diff --git a/.changeset/store-delete-key-count.md b/.changeset/store-delete-key-count.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5356a13ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/store-delete-key-count.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@solidjs/signals": patch
+---
+
+Deleting a store key now decrements the store's key count. The count went up on every added key but came down only in the overlay rebuild paths, so the natural keyed-selection shape — delete the previous key, set the new one — drifted it upward by one per write until a small object crossed the overlay threshold and paid a full rebuild of its backing on every commit after. A delete of a draft's own key (a plain clone's, or an overlay's own add) is counted immediately; an overlay's delete of a committed key is still recorded and counted at the rebuild.
diff --git a/packages/signals/src/store/store.ts b/packages/signals/src/store/store.ts
index 408925a528..64edbae5de 100644
--- a/packages/signals/src/store/store.ts
+++ b/packages/signals/src/store/store.ts
@@ -2232,8 +2232,21 @@ const traps: ProxyHandler<StoreTarget> = {
     if (!draft && !override) return true;
     const pb = ensurePB(target);
     touch(target, key);
-    delete pb[key as any];
-    if (target.ovl && hasOwn.call(target.v, key)) (target.del ??= new Set()).add(key);
+    // The key count (`kc`, the overlay gate and the rebuild cap) follows a
+    // delete the way it follows an add: an own key of the draft leaving — a
+    // clone's key, or an overlay's own add — is one fewer now. An overlay's
+    // override of a committed key is the exception: the committed key's
+    // deletion is recorded in `del` and counted at the rebuild, as before.
+    // Without the decrement the natural "delete the old key, set the new
+    // one" shape drifted the count up by one per write until a three-key
+    // object crossed the overlay threshold and paid a rebuild on every
+    // commit after.
+    const committed = target.ovl && hasOwn.call(target.v, key);
+    if (hasOwn.call(pb, key)) {
+      delete pb[key as any];
+      committed || target.kc--;
+    }
+    if (committed) (target.del ??= new Set()).add(key);
     if (override) notifyWrites(target);
     return true;
   }
diff --git a/packages/signals/tests/store/delete-key-count.test.ts b/packages/signals/tests/store/delete-key-count.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5a45b1f3c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/signals/tests/store/delete-key-count.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/**
+ * The store's key count follows deletes.
+ *
+ * `kc` gates the overlay draft (an owned plain object above
+ * OVERLAY_MIN_KEYS drafts as an overlay) and caps the rebuild. It went up on
+ * every new key but came down only inside the overlay rebuild paths — never
+ * when a key was deleted from a plain-clone draft, and never when an
+ * overlay's own add was deleted again. The natural keyed-selection shape,
+ * "delete the old key, set the new one", drifted the count up by one per
+ * write: after 32 selections a three-key object crossed the overlay
+ * threshold and, from then on, every delete forced the full rebuild clone
+ * at commit (1.4 µs of a 5.5 µs select on the js-framework fixture).
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { createRoot, createStore, flush } from "../../src/index.js";
+import { $TARGET } from "../../src/store/store.js";
+
+const target = (proxy: object): any => (proxy as any)[$TARGET];
+const ownKeys = (proxy: object) => Object.keys(target(proxy).v).length;
+
+describe("the store's key count follows deletes", () => {
+  it("delete-then-set selection keeps the count at the object's own keys and never drafts as an overlay", () => {
+    const [sel, setSel] = createRoot(() =>
+      createStore<Record<string, any>>({ selected: null as number | null })
+    );
+    for (let id = 1; id <= 200; id++) {
+      setSel(s => {
+        const prev = s.selected;
+        if (prev != null && prev !== id) delete s[prev];
+        s[id] = true;
+        s.selected = id;
+      });
+      flush();
+      const t = target(sel);
+      expect(t.kc).toBe(ownKeys(sel));
+      expect(t.ovl).toBe(false);
+    }
+    expect(ownKeys(sel)).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it("delete and re-add in one draft leaves the count unchanged", () => {
+    const [store, set] = createRoot(() => createStore<Record<string, number>>({ a: 1, b: 2 }));
+    set(d => {
+      delete d.a;
+      d.a = 3;
+    });
+    flush();
+    expect(target(store).kc).toBe(2);
+    expect(ownKeys(store)).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it("deleting a never-committed key of a draft does not go below the real count", () => {
+    const [store, set] = createRoot(() => createStore<Record<string, number>>({ a: 1 }));
+    set(d => {
+      d.b = 2;
+      delete d.b;
+    });
+    flush();
+    expect(target(store).kc).toBe(1);
+    expect(ownKeys(store)).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it("under an overlay, an own add deleted again is uncounted and a committed key's delete counts at the rebuild", () => {
+    const seed: Record<string, number> = {};
+    for (let i = 0; i < 64; i++) seed["k" + i] = i;
+    const [store, set] = createRoot(() => createStore(seed));
+    // first fold privatizes the seed; later drafts open as overlays
+    set(d => {
+      d.k0 = -1;
+    });
+    flush();
+    const t = target(store);
+    expect(t.kc).toBe(64);
+    set(d => {
+      (d as any).added = 1;
+      delete (d as any).added;
+    });
+    flush();
+    expect(t.kc).toBe(64);
+    expect(ownKeys(store)).toBe(64);
+    set(d => {
+      delete d.k63;
+    });
+    flush();
+    expect(t.kc).toBe(63);
+    expect(ownKeys(store)).toBe(63);
+    set(d => {
+      (d as any).fresh = 1;
+      delete d.k62;
+    });
+    flush();
+    expect(t.kc).toBe(63);
+    expect(ownKeys(store)).toBe(63);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/scripts/size/scenarios.js b/scripts/size/scenarios.js
index 10a7aae75f..a9e1c02787 100644
--- a/scripts/size/scenarios.js
+++ b/scripts/size/scenarios.js
@@ -1080,8 +1080,9 @@ module.exports = [
     // 44,832 B; measured locally (linux) at 14,774 B (44,832 B minified). Lower
     // only: cap at measured + 10 B rounded up to 0.01 KB; recorded minified
     // never raised.
-    limit: "14.79 KB",
-    capMinified: 44832,
+    // store delete key-count fix (#4132, 2026-10-17): 14.79 -> 14.82 KB, measured at 14,802 B brotli / 44,865 B minified (+12 B brotli over the cap, +33 B minified over the recorded size): deleteProperty decrements `kc` for a draft's own key, so a keyed store that deletes keys no longer drifts into overlay rebuilds. Correctness; local measurement, CI re-bases.
+    limit: "14.82 KB",
+    capMinified: 44865,
     alias
   },
   {
@@ -2584,8 +2585,10 @@ module.exports = [
     // minified never raised.
     // mapArray window-staged commit (perf, #4114, 2026-10-16, merged over next @ dbc5d0005 after #4104's ratchet and #4108's observe raises): 29.91 -> 30.09 KB, measured at 30,075 B brotli / 94,579 B minified (+165 B brotli over the cap, +646 B minified over the recorded size): updateKeyedMap stages only the changed window, commits its bookkeeping arrays in place and takes a Map-free pure-removal path. Local measurement; CI's bytes re-base this cap.
     // A held error reaches a derivation of `latest` (#4113, #4106, 2026-10-17, merged over next @ 01270641): 30.09 -> 30.14 KB, measured locally at 30,125 B brotli / 94,611 B minified (+32 B minified over the recorded size): `laneRead` and `verdictValue` hand a held error to an override/derived read the way they hand a value, and `stageError` schedules the verdict wake. Cap at measured + 10 B rounded up to 0.01 KB. Accepted by the maintainer (2026-10-17).
+    // store delete key-count fix (#4132, 2026-10-17): 30.09 -> 30.14 KB, measured at 30,129 B brotli / 94,616 B minified (+39 B brotli over the cap, +37 B minified over the recorded size): deleteProperty decrements `kc` for a draft's own key, so a keyed store that deletes keys no longer drifts into overlay rebuilds. Correctness; local measurement, CI re-bases.
+    // Merged over next @ 7093b074b after #4129 raised this same cap 30.09 -> 30.14 KB for its own bytes (2026-10-17): the two together measured locally at 30,116 B brotli / 94,644 B minified, under the cap, so the cap stays at 30.14 KB; recorded minified 94,611 -> 94,644.
     limit: "30.14 KB",
-    capMinified: 94611,
+    capMinified: 94644,
     alias
   },
   {
@@ -3897,8 +3900,9 @@ module.exports = [
     // only: cap at measured + 10 B rounded up to 0.01 KB; recorded minified
     // never raised.
     // mapArray window-staged commit (perf, #4114, 2026-10-16, merged over next @ dbc5d0005 after #4104's ratchet and #4108's observe raises): 25.66 -> 25.95 KB, measured at 25,940 B brotli / 80,846 B minified (+280 B brotli over the cap, +640 B minified over the recorded size): updateKeyedMap stages only the changed window, commits its bookkeeping arrays in place and takes a Map-free pure-removal path. Local measurement; CI's bytes re-base this cap.
-    limit: "25.95 KB",
-    capMinified: 80846,
+    // store delete key-count fix (#4132, 2026-10-17): 25.95 -> 26.03 KB, measured at 26,011 B brotli / 80,879 B minified (+61 B brotli over the cap, +33 B minified over the recorded size): deleteProperty decrements `kc` for a draft's own key, so a keyed store that deletes keys no longer drifts into overlay rebuilds. Correctness; local measurement, CI re-bases.
+    limit: "26.03 KB",
+    capMinified: 80879,
     alias
   },
   {
@@ -4045,8 +4049,9 @@ module.exports = [
     // Lower only: cap at measured + 10 B rounded up to 0.01 KB; recorded
     // minified never raised.
     // mapArray window-staged commit (perf, #4114, 2026-10-16, merged over next @ dbc5d0005 after #4104's ratchet and #4108's observe raises): 31.72 -> 31.96 KB, measured at 31,950 B brotli / 101,408 B minified (+230 B brotli over the cap, +648 B minified over the recorded size): updateKeyedMap stages only the changed window, commits its bookkeeping arrays in place and takes a Map-free pure-removal path. Local measurement; CI's bytes re-base this cap.
-    limit: "31.96 KB",
-    capMinified: 101408,
+    // store delete key-count fix (#4132, 2026-10-17): 31.96 -> 31.98 KB, measured at 31,962 B brotli / 101,441 B minified (+2 B brotli over the cap, +33 B minified over the recorded size; CI and local agree): deleteProperty decrements `kc` for a draft's own key, so a keyed store that deletes keys no longer drifts into overlay rebuilds. Correctness.
+    limit: "31.98 KB",
+    capMinified: 101441,
     alias
   },
   {