diff --git a/changelog.d/capy-gsta156-sealed-skip.md b/changelog.d/capy-gsta156-sealed-skip.md
index 108f9c3c9..6126e96fe 100644
--- a/changelog.d/capy-gsta156-sealed-skip.md
+++ b/changelog.d/capy-gsta156-sealed-skip.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 **The sealed guard no longer rescans commits the destination already holds, so a stacked branch retargeted after its parent squash-landed stops being refused for the parent's history.** gstack-evals#22 listed its parent #6's seven commits after #6 landed as one squash. One of them had added and later deleted a held-out file, so the guard refused a push whose every byte GitHub already had as `refs/pull/6/head`, and the queue sat blocked for about 50 minutes until a waiver landed.
 
 ### Changed
-- **`lib/sealed-guard.ts`** (`evaluateSealed`, shared by the pre-push hook and `gstack-pregate sealed`): a listed commit is skipped when it is an ancestor of the destination's own `refs/pull/<n>/head` for a squash `(#n)` on the base since the merge-base (at most 50 refs, a 20-second budget, an egress receipt per remote call, fetched refs deleted afterwards), or when its own `git patch-id --verbatim` and diff equal a base commit's (off above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits). Nothing is matched against a combined diff, and any failed lookup scans everything with one line saying why. docs/pregate.md#sealed-skip.
+- **`lib/sealed-guard.ts`** (`evaluateSealed`, shared by the pre-push hook and `gstack-pregate sealed`): a listed commit is skipped when it is an ancestor of the destination's own `refs/pull/<n>/head` for a squash `(#n)` on the base since the merge-base (at most 50 refs, a 20-second budget, an egress receipt per remote call, fetched refs deleted afterwards), or when its own `git patch-id --verbatim` and diff equal a base commit's (off above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits; a landed commit still gets the `sealed.label_join` check, which reads the whole file). Nothing is matched against a combined diff, and any failed lookup scans everything with one line saying why. docs/pregate.md#sealed-skip.
 - **`gstack-pregate sealed`**: the `SEALED:` line gains `skipped=<n>` (and `commits=` counts the commits scanned), stderr names each skipped group, and `--no-skip` scans every listed commit.
 
 ### Tests
diff --git a/docs/pregate.md b/docs/pregate.md
index c5c687390..4d16f28f9 100644
--- a/docs/pregate.md
+++ b/docs/pregate.md
@@ -1130,7 +1130,9 @@ gstack-pregate sealed [--range <a..b>] [--remote origin] [--base <branch>] [--no
   `sealed-guard`) and deletes the fetched refs afterwards. Landed: the commit's
   own `git patch-id --verbatim` equals a base commit's since the merge-base and
   so does its diff, apart from blob ids and line numbers; a merge never matches,
-  and above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits this check is off. Nothing
+  and above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits this check is off. A landed commit
+  skips only the path and text rules: `sealed.label_join` judges the whole file
+  at that commit, which the base may never have held, so it still runs. Nothing
   matches a combined diff, so a parent whose commits were never published is
   scanned whole even when its squash landed. A lookup that fails, runs out of
   time or exceeds a limit prints one line and scans everything. Each PR group
diff --git a/lib/sealed-guard.ts b/lib/sealed-guard.ts
index 3ca74826d..773671b6a 100644
--- a/lib/sealed-guard.ts
+++ b/lib/sealed-guard.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@
  * for a squash `(#n)` on the base since the merge-base (at most 50 refs, a
  * 20 s budget, fetched from the destination remote), is not rescanned, nor is
  * one whose own `git patch-id --verbatim` and diff equal a base commit's
- * since the merge-base (off above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits). No
+ * since the merge-base (off above 2,000 base or 400 listed commits). A
+ * landed patch skips only the path and text rules: `sealed.label_join` judges
+ * the whole file at the commit, which the base may never have held. No
  * combined-diff matching; any lookup failure scans everything.
  */
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
@@ -200,10 +202,11 @@ function textFindings(repoRoot: string, commits: string[], p: SealedPolicy): Sea
   return out;
 }
 
-export function scanCommits(repoRoot: string, commits: string[], policy: SealedPolicy): SealedFinding[] {
-  if (!commits.length) return [];
+export function scanCommits(repoRoot: string, commits: string[], policy: SealedPolicy, joinCommits: string[] = commits): SealedFinding[] {
+  if (!commits.length && !joinCommits.length) return [];
   const seen = new Set<string>();
-  return [...pathFindings(repoRoot, commits, policy), ...textFindings(repoRoot, commits, policy), ...joinFindings(repoRoot, commits, policy)].filter(f => {
+  const own = commits.length ? [...pathFindings(repoRoot, commits, policy), ...textFindings(repoRoot, commits, policy)] : [];
+  return [...own, ...joinFindings(repoRoot, joinCommits, policy)].filter(f => {
     const key = `${f.rule}\0${f.file}\0${f.line ?? ''}\0${f.commit}`;
     if (seen.has(key)) return false;
     seen.add(key);
@@ -378,8 +381,9 @@ export function evaluateSealed(o: EvaluateOptions): SealedReport {
   const { skipped, notes } = alreadyPublished(o, listed);
   const skip = new Set(skipped.map(k => k.commit));
   const commits = listed.filter(c => !skip.has(c));
+  const held = new Set(skipped.filter(k => k.pr !== undefined).map(k => k.commit));
   let found: SealedFinding[];
-  try { found = scanCommits(o.repoRoot, commits, policy); }
+  try { found = scanCommits(o.repoRoot, commits, policy, listed.filter(c => !held.has(c))); }
   catch (e: any) { return { ...blank, policyLabels: labels, commits: commits.length, skipped, notes, status: 'error', error: `could not read the published commits: ${e.message}` }; }
   const exception = globMatcher(policy.allow_paths, false);
   const exempt: ExemptFinding[] = [];
diff --git a/test/sealed-skip.test.ts b/test/sealed-skip.test.ts
index 58e91240a..40a5c1b74 100644
--- a/test/sealed-skip.test.ts
+++ b/test/sealed-skip.test.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,28 @@ describe('sealed skips what the destination already holds', () => {
     expect(preflight(s).out).toMatch(/^SEALED: refused findings=1 commits=1 skipped=0 /m);
   });
 
+  test('a landed commit still gets the label_join check, because the join can form only on the branch', () => {
+    const s = scratch();
+    const rec = (extra: Record<number, string>) => ['{', '  "id": "r1",', '  "k1": 1,', '  "k2": 2,', '  "k3": 3,', '  "k4": 4,', '  "k5": 5,', '  "k6": 6,', '  "k7": 7', '}'].flatMap((l, i) => extra[i] ? [l, extra[i]!] : [l]).join('\n') + '\n';
+    const labeled = JSON.stringify({ sealed: { paths: ['heldout/**'], label_keys: ['stratum'] } }, null, 2) + '\n';
+    commit(s, { '.gstack/pregate.json': labeled, 'rec.json': rec({}) }, 'labeled policy');
+    sh(s, ['push', '-q', 'origin', 'main']);
+    sh(s, ['checkout', '-q', '-b', 'results']);
+    commit(s, { 'rec.json': rec({ 1: '  "stratum": "decoy",' }) }, 'stratum');
+    const head = commit(s, { 'rec.json': rec({ 1: '  "stratum": "decoy",', 7: '  "head": "abc1234def5678",' }) }, 'head');
+    sh(s, ['checkout', '-q', 'main']);
+    sh(s, ['cherry-pick', head]);
+    sh(s, ['push', '-q', 'origin', 'main']);
+    expect(sh(s, ['show', 'HEAD:rec.json'])).not.toContain('stratum');
+    sh(s, ['checkout', '-q', 'results']);
+    const h = hook(s);
+    expect(h.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(h.err).toMatch(/sealed\.label_join\s+rec\.json/);
+    const p = preflight(s);
+    expect(p.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(p.out).toMatch(/^SEALED: refused findings=1 commits=1 skipped=1 /m);
+  });
+
   test('a landed commit that differs only in bytes that are not UTF-8 is scanned and refuses', () => {
     const s = scratch();
     sh(s, ['checkout', '-q', '-b', 'results']);