diff --git a/lib/redact-patterns.ts b/lib/redact-patterns.ts
index 322fc696b..b6cfc6c01 100644
--- a/lib/redact-patterns.ts
+++ b/lib/redact-patterns.ts
@@ -298,6 +298,33 @@ const UUID_RE = /[0-9a-fA-F]{8}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-
  * this stays cheap on a multi-megabyte buffer. */
 const UUID_CONTEXT_CHARS = 40;
 
+/**
+ * True when an `internal.hostname` span is really the tail of a dotenv
+ * FILENAME (`.env.local`, `.env.staging`, `.env.prod`) rather than a host.
+ *
+ * The hostname pattern ends in `.local|.prod|.staging|…`, so `.env.local`
+ * matches on `env.local` — a false positive on one of the most commonly
+ * committed filenames there is. It arrives via npm scripts
+ * (`--env-file=.env.local`), READMEs, `.gitignore` and setup docs, i.e. on
+ * ordinary branches that leak nothing, which is the noise that teaches people
+ * to skim past MEDIUM findings.
+ *
+ * Deliberately narrow, in the same spirit as `insideUuid`: it exempts ONLY a
+ * span beginning `env.` that is immediately preceded by a dot — the literal
+ * `.env.<suffix>` form. A real host still reports, `api.corp` and
+ * `build-7.internal` included, and so does `myenv.local`, which is not a
+ * dotenv file.
+ */
+export function isDotenvFilename(match: RegExpExecArray): boolean {
+  const input = match.input ?? "";
+  const span = match[1] ?? match[0];
+  if (!/^env\./i.test(span)) return false;
+  // Mirror the engine: capture group 1 when present, else the whole match.
+  const spanStartInMatch = match[1] !== undefined ? match[0].indexOf(match[1]) : 0;
+  const spanStart = match.index + Math.max(0, spanStartInMatch);
+  return spanStart > 0 && input[spanStart - 1] === ".";
+}
+
 /**
  * True when the matched span sits ENTIRELY inside a UUID.
  *
@@ -751,6 +778,8 @@ export const PATTERNS: RedactPattern[] = [
     category: "internal",
     description: "Internal hostname (*.internal/.corp/.local/.prod/.staging)",
     regex: /\b([a-z0-9][a-z0-9\-]*\.(?:internal|corp|local|lan|prod|staging))\b/i,
+    // `.env.local` and friends are filenames, not hosts. See isDotenvFilename.
+    validate: (_span, match) => !isDotenvFilename(match),
   },
   {
     id: "internal.url_private",
diff --git a/test/redact-dotenv-filename-false-positive.test.ts b/test/redact-dotenv-filename-false-positive.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9bb4eaeba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/redact-dotenv-filename-false-positive.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/**
+ * internal.hostname vs dotenv FILENAMES.
+ *
+ * `.env.local` ends in `.local`, so the internal-hostname pattern matches on
+ * `env.local` and reports a filename as a leaked internal host. This is not an
+ * exotic collision: `--env-file=.env.local` in an npm script, `.env.staging` in
+ * a README, `.env.prod` in a .gitignore. It fires on branches that leak
+ * nothing, and a scanner that cries wolf on package.json is a scanner people
+ * learn to skim past — which costs far more than the finding was ever worth.
+ *
+ * The guard has to stay narrow, so this file pins BOTH directions. The
+ * negative controls are the point: an exemption written as "any span ending
+ * .local" would pass the dotenv half while quietly gutting the pattern for
+ * every real host.
+ */
+import { describe, test, expect } from "bun:test";
+import { scan } from "../lib/redact-engine";
+import { isDotenvFilename } from "../lib/redact-patterns";
+
+const flagsHost = (s: string): boolean =>
+  scan(s, { repoVisibility: "private" }).findings.some((f) => f.id === "internal.hostname");
+
+describe("internal.hostname — real internal hosts stay flagged", () => {
+  const REAL_HOSTS: [string, string][] = [
+    [".internal", "curl http://build-7.internal/health"],
+    [".corp", "ssh jump.corp"],
+    [".local", "ping printer.local"],
+    [".lan", "nas.lan is down"],
+    [".prod", "deploy to shipping.prod now"],
+    [".staging", "hit api.staging first"],
+    ["multi-label, dotted prefix", "host: api.corp.local"],
+    ["not a dotenv file", "myenv.local resolves"],
+    ["env as a real subdomain", "https://env.prod//status"],
+  ];
+  for (const [label, input] of REAL_HOSTS) {
+    test(label, () => {
+      expect(flagsHost(input)).toBe(true);
+    });
+  }
+});
+
+describe("internal.hostname — dotenv filenames are not hosts", () => {
+  const DOTENV: [string, string][] = [
+    ["npm script", '"dev": "tsx --env-file=.env.local scripts/x.ts"'],
+    ["bare filename", "copy .env.example to .env.local"],
+    ["staging", "secrets live in .env.staging"],
+    ["prod", "never commit .env.prod"],
+    ["gitignore line", ".env.local"],
+    ["path prefix", "apps/web/.env.local"],
+  ];
+  for (const [label, input] of DOTENV) {
+    test(label, () => {
+      expect(flagsHost(input)).toBe(false);
+    });
+  }
+});
+
+describe("isDotenvFilename — unit", () => {
+  const matchFor = (input: string): RegExpExecArray => {
+    const re = /\b([a-z0-9][a-z0-9\-]*\.(?:internal|corp|local|lan|prod|staging))\b/i;
+    const m = re.exec(input);
+    if (!m) throw new Error(`pattern did not match: ${input}`);
+    return m;
+  };
+
+  test("exempts a dot-prefixed env filename", () => {
+    expect(isDotenvFilename(matchFor("--env-file=.env.local"))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("does not exempt env.local without the leading dot", () => {
+    expect(isDotenvFilename(matchFor("host env.local here"))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("does not exempt a dot-prefixed host that is not env", () => {
+    expect(isDotenvFilename(matchFor("api.corp.local"))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});