diff --git a/ios-qa/templates/DebugBridgeTouch.m.template b/ios-qa/templates/DebugBridgeTouch.m.template
index aa6954c6d..e82199467 100644
--- a/ios-qa/templates/DebugBridgeTouch.m.template
+++ b/ios-qa/templates/DebugBridgeTouch.m.template
@@ -20,7 +20,29 @@
 #import "DebugBridgeTouch.h"
 #import <TargetConditionals.h>
 
-#if TARGET_OS_IOS
+#if !defined(DEBUG)
+
+// RELEASE BUILD: this file deliberately emits NOTHING — no class, no symbols, no
+// private-API references. The header still declares the interface, which is inert
+// on its own; every consumer of DebugBridgeTouch is itself `#if DEBUG` guarded, so
+// nothing references it here and nothing fails to link.
+//
+// This guard was added because the comments at the top of this file and in the
+// header both PROMISED "DEBUG-only; never shipped to App Store" and "never link in
+// Release" — and nothing enforced it. Only `#if TARGET_OS_IOS` was tested, so a
+// Release build for iOS compiled the whole implementation in. Measured on a real
+// app (Seize Day, 2026-08-15), `nm -j` on a Release binary returned 15 DebugBridge
+// symbols including +[DebugBridgeTouch sendTapAtPoint:inWindow:], plus
+// IOHIDEventCreateDigitizer, AXSSetAutomationEnabled and IOKit.framework strings.
+// That is a Guideline 2.5.1 private-API exposure in a shippable binary.
+//
+// Package.swift's stated guard — `.when(configuration: .debug)` on the consuming
+// target's dependency — only exists for SwiftPM consumers. An app integrating this
+// as a local package inside an .xcodeproj cannot express it: Xcode's Filters column
+// in Frameworks/Libraries offers platform conditions only, never configuration. So
+// the guard has to live here, in the source, where it holds for every consumer.
+
+#elif TARGET_OS_IOS
 
 #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
 #import <objc/runtime.h>
@@ -340,4 +362,4 @@ static id DBT_HitTestView(UIWindow *window, CGPoint point) {
 }
 @end
 
-#endif // TARGET_OS_IOS
+#endif // !DEBUG / TARGET_OS_IOS
diff --git a/ios-qa/templates/Package.swift.template b/ios-qa/templates/Package.swift.template
index 427a3399d..39100d637 100644
--- a/ios-qa/templates/Package.swift.template
+++ b/ios-qa/templates/Package.swift.template
@@ -12,9 +12,22 @@
 //                       MutationBridge implementations. Depends on the other
 //                       two.
 //
-// The structural Release-build guard is the `.when(configuration: .debug)`
-// conditional on every consuming target's dependency. SwiftPM refuses to link
-// DebugBridge* in Release config.
+// Release-build guards, in order of reliability:
+//
+//   1. SOURCE. Every file is `#if DEBUG` guarded, including DebugBridgeTouch.m,
+//      which holds regardless of how the package is integrated. This is the one
+//      that actually protects you.
+//   2. `.when(configuration: .debug)` on the consuming target's dependency. This
+//      works for SwiftPM consumers ONLY. An app integrating this as a local
+//      package inside an .xcodeproj CANNOT express it — Xcode's Filters column in
+//      Frameworks/Libraries offers platform conditions, never configuration — so
+//      do not rely on it alone.
+//
+// Guard 1 was added 2026-08-15 after a measured failure: DebugBridgeTouch.m was
+// guarded only by `#if TARGET_OS_IOS`, so a Release iOS build of a real app linked
+// it, and `nm -j` returned 15 DebugBridge symbols plus IOHIDEventCreateDigitizer,
+// AXSSetAutomationEnabled and IOKit.framework strings. Guideline 2.5.1 exposure in
+// a shippable binary, with guard 2 present and doing nothing.
 //
 // CI invariant: `swift build -c release` + `nm -j build/Release/<binary>
 // | grep -q DebugBridge && exit 1`.
@@ -43,6 +56,13 @@ let package = Package(
             dependencies: [],
             path: "Sources/DebugBridgeTouch",
             publicHeadersPath: "include",
+            cSettings: [
+                // Explicit, because the source guard depends on it. SwiftPM's
+                // implicit DEBUG for C-family targets is not something to bet a
+                // private-API exposure on — the two Swift targets already declare
+                // it, and this target is the one that actually links private API.
+                .define("DEBUG", .when(configuration: .debug)),
+            ],
             linkerSettings: [
                 // IOKit is loaded dynamically via dlopen at runtime (it's a
                 // private framework on iOS and can't be linked statically).