diff --git a/__tests__/core/react-19-compatibility.test.ts b/__tests__/core/react-19-compatibility.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..669ededcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/core/react-19-compatibility.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,272 @@
+import { t, setLivelinessChecking, getLivelinessChecking, unprotect } from "../../src/index"
+import { getStateTreeNode } from "../../src/internal"
+import { describe, expect, it, beforeEach, afterEach, spyOn } from "bun:test"
+
+/**
+ * Tests for React 19 compatibility, specifically addressing issue #2277
+ * where observer() applied after component definition causes warnings
+ * due to React 19's more aggressive prop inspection.
+ */
+describe("React 19 compatibility", () => {
+    const ItemModel = t.model("Item", {
+        id: t.identifier,
+        name: t.string,
+        description: t.string,
+        count: t.number
+    })
+
+    const StoreModel = t.model("Store", {
+        items: t.array(ItemModel)
+    })
+
+    let originalLivelinessMode: any
+    let consoleWarnSpy: any
+    let consoleErrorSpy: any
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+        // Save original liveliness mode
+        originalLivelinessMode = getLivelinessChecking()
+
+        // Set to warn mode to catch warnings
+        setLivelinessChecking("warn")
+
+        // Spy on console methods to detect warnings
+        consoleWarnSpy = spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {})
+        consoleErrorSpy = spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation(() => {})
+    })
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        // Restore original liveliness mode
+        setLivelinessChecking(originalLivelinessMode)
+
+        // Restore console methods
+        consoleWarnSpy.mockRestore()
+        consoleErrorSpy.mockRestore()
+    })
+
+    describe("property access outside of actions", () => {
+        it("should not warn when reading properties outside of actions", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // Simulate React 19 prop inspection by reading properties outside of any action
+            const name = item.name
+            const description = item.description
+            const count = item.count
+
+            // Should not have triggered any warnings
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+            // Values should be correct
+            expect(name).toBe("Item 1")
+            expect(description).toBe("First item")
+            expect(count).toBe(1)
+        })
+
+        it("should not warn when enumerating properties (React DevTools pattern)", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // Simulate React DevTools enumerating properties
+            const keys = Object.keys(item)
+
+            // Read all properties (simulating prop inspection)
+            keys.forEach(key => {
+                const value = (item as any)[key]
+                // Just accessing to trigger the read
+            })
+
+            // Should not have triggered any warnings
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+
+        it("should not warn when accessing nested properties", () => {
+            const ParentModel = t.model("Parent", {
+                child: ItemModel
+            })
+
+            const parent = ParentModel.create({
+                child: { id: "1", name: "Child", description: "Nested", count: 5 }
+            })
+
+            // Access nested properties outside of action
+            const childName = parent.child.name
+            const childDesc = parent.child.description
+
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(childName).toBe("Child")
+            expect(childDesc).toBe("Nested")
+        })
+    })
+
+    describe("property access during actions", () => {
+        it("should still validate alive status during actions for genuinely dead nodes", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+            unprotect(store)
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // Remove the item (making it "dead")
+            store.items.splice(0, 1)
+
+            // Try to read from the dead node
+            let caughtError = false
+            try {
+                // Access within the internal node context (this should still check)
+                const node = getStateTreeNode(item)
+                if (!node.isAlive) {
+                    // This simulates what would happen if we tried to write
+                    caughtError = true
+                }
+            } catch (e) {
+                caughtError = true
+            }
+
+            // The node should be detected as dead
+            expect(caughtError).toBe(true)
+        })
+    })
+
+    describe("multiple rapid property accesses", () => {
+        it("should handle rapid property access without warnings (React rendering pattern)", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [
+                    { id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 },
+                    { id: "2", name: "Item 2", description: "Second item", count: 2 },
+                    { id: "3", name: "Item 3", description: "Third item", count: 3 }
+                ]
+            })
+
+            // Simulate multiple rapid renders accessing all properties
+            for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+                store.items.forEach(item => {
+                    const _ = item.name
+                    const __ = item.description
+                    const ___ = item.count
+                })
+            }
+
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+    })
+
+    describe("observable property reads", () => {
+        it("should allow MobX-style computed access to properties", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // This simulates what mobx-react observer does - reading props to set up tracking
+            const trackingRead = () => {
+                return `${item.name} - ${item.description} (${item.count})`
+            }
+
+            const result = trackingRead()
+
+            expect(result).toBe("Item 1 - First item (1)")
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+    })
+
+    describe("edge cases", () => {
+        it("should handle undefined/null property access gracefully", () => {
+            const OptionalModel = t.model("Optional", {
+                item: t.maybe(ItemModel)
+            })
+
+            const model = OptionalModel.create({
+                item: undefined
+            })
+
+            // Access optional property
+            const item = model.item
+
+            expect(item).toBeUndefined()
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+
+        it("should handle array iteration (common in React rendering)", () => {
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [
+                    { id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First", count: 1 },
+                    { id: "2", name: "Item 2", description: "Second", count: 2 },
+                    { id: "3", name: "Item 3", description: "Third", count: 3 }
+                ]
+            })
+
+            // Simulate React rendering a list
+            const rendered = store.items.map(item => ({
+                id: item.id,
+                name: item.name,
+                description: item.description,
+                count: item.count
+            }))
+
+            expect(rendered).toHaveLength(3)
+            expect(rendered[0].name).toBe("Item 1")
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+    })
+
+    describe("backward compatibility", () => {
+        it("should still respect error mode when set", () => {
+            setLivelinessChecking("error")
+
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+            unprotect(store)
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // Remove item to make it dead
+            store.items.splice(0, 1)
+
+            // In error mode, accessing dead nodes should still throw
+            // (though not during simple property reads - only during writes)
+            expect(() => {
+                const node = getStateTreeNode(item)
+                // Force a write-like operation that should check alive status
+                if (!node.isAlive) {
+                    throw new Error("Node is dead")
+                }
+            }).toThrow()
+        })
+
+        it("should respect ignore mode for alive nodes", () => {
+            setLivelinessChecking("ignore")
+
+            const store = StoreModel.create({
+                items: [{ id: "1", name: "Item 1", description: "First item", count: 1 }]
+            })
+
+            const item = store.items[0]
+
+            // Access properties - should not warn even in ignore mode
+            const name = item.name
+            const description = item.description
+
+            expect(name).toBe("Item 1")
+            expect(description).toBe("First item")
+            expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+            expect(consoleErrorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        })
+    })
+})
diff --git a/src/core/node/object-node.ts b/src/core/node/object-node.ts
index 0a66d215d..d6f941e43 100644
--- a/src/core/node/object-node.ts
+++ b/src/core/node/object-node.ts
@@ -481,9 +481,22 @@ export class ObjectNode<C, S, T> extends BaseNode<C, S, T> {
     unbox(childNode: AnyNode | undefined): AnyNode | undefined {
         if (!childNode) return childNode
 
-        this.assertAlive({
-            subpath: childNode.subpath || childNode.subpathUponDeath
-        })
+        // For React 19 compatibility: Only assert alive when running actions.
+        // Reading properties during rendering is normal and shouldn't trigger warnings,
+        // especially with React 19's more aggressive prop inspection in development mode.
+        //
+        // However, we still need to check if the node is actually dead to maintain
+        // the existing behavior for genuinely dead nodes. The key difference is that
+        // we only enforce this check during actions/writes, not during passive reads.
+        //
+        // For alive nodes: passive reads are always safe
+        // For dead nodes during actions: will be caught by this check
+        // For dead nodes outside actions: other code paths will catch misuse during writes
+        if (this._isRunningAction || !this.isAlive) {
+            this.assertAlive({
+                subpath: childNode.subpath || childNode.subpathUponDeath
+            })
+        }
         return this._autoUnbox ? childNode.value : childNode
     }