diff --git a/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/lib/config-item.ts b/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/lib/config-item.ts
index 8119b2acd..9792bc373 100644
--- a/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/lib/config-item.ts
+++ b/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/lib/config-item.ts
@@ -1076,7 +1076,19 @@ export class ConfigItem {
     }
 
     const dataType = this.effectiveDataType;
-    if (!dataType) throw new Error('expected dataType to be set');
+    // finishLoad() returns early when any source is invalid or a plugin failed
+    // to load, leaving items unprocessed (dataType unset) and with no schema
+    // error. Resolving such an item — typically because the key is also in
+    // process.env, which varlock treats as an override — used to throw
+    // `expected dataType to be set` from an un-awaited resolveItem(), which
+    // becomes an unhandledRejection while resolveEnvValues() hangs (dead
+    // `_reject`). Record it as a ResolutionError so callers can fail cleanly.
+    if (!dataType) {
+      this.resolutionError = new ResolutionError(
+        'expected dataType to be set — this item was never typed because env-graph loading did not finish. Check .env / .env.schema / .env.local for parse errors, and that plugins loaded.',
+      );
+      return;
+    }
 
     // COERCE VALUE - often will do nothing, but gives us a chance to convert strings to numbers, etc
     try {
diff --git a/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/test/unprocessed-item-resolve.test.ts b/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/test/unprocessed-item-resolve.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3856e31ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/varlock/src/env-graph/test/unprocessed-item-resolve.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { EnvGraph } from '../index';
+import { DotEnvFileDataSource, MultiplePathsContainerDataSource } from '../lib/data-source';
+import { ResolutionError } from '../lib/errors';
+
+/**
+ * finishLoad() returns early when a sibling source fails to parse, leaving
+ * schema items unprocessed (dataType unset). If that key is also in
+ * process.env / overrideValues, ConfigItem.resolve used to throw
+ * `expected dataType to be set` from an un-awaited resolveItem — an
+ * unhandledRejection while resolveEnvValues() hung forever.
+ */
+describe('unprocessed item resolve', () => {
+  it('records a ResolutionError instead of throwing expected dataType to be set', async () => {
+    const g = new EnvGraph();
+    g.overrideValues = { REPRO_VAR: 'fixture-token-not-a-real-secret' };
+    // Virtual files must be registered before setRootDataSource so the
+    // container can feed overrideContents into each DotEnvFileDataSource.
+    g.setVirtualImports('/virtual', {
+      '.env.schema': 'REPRO_VAR=\n',
+      '.env.local': 'VALID=ok\n@#$%^& this is not valid env syntax !!!\n',
+    });
+    await g.setRootDataSource(new MultiplePathsContainerDataSource([
+      '/virtual/.env.schema',
+      '/virtual/.env.local',
+    ]));
+    await g.finishLoad();
+
+    const item = g.configSchema.REPRO_VAR;
+    expect(item).toBeDefined();
+    expect(item.dataType).toBeUndefined();
+
+    const forwarded: Array<unknown> = [];
+    const onRejection = (reason: unknown) => {
+      forwarded.push(reason);
+    };
+    process.on('unhandledRejection', onRejection);
+    try {
+      const settled = g.resolveEnvValues().then(
+        () => 'RESOLVED' as const,
+        (e: unknown) => e,
+      );
+      const result = await Promise.race([
+        settled,
+        new Promise<'STILL_PENDING'>((r) => setTimeout(() => r('STILL_PENDING'), 200)),
+      ]);
+      expect(result).toBe('RESOLVED');
+      expect(
+        forwarded.some((r) => String((r as Error)?.message ?? r).includes('expected dataType to be set')),
+      ).toBe(false);
+      expect(item.resolutionError).toBeInstanceOf(ResolutionError);
+      expect(item.resolutionError?.message).toMatch(/expected dataType to be set/);
+      expect(item.errors.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    } finally {
+      process.removeListener('unhandledRejection', onRejection);
+    }
+  });
+});