diff --git a/conformance/lib/record_run.py b/conformance/lib/record_run.py
index a5e6515..c32254b 100755
--- a/conformance/lib/record_run.py
+++ b/conformance/lib/record_run.py
@@ -467,7 +467,14 @@ def git_sha(repo: Path) -> str:
                              capture_output=True, text=True, check=True).stdout.strip()
     except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError):
         return "unknown"
-    dirty = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(repo), "diff", "--quiet", "HEAD", "--"],
+    # EXCLUDE conformance/runs/. It is TRACKED, so `--record` writing ledger.jsonl dirtied the
+    # tree and every LATER run in the same session was stamped `-dirty` — recording one test
+    # poisoned the next, and check.sh refuses to honour a dirty proven row. That cost a second
+    # live fault-injection run on prod to work around. The docstring above already states the
+    # intent for the untracked runs/<id>/ half of this same artifact; the ledger is the tracked
+    # half. Mirrors status.py's IMPL_EXCLUDE_PREFIXES, which lists this path for the same reason.
+    dirty = subprocess.run(["git", "-C", str(repo), "diff", "--quiet", "HEAD", "--",
+                            ".", ":(exclude)conformance/runs/"],
                            capture_output=True).returncode != 0
     return f"{sha}-dirty" if dirty else sha
 
diff --git a/conformance/tests/l0-static/auditability-proofs-producible/check.sh b/conformance/tests/l0-static/auditability-proofs-producible/check.sh
index bb36f30..23cfc46 100755
--- a/conformance/tests/l0-static/auditability-proofs-producible/check.sh
+++ b/conformance/tests/l0-static/auditability-proofs-producible/check.sh
@@ -393,9 +393,18 @@ try:
                       f"a ledger row for {r.get('test', '?')!r} lacks {key!r} — a row without "
                       "provenance cannot be audited")
             if r.get("proof") == "proven":
-                check(bool(r.get("sentinel")),
-                      f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r} with NO sentinel — "
-                      "the sentinel is the only thing separating a real pass from a self-skip")
+                # L0/L1 rows are recorded proven WITHOUT a sentinel, deliberately, by
+                # record_run.py's own SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS: run_l1_offline.py renders skips as
+                # JUnit <skipped/>, so those layers have no pass token to attribute. This
+                # assertion had NO layer exemption, so the two halves of the harness contradicted
+                # each other — ANY `--record` run touching L0 or L1 wrote a row this gate then
+                # rejected, which meant a requirement whose verifier set includes an L1 check
+                # (R-NET-06 is one) could never be both PROVEN and L0-green. Honour the same
+                # constant rather than restating the policy here, so the two cannot drift apart.
+                if r.get("layer") not in rr.SENTINEL_EXEMPT_LAYERS:
+                    check(bool(r.get("sentinel")),
+                          f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r} with NO sentinel — "
+                          "the sentinel is the only thing separating a real pass from a self-skip")
                 check(r.get("test") in smap,
                       f"a ledger row claims `proven` for {r.get('test')!r}, which is not a "
                       "test in the suite any more — a proof of something that no longer exists")