[WIP] Fix the failing GitHub Actions job windows-x86_64

[Copilot]

• Inspect the failing windows-x86_64 GitHub Actions job logs (job 76995300228) and identify the likely root cause
• Reproduce/validate the failing behavior in the repository by inspecting relevant workflow, code, and tests
• Implement the smallest targeted fix for the Windows failure
• Add or adjust focused tests only as needed to cover the fix
• Run targeted validation for the changed area
• Run final project validation and security scan (CodeQL checker)