diff --git a/include/kpn/static_network.hpp b/include/kpn/static_network.hpp
index 5bdb9ac..75ad6e6 100644
--- a/include/kpn/static_network.hpp
+++ b/include/kpn/static_network.hpp
@@ -374,29 +374,6 @@ auto make_network(Edges&&... edges) {
     // 4. Construct owned fanout storage on the heap (FanoutNode has jthread — not moveable)
     auto fanout_storage = std::make_unique<FanoutSto>();
 
-    // 5. Collect unique user node pointers + their display names, in edge-declaration order
-    std::vector<INode*>      user_node_ptrs;
-    std::vector<std::string> user_node_names;
-    auto collect = [&](auto& e) {
-        using SrcT = std::decay_t<decltype(e.src)>;
-        using DstT = std::decay_t<decltype(e.dst)>;
-        auto* s = static_cast<INode*>(&e.src);
-        auto* d = static_cast<INode*>(&e.dst);
-        if (std::find(user_node_ptrs.begin(), user_node_ptrs.end(), s) == user_node_ptrs.end()) {
-            auto sname = node_display_name<SrcT>();
-            user_node_ptrs.push_back(s);
-            user_node_names.push_back(sname);
-            s->set_name(sname);
-        }
-        if (std::find(user_node_ptrs.begin(), user_node_ptrs.end(), d) == user_node_ptrs.end()) {
-            auto dname = node_display_name<DstT>();
-            user_node_ptrs.push_back(d);
-            user_node_names.push_back(dname);
-            d->set_name(dname);
-        }
-    };
-    (collect(edges), ...);
-
     // 5. Wire all expanded SimpleEdges.
     //    find_node<NodeT>: searches fanout storage then user edge pack, returns NodeT*.
     //    Uses if constexpr in a fold so mismatched types never reach assignment.
@@ -421,6 +398,38 @@ auto make_network(Edges&&... edges) {
         return ptr;
     };
 
+    // 5. Collect user node pointers + display names in *topological* order.
+    //
+    // Topo is computed above for the cycle check and used to be discarded,
+    // while this vector was filled in edge-declaration order — and then named
+    // user_nodes_topo_ and relied upon as if it were sorted. halt() stops in
+    // its reverse, and shutdown() walks it forwards stopping each node and
+    // draining its outputs before the next, which is only a graceful drain if
+    // the order really is sources-first. It held for every network in the tree
+    // because edges happen to be declared in pipeline order, and would have
+    // broken silently for one that was not.
+    //
+    // Fanout nodes appear in Topo too; they are skipped here because they are
+    // owned separately, in fanout_storage.
+    std::vector<INode*>      user_node_ptrs;
+    std::vector<std::string> user_node_names;
+    [&]<typename... Ns>(tmp::TypeList<Ns...>) {
+        ([&]<typename NodeT>() {
+            if constexpr (!requires { NodeT::is_fanout_node; }) {
+                if (auto* p = find_node.template operator()<NodeT>()) {
+                    auto* n = static_cast<INode*>(p);
+                    if (std::find(user_node_ptrs.begin(), user_node_ptrs.end(), n)
+                            == user_node_ptrs.end()) {
+                        auto nm = node_display_name<NodeT>();
+                        user_node_ptrs.push_back(n);
+                        user_node_names.push_back(nm);
+                        n->set_name(nm);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }.template operator()<Ns>(), ...);
+    }(typename Topo::topo{});
+
     // Pre-pass: build fanout_id → source display name map so fanout nodes
     // can be named after the node feeding them (e.g. "capture_fanout").
     std::map<std::size_t, std::string> fanout_src_name;
diff --git a/tests/test_static_network.cpp b/tests/test_static_network.cpp
index 4b1e780..188de84 100644
--- a/tests/test_static_network.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_static_network.cpp
@@ -349,3 +349,86 @@ TEST_CASE("shutdown returns when a consumer has wedged", "[static_network][shutd
     INFO("shutdown took " << ms << " ms");
     CHECK(ms < 3000);   // unbounded before; one 100 ms drain timeout after
 }
+
+// Regression: node order must come from the topological sort, not from the
+// order the edges happened to be written in.
+//
+// make_network computes Topo for the cycle check and then dropped it, filling
+// the node vector in edge-declaration order — and named it user_nodes_topo_.
+// halt() stops in its reverse, and shutdown() walks it forwards stopping each
+// node and draining its outputs before moving to the next, which is a graceful
+// drain only if the order really is sources-first.
+//
+// Every network in this tree declares edges in pipeline order, so the two
+// coincided and nothing failed. This case declares them backwards, which is
+// legal and which make_network otherwise accepts silently.
+//
+// Asserted through shutdown() rather than by reading the order back, because
+// the order is private and the ordering is not the point — what it buys is.
+// A sources-first shutdown lets the values already in flight reach the sink;
+// stopping the sink first strands them, and the drain step then has nobody
+// left to take them.
+namespace {
+
+struct OrderSource {
+    static constexpr std::string_view label() { return "order_source"; }
+    std::atomic<int>* made;
+    int operator()() {
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(20));
+        return made->fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    }
+};
+
+// Deliberately slower than the source, so a deep backlog builds up in its input
+// channel. That backlog is what a sources-first shutdown preserves and a
+// sink-first one throws away, and it needs to be big enough that the difference
+// cannot be mistaken for one value in flight.
+struct OrderRelay {
+    static constexpr std::string_view label() { return "order_relay"; }
+    int operator()(int v) {
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(300));
+        return v;
+    }
+};
+
+struct OrderSink {
+    static constexpr std::string_view label() { return "order_sink"; }
+    std::atomic<int>* seen;
+    void operator()(int) { seen->fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed); }
+};
+
+}  // namespace
+
+TEST_CASE("edges declared out of order still start and stop sources-first",
+          "[static_network][shutdown]") {
+    std::atomic<int> seen{0}, made{0};
+
+    OrderSource src_fn{&made};
+    OrderRelay  relay_fn;
+    OrderSink   sink_fn{&seen};
+
+    kpn::ObjectNode<OrderSource, kpn::in<>,    kpn::out<"v">, "order_source", 0> s(src_fn,   8);
+    kpn::ObjectNode<OrderRelay,  kpn::in<"v">, kpn::out<"w">, "order_relay",  0> r(relay_fn, 64);
+    kpn::ObjectNode<OrderSink,   kpn::in<"w">, kpn::out<>,    "order_sink",   0> k(sink_fn,  64);
+
+    // Sink edge first, source edge last — the reverse of pipeline order.
+    auto net = kpn::make_network(
+        kpn::edge(r.output<"w">(), k.input<"w">()),
+        kpn::edge(s.output<"v">(), r.input<"v">())
+    );
+    net.start();
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(300));
+
+    const int before = seen.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    REQUIRE(before > 0);              // the pipeline ran at all
+
+    net.shutdown();
+
+    // Sources stop first and each layer drains before the next stops, so the
+    // backlog queued in front of the relay still reaches the sink. Stopping in
+    // declaration order stops the relay first and discards all of it.
+    const int after = seen.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    INFO("made " << made.load() << ", delivered " << before
+         << " before shutdown, " << after << " after");
+    CHECK(after - before >= 20);
+}