diff --git a/n_request.c b/n_request.c
index 0be148fb..bd989bab 100644
--- a/n_request.c
+++ b/n_request.c
@@ -527,13 +527,22 @@ J *_noteTransactionShouldLock(J *req, bool lockNotecard)
         _LockNote();
     }
 
-    // Make sure that if anything was pending in the notecard's receive buffer,
-	// that it is line-terminated so that the request we're about to send
-	// begins on a new line.
+    // If a reset of the I/O interface is required for any reason, do it now.
     if (resetRequired) {
         NOTE_C_LOG_DEBUG("Resetting Notecard I/O Interface...");
-        _Reset();
-        resetRequired = false;
+        if ((resetRequired = !_Reset())) {
+            if (lockNotecard) {
+                _UnlockNote();
+            }
+            _Free(json);
+            _TransactionStop();
+            const char *errStr = ERRSTR("failed to reset Notecard interface {io}", c_iobad);
+            if (cmdFound) {
+                NOTE_C_LOG_ERROR(errStr);
+                return NULL;
+            }
+            return _errDoc(id, errStr);
+        }
     }
 
     // If we're performing retries, this is where we come back to
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index f4a0c38a..c6fd18f7 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ add_test(NoteNewRequest_test)
 add_test(NotePayload_test)
 add_test(NotePayloadRetrieveAfterSleep_test)
 add_test(NotePayloadSaveAndSleep_test)
+add_test(NotePing_test)
 add_test(NotePrint_test)
 add_test(NotePrintf_test)
 add_test(NotePrintln_test)
diff --git a/test/src/NotePing_test.cpp b/test/src/NotePing_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1803e844
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/NotePing_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,259 @@
+/*!
+ * @file NotePing_test.cpp
+ *
+ * Written by the Blues Inc. team.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Blues Inc. MIT License. Use of this source code is
+ * governed by licenses granted by the copyright holder including that found in
+ * the
+ * <a href="https://github.com/blues/note-c/blob/master/LICENSE">LICENSE</a>
+ * file.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
+#include <fff.h>
+
+#include "n_lib.h"
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <cstring>
+
+DEFINE_FFF_GLOBALS
+FAKE_VALUE_FUNC(bool, _noteTransactionStart, uint32_t)
+FAKE_VOID_FUNC(_noteTransactionStop)
+FAKE_VOID_FUNC(_noteLockNote)
+FAKE_VOID_FUNC(_noteUnlockNote)
+FAKE_VALUE_FUNC(const char *, _noteJSONTransaction, const char *, size_t, char **, uint32_t)
+FAKE_VALUE_FUNC(bool, _noteSerialAvailable)
+FAKE_VALUE_FUNC(char, _noteSerialReceive)
+FAKE_VALUE_FUNC(bool, _noteHardReset)
+
+extern volatile int hookActiveInterface;
+
+namespace
+{
+
+enum class PingResponse {
+    Echo,
+    WrongNonce,
+    Error,
+    InvalidJson,
+    NoResponse,
+    TransactionError,
+};
+
+PingResponse pingResponse = PingResponse::Echo;
+uint32_t currentMs = 1000;
+size_t serialBytesRemaining = 0;
+size_t serialBytesRemainingAtTransaction = 0;
+size_t lastRequestLength = 0;
+uint32_t lastTransactionTimeoutMs = 0;
+bool lastRequestEndedWithNewline = false;
+bool lastRequestHadCrc = false;
+
+char *copyString(const char *src)
+{
+    const size_t len = strlen(src);
+    char *dst = static_cast<char *>(malloc(len + 1));
+    if (dst != NULL) {
+        memcpy(dst, src, len + 1);
+    }
+    return dst;
+}
+
+uint32_t getMs()
+{
+    return currentMs;
+}
+
+void delayMs(uint32_t ms)
+{
+    currentMs += ms;
+}
+
+bool serialAvailable()
+{
+    return serialBytesRemaining > 0;
+}
+
+char serialReceive()
+{
+    if (serialBytesRemaining > 0) {
+        --serialBytesRemaining;
+    }
+    return 'x';
+}
+
+char *makeResponse(const char *text)
+{
+    J *rsp = JCreateObject();
+    if (rsp == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    JAddStringToObject(rsp, "text", text);
+    char *json = JPrintUnformatted(rsp);
+    JDelete(rsp);
+    return json;
+}
+
+const char *pingTransaction(const char *request, size_t reqLen, char **response, uint32_t timeoutMs)
+{
+    lastRequestLength = reqLen;
+    lastTransactionTimeoutMs = timeoutMs;
+    lastRequestEndedWithNewline = (reqLen > 0 && request[reqLen - 1] == '\n');
+    lastRequestHadCrc = (strstr(request, "\"crc\"") != NULL);
+    serialBytesRemainingAtTransaction = serialBytesRemaining;
+
+    if (pingResponse == PingResponse::TransactionError) {
+        return ERRSTR("transaction failed {io}", c_ioerr);
+    }
+    if (response == NULL || pingResponse == PingResponse::NoResponse) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    if (pingResponse == PingResponse::InvalidJson) {
+        *response = copyString("not-json");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    if (pingResponse == PingResponse::Error) {
+        *response = copyString("{\"err\":\"failed\"}");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    char *requestCopy = static_cast<char *>(malloc(reqLen + 1));
+    if (requestCopy == NULL) {
+        return ERRSTR("malloc failed {mem}", c_mem);
+    }
+    memcpy(requestCopy, request, reqLen);
+    requestCopy[reqLen] = '\0';
+    if (reqLen > 0 && requestCopy[reqLen - 1] == '\n') {
+        requestCopy[reqLen - 1] = '\0';
+    }
+
+    J *req = JParse(requestCopy);
+    free(requestCopy);
+    if (req == NULL) {
+        return ERRSTR("parse failed {bad}", c_bad);
+    }
+
+    const char *nonce = JGetString(req, "text");
+    *response = makeResponse(pingResponse == PingResponse::WrongNonce ? "wrong" : nonce);
+    JDelete(req);
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+void resetTestState(void)
+{
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteTransactionStart);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteTransactionStop);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteLockNote);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteUnlockNote);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteJSONTransaction);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteSerialAvailable);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteSerialReceive);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteHardReset);
+
+    pingResponse = PingResponse::Echo;
+    currentMs = 1000;
+    serialBytesRemaining = 0;
+    serialBytesRemainingAtTransaction = 0;
+    lastRequestLength = 0;
+    lastTransactionTimeoutMs = 0;
+    lastRequestEndedWithNewline = false;
+    lastRequestHadCrc = false;
+    resetRequired = false;
+
+    NoteSetFnDefault(malloc, free, delayMs, getMs);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteLockNote);
+    RESET_FAKE(_noteUnlockNote);
+
+    hookActiveInterface = NOTE_C_INTERFACE_SERIAL;
+    _noteTransactionStart_fake.return_val = true;
+    _noteJSONTransaction_fake.custom_fake = pingTransaction;
+    _noteSerialAvailable_fake.custom_fake = serialAvailable;
+    _noteSerialReceive_fake.custom_fake = serialReceive;
+}
+
+SCENARIO("NotePing")
+{
+    resetTestState();
+
+    SECTION("returns true when echo response matches the nonce") {
+        CHECK(NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+        CHECK(lastRequestLength > 0);
+        CHECK(lastRequestEndedWithNewline);
+        CHECK(!lastRequestHadCrc);
+        CHECK(lastTransactionTimeoutMs == 500);
+        CHECK(_noteTransactionStart_fake.call_count == 1);
+        CHECK(_noteTransactionStop_fake.call_count == 1);
+        CHECK(_noteLockNote_fake.call_count == 1);
+        CHECK(_noteUnlockNote_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false when the echoed nonce does not match") {
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::WrongNonce;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false when the response contains an error") {
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::Error;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false when the response is not valid JSON") {
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::InvalidJson;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false when the transaction fails and does not retry") {
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::TransactionError;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false when no response is received and does not retry") {
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::NoResponse;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 1);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("does not reset even when resetRequired is set") {
+        resetRequired = true;
+        pingResponse = PingResponse::TransactionError;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteHardReset_fake.call_count == 0);
+        CHECK(resetRequired == true);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("returns false without locking or transacting when transaction start fails") {
+        _noteTransactionStart_fake.return_val = false;
+
+        CHECK(!NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteLockNote_fake.call_count == 0);
+        CHECK(_noteJSONTransaction_fake.call_count == 0);
+        CHECK(_noteTransactionStop_fake.call_count == 0);
+    }
+
+    SECTION("drains serial input before sending the ping") {
+        serialBytesRemaining = 3;
+
+        CHECK(NotePing());
+        CHECK(_noteSerialReceive_fake.call_count == 3);
+        CHECK(serialBytesRemainingAtTransaction == 0);
+    }
+
+    resetTestState();
+}
+
+}