diff -urN a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2.h b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2.h
--- a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2.h	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
+++ b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2.h	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
@@ -1083,6 +1083,12 @@
 #define HAMMER2_XOP_INODE_STOP		0x00000004
 #define HAMMER2_XOP_VOLHDR		0x00000008
 #define HAMMER2_XOP_FSSYNC		0x00000010
+/*
+ * XOP issued via hammer2_xop_start_except():  the excluded cluster index
+ * never feeds the collect, so quorum must be calculated from the nodes
+ * the xop was actually issued to (chk_mask), not from pfs_nmasters.
+ */
+#define HAMMER2_XOP_PARTQUORUM		0x00000020
 
 /*
  * Device vnode management structure
@@ -1913,7 +1919,7 @@
 void hammer2_cluster_rehold(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster);
 void hammer2_cluster_lock(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster, int how);
 int hammer2_cluster_check(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster, hammer2_key_t lokey,
-			int flags);
+			int flags, uint64_t pmask);
 void hammer2_cluster_unlock(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster);
 
 void hammer2_bulkfree_init(hammer2_dev_t *hmp);
diff -urN a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_admin.c b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_admin.c
--- a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_admin.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
+++ b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_admin.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
@@ -547,11 +547,20 @@
 	xop->desc = desc;
 
 	/*
+	 * Quorum for start_except() XOPs must be calculated from the
+	 * participants only (the excluded index can never vote).  Used by
+	 * hammer2_xop_collect() when calling hammer2_cluster_check().
+	 */
+	if (notidx >= 0)
+		xop->flags |= HAMMER2_XOP_PARTQUORUM;
+
+	/*
 	 * The instant xop is queued another thread can pick it off.  In the
 	 * case of asynchronous ops, another thread might even finish and
 	 * deallocate it.
 	 */
 	hammer2_spin_ex(&pmp->xop_spin);
+	xop->chk_mask = 0;
 	nchains = ip1->cluster.nchains;
 	for (i = 0; i < nchains; ++i) {
 		/*
@@ -891,6 +900,7 @@
 	hammer2_chain_t *chain;
 	hammer2_key_t lokey;
 	uint64_t mask;
+	uint64_t pmask;
 	int error;
 	int keynull;
 	int adv;		/* advance the element */
@@ -985,7 +995,20 @@
 	    (mask & HAMMER2_XOPMASK_ALLDONE) != HAMMER2_XOPMASK_VOP) {
 		error = HAMMER2_ERROR_EINPROGRESS;
 	} else {
-		error = hammer2_cluster_check(&xop->cluster, lokey, keynull);
+		/*
+		 * For XOPs issued via hammer2_xop_start_except() the quorum
+		 * must be calculated from the participating nodes only,
+		 * otherwise the collect can never reach quorum and will
+		 * retry forever (this parks the sync threads of any cluster
+		 * whose participating masters are fewer than pfs_nmasters/2+1,
+		 * e.g. every MASTER+MASTER cluster).
+		 */
+		if (xop->flags & HAMMER2_XOP_PARTQUORUM)
+			pmask = xop->chk_mask;
+		else
+			pmask = ~0ULL;
+		error = hammer2_cluster_check(&xop->cluster, lokey,
+					      keynull, pmask);
 	}
 	if (error == HAMMER2_ERROR_EINPROGRESS) {
 		if (flags & HAMMER2_XOP_COLLECT_NOWAIT)
diff -urN a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_cluster.c b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_cluster.c
--- a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_cluster.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
+++ b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_cluster.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
@@ -318,7 +318,8 @@
  * XXX needs to handle SOFT_MASTER and SOFT_SLAVE
  */
 int
-hammer2_cluster_check(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster, hammer2_key_t key, int flags)
+hammer2_cluster_check(hammer2_cluster_t *cluster, hammer2_key_t key, int flags,
+		      uint64_t pmask)
 {
 	hammer2_chain_t *chain;
 	hammer2_chain_t *focus;
@@ -330,6 +331,7 @@
 	int ttlslaves;
 	int nmasters;
 	int nmasters_keymatch;
+	int npmasters;
 	int nslaves;
 	int nquorum;
 	int umasters;	/* unknown masters (still in progress) */
@@ -344,8 +346,33 @@
 
 	/*
 	 * Calculate quorum
+	 *
+	 * pmask contains the cluster indices the XOP was actually issued
+	 * to (~0 for a normal all-node XOP).  When a node was excluded via
+	 * hammer2_xop_start_except() it can never vote (its element stays
+	 * NULL and its fifo is never fed), so it must not be counted in
+	 * the quorum nor as an in-progress master.  Otherwise, for any
+	 * cluster whose participating masters are fewer than
+	 * pfs_nmasters/2+1 (e.g. every 2-node MASTER+MASTER cluster, where
+	 * the quorum of 2 can never be reached by the single remaining
+	 * participant), the check returns EINPROGRESS forever.
 	 */
-	nquorum = pmp ? pmp->pfs_nmasters / 2 + 1 : 0;
+	npmasters = 0;
+	if (pmp) {
+		for (i = 0; i < cluster->nchains; ++i) {
+			if ((pmask & (1LLU << i)) == 0)
+				continue;
+			switch (pmp->pfs_types[i]) {
+			case HAMMER2_PFSTYPE_MASTER:
+			case HAMMER2_PFSTYPE_SUPROOT:
+				++npmasters;
+				break;
+			default:
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	nquorum = pmp ? npmasters / 2 + 1 : 0;
 	nflags = 0;
 	ttlmasters = 0;
 	ttlslaves = 0;
@@ -452,6 +479,14 @@
 				continue;
 			}
 
+			/*
+			 * Non-participating nodes (the excluded index of a
+			 * hammer2_xop_start_except() XOP) can never vote and
+			 * must not be counted as in-progress masters.
+			 */
+			if ((pmask & (1LLU << i)) == 0)
+				continue;
+
 			chain = cluster->array[i].chain;
 			error = cluster->array[i].error;
 
diff -urN a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_synchro.c b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_synchro.c
--- a/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_synchro.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
+++ b/sys/vfs/hammer2/hammer2_synchro.c	2026-08-30 04:20:54.789834671 +0000
@@ -418,7 +418,15 @@
 						    &parent,
 						    HAMMER2_RESOLVE_ALWAYS |
 						    HAMMER2_RESOLVE_SHARED);
-			want_update = (chain->bref.modify_tid != sync_tid);
+			/*
+			 * Forward-only synchronization: with the quorum now
+			 * calculated from the participating (i.e. remote)
+			 * nodes only, a diverged peer may have an OLDER tid
+			 * than ours.  Never regress our own newer state
+			 * towards it, or a diverged 2-master cluster will
+			 * ping-pong destructively between passes.
+			 */
+			want_update = (chain->bref.modify_tid < sync_tid);
 			if (chain) {
 				hammer2_chain_unlock(chain);
 				hammer2_chain_drop(chain);