ * successful.
  *
  * The `key` parameter must have both the permit-seal and permit-unseal
  * permissions.