diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalHostView.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalHostView.kt
index f36a1e3e1386..53926406b7f6 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalHostView.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalHostView.kt
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ public class ReactModalHostView(context: ThemedReactContext) :
         }
 
     val currentActivity = getCurrentActivity()
-    val newDialog = ComponentDialog(currentActivity ?: context, theme)
+    val newDialog = ReactModalDialog(currentActivity ?: context, theme)
     dialog = newDialog
     val window = requireNotNull(newDialog.window)
     window.setFlags(
@@ -306,11 +306,14 @@ public class ReactModalHostView(context: ThemedReactContext) :
         object : DialogInterface.OnKeyListener {
           override fun onKey(dialog: DialogInterface, keyCode: Int, event: KeyEvent): Boolean {
             if (event.action == KeyEvent.ACTION_UP) {
-              // We need to stop the BACK button and ESCAPE key from closing the dialog by default
-              // so we capture that event and instead inform JS so that it can make the decision as
-              // to whether or not to allow the back/escape key to close the dialog. If it chooses
-              // to, it can just set visible to false on the Modal and the Modal will go away
-              if (keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BACK || keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ESCAPE) {
+              // We need to stop the BACK button from closing the dialog by default so we capture
+              // that event and instead inform JS so that it can make the decision as to whether or
+              // not to allow the back key to close the dialog. If it chooses to, it can just set
+              // visible to false on the Modal and the Modal will go away.
+              // ESCAPE is routed through ReactModalDialog.dispatchKeyEvent which forwards it to
+              // onBackPressedDispatcher, so it is intentionally not handled here to avoid
+              // double-dispatch.
+              if (keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BACK) {
                 handleCloseAction()
                 return true
               } else {
@@ -491,6 +494,25 @@ public class ReactModalHostView(context: ThemedReactContext) :
     private const val TAG = "ReactModalHost"
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Subclass of [ComponentDialog] that explicitly routes the hardware ESCAPE key through the
+   * dialog's [onBackPressedDispatcher], mirroring how the platform routes the BACK key. This is
+   * required because some Android versions and external keyboards do not deliver KEYCODE_ESCAPE to
+   * [DialogInterface.OnKeyListener] in a way that allows the modal's onRequestClose callback to be
+   * invoked, so we intercept it here to guarantee a single, consistent dispatch path. Marked
+   * `internal` so a same-module Robolectric test can verify the ESC routing contract.
+   */
+  internal class ReactModalDialog(context: Context, themeResId: Int) :
+      ComponentDialog(context, themeResId) {
+    override fun dispatchKeyEvent(event: KeyEvent): Boolean {
+      if (event.keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ESCAPE && event.action == KeyEvent.ACTION_UP) {
+        onBackPressedDispatcher.onBackPressed()
+        return true
+      }
+      return super.dispatchKeyEvent(event)
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * DialogRootViewGroup is the ViewGroup which contains all the children of a Modal. It gets all
    * child information forwarded from [ReactModalHostView] and uses that to create children. It is
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/test/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalDialogTest.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/test/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalDialogTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..916a15a6bd3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/test/java/com/facebook/react/views/modal/ReactModalDialogTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+package com.facebook.react.views.modal
+
+import android.app.Activity
+import android.view.KeyEvent
+import androidx.activity.OnBackPressedCallback
+import com.facebook.react.R
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat
+import org.junit.Before
+import org.junit.Test
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith
+import org.robolectric.Robolectric
+import org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner
+
+/**
+ * Regression test for issue #56411: pressing the hardware ESCAPE key on Android must invoke the
+ * `onRequestClose` flow on a Modal. The fix routes KEYCODE_ESCAPE through the dialog's
+ * [androidx.activity.OnBackPressedDispatcher] from inside [ReactModalHostView.ReactModalDialog],
+ * which guarantees a single dispatch path consistent with KEYCODE_BACK.
+ *
+ * Robolectric cannot exercise device-level key dispatch end-to-end, so this test verifies the
+ * dispatcher contract: a registered [OnBackPressedCallback] fires when an ESCAPE ACTION_UP key
+ * event is dispatched to the dialog, and other key events fall through unchanged.
+ */
+@RunWith(RobolectricTestRunner::class)
+class ReactModalDialogTest {
+
+  private lateinit var activity: Activity
+
+  @Before
+  fun setUp() {
+    activity = Robolectric.buildActivity(Activity::class.java).create().get()
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun `escape key up dispatches through onBackPressedDispatcher`() {
+    val dialog =
+        ReactModalHostView.ReactModalDialog(activity, R.style.Theme_FullScreenDialog)
+    var backPressedCount = 0
+    dialog.onBackPressedDispatcher.addCallback(
+        object : OnBackPressedCallback(true) {
+          override fun handleOnBackPressed() {
+            backPressedCount++
+          }
+        }
+    )
+
+    val handled =
+        dialog.dispatchKeyEvent(KeyEvent(KeyEvent.ACTION_UP, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ESCAPE))
+
+    assertThat(handled).isTrue()
+    assertThat(backPressedCount).isEqualTo(1)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun `escape key down does not trigger onBackPressedDispatcher`() {
+    val dialog =
+        ReactModalHostView.ReactModalDialog(activity, R.style.Theme_FullScreenDialog)
+    var backPressedCount = 0
+    dialog.onBackPressedDispatcher.addCallback(
+        object : OnBackPressedCallback(true) {
+          override fun handleOnBackPressed() {
+            backPressedCount++
+          }
+        }
+    )
+
+    // Only ACTION_UP should consume; ACTION_DOWN must fall through to super so the platform's
+    // existing key-dispatch lifecycle (long-press, repeat, etc.) is not disturbed.
+    dialog.dispatchKeyEvent(KeyEvent(KeyEvent.ACTION_DOWN, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ESCAPE))
+
+    assertThat(backPressedCount).isEqualTo(0)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun `non-escape keys are delegated to super dispatchKeyEvent`() {
+    val dialog =
+        ReactModalHostView.ReactModalDialog(activity, R.style.Theme_FullScreenDialog)
+    var backPressedCount = 0
+    dialog.onBackPressedDispatcher.addCallback(
+        object : OnBackPressedCallback(true) {
+          override fun handleOnBackPressed() {
+            backPressedCount++
+          }
+        }
+    )
+
+    // An arbitrary letter key must not be intercepted by the ESC override.
+    dialog.dispatchKeyEvent(KeyEvent(KeyEvent.ACTION_UP, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_A))
+
+    assertThat(backPressedCount).isEqualTo(0)
+  }
+}