diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index fe8d566..003c92c 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -971,28 +971,6 @@ main() {
       # PENDING reviews are unsubmitted drafts in someone's browser — not a verdict
       REVIEWS_JSON="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/pulls/$n/reviews" --jq '.[]' \
         | jq -s '[.[] | select(.state != "PENDING")]')"
-      # The head's own clock, for the blocker:unrequested grace (#236 D2). One
-      # read, pinned to the head SHA — not `gh pr view --json commits`, which
-      # asks for the FIRST hundred commits and would date a longer PR by a
-      # commit that is not its head. Drafts never reach that blocker, so they
-      # do not pay for the call. Empty (a failed read, or a body without the
-      # field) leaves the blocker unjudged this pass, by unrequested_quiescent.
-      HEAD_COMMIT_AT=""
-      if [ "$DRAFT" != true ]; then
-        HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE="$(mktemp)"
-        HEAD_COMMIT_AT="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/commits/$HEAD_SHA" \
-          --jq '.commit.committer.date' 2>"$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE" || echo "")"
-        HEAD_COMMIT_ERR="$(cat "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE")"
-        rm -f "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE"
-        case "$HEAD_COMMIT_AT" in
-          "" | null)
-            # Say why it degraded (#101 D2/D4), on its own line: this one
-            # narrows a blocker rather than skipping the PR, so it must not
-            # read as the wholly-blind shape the counted line above matches.
-            HEAD_COMMIT_AT=""
-            log "#$n: could not read the head commit's date: $(read_failure_reason "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR") — blocker:unrequested not judged this pass" ;;
-        esac
-      fi
       # mergeability + the check rollup, the two facts the state machine was
       # blind to (#136). `gh pr view` rather than the REST PR object: the API's
       # `mergeable` is a tri-state boolean that GitHub computes lazily, while
@@ -1024,6 +1002,29 @@ main() {
         log "#$n: read failed: $(read_failure_reason "$GH_VIEW_ERR")"
         exit 0
       fi
+      # The head's own clock, for the blocker:unrequested grace (#236 D2). One
+      # read, pinned to the head SHA — not `gh pr view --json commits`, which
+      # asks for the FIRST hundred commits and would date a longer PR by a
+      # commit that is not its head. Last of the fetches on purpose: a PR the
+      # skip above walked away from must not pay for it, and neither do drafts,
+      # which never reach that blocker. Empty (a failed read, or a body without
+      # the field) leaves the blocker unjudged, by unrequested_quiescent.
+      HEAD_COMMIT_AT=""
+      if [ "$DRAFT" != true ]; then
+        HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE="$(mktemp)"
+        HEAD_COMMIT_AT="$(gh api "repos/$REPO/commits/$HEAD_SHA" \
+          --jq '.commit.committer.date' 2>"$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE" || echo "")"
+        HEAD_COMMIT_ERR="$(cat "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE")"
+        rm -f "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR_FILE"
+        case "$HEAD_COMMIT_AT" in
+          "" | null)
+            # Say why it degraded (#101 D2/D4), on its own line: this one
+            # narrows a blocker rather than skipping the PR, so it must not
+            # read as the wholly-blind shape the counted line above matches.
+            HEAD_COMMIT_AT=""
+            log "#$n: could not read the head commit's date: $(read_failure_reason "$HEAD_COMMIT_ERR") — blocker:unrequested not judged this pass" ;;
+        esac
+      fi
       reconcile_pr "$n"
       ) 2>&1
     )" || status=$?
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
index f098b5f..c9ce210 100755
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -840,6 +840,77 @@ expect "each blind PR logs its reason as its own line beside the counted one" 2
 expect "exactly the blind PRs match the counted shape whole-line — no more, no less" 2 \
   "$(grep -c '^labels: #[0-9]*: could not read mergeability/checks — left alone this pass$' <<<"$blind_main")"
 
+# -- the grace's own wiring: the fixtures above prove the predicate, and only a
+#    sweep can prove the fetch that feeds it (#236 D2). The fixture-only version
+#    of this change would have passed with the global never assigned — the #91
+#    shape, where the probes could not reach the per-PR path at all.
+unrequested_main_probe() { # $1 = read | denied, the head-commit read's outcome
+  (
+    GITHUB_EVENT_NAME=schedule
+    REPO=owner/repo
+    LABELS_CONF=.github/labels.conf
+    UMODE="$1"
+    gh() {
+      if [ "$1" = label ] && [ "$2" = list ]; then core_label_rows | cut -d'|' -f1; return 0; fi
+      if [ "$1" = pr ] && [ "$2" = list ]; then printf '303\n'; return 0; fi
+      if [ "$1" = pr ] && [ "$2" = view ]; then
+        # green, so the D1 gate is open and D2 is the only question left
+        jq -n '{mergeable:"MERGEABLE",
+                statusCheckRollup:[{__typename:"CheckRun",workflowName:"ci",
+                                    name:"check",conclusion:"SUCCESS",
+                                    startedAt:"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"}]}'
+        return 0
+      fi
+      # recorded to a file, not to stdout: reconcile_pr sends the edit call's
+      # stdout to /dev/null, so a narrating stub would look like no edit at all
+      if [ "$1" = issue ] && [ "$2" = edit ]; then printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$RTMP/uedits-$UMODE"; return 0; fi
+      [ "$1" = api ] || return 0
+      shift
+      local jqexpr="" endpoint=""
+      while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+        case "$1" in
+          --jq) jqexpr="$2"; shift ;;
+          -*) ;;
+          *) [ -n "$endpoint" ] || endpoint="$1" ;;
+        esac
+        shift
+      done
+      case "$endpoint" in
+        */commits/*) # the head-commit read; ordered before the commit LIST below
+          if [ "$UMODE" = denied ]; then
+            printf 'gh: Not Found (HTTP 404)\n' >&2
+            return 1
+          fi
+          jq -n '{commit:{committer:{date:"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}}' | jq -r "${jqexpr:-.}" ;;
+        */pulls/303)
+          jq -n '{draft:false,user:{login:"author"},head:{sha:"headsha"},
+                  base:{sha:"basesha"},labels:[],requested_reviewers:[],
+                  created_at:"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"}' ;;
+        *) printf '[]\n' | jq -r "${jqexpr:-.}" ;; # every collection empty
+      esac
+    }
+    main
+  )
+}
+
+read_sweep="$(unrequested_main_probe read)"
+expect "the sweep reads the head's date and writes the stall it now dates" yes \
+  "$(grep -q 'blocker:unrequested' "$RTMP/uedits-read" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...saying nothing about a degraded read" no \
+  "$(grep -q "could not read the head commit's date" <<<"$read_sweep" && echo yes || echo no)"
+denied_sweep="$(unrequested_main_probe denied)"
+expect "a denied head-commit read names the denial (#101's shape)" yes \
+  "$(grep -q "^labels: #303: could not read the head commit's date: gh: Not Found (HTTP 404)" <<<"$denied_sweep" \
+    && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...and writes no blocker it could not date" no \
+  "$(grep -q 'blocker:unrequested' "$RTMP/uedits-denied" && echo yes || echo no)"
+# ...while the PR is still converged: this read narrows one blocker, it does not
+# skip the PR the way an unreadable rollup does
+expect "...while the state still converges — one blocker unjudged, not a skip" yes \
+  "$(grep -q 'state:addressing' "$RTMP/uedits-denied" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...and the sweep does not report it as a blind pass" 0 \
+  "$(grep -c 'could not read mergeability/checks' <<<"$denied_sweep" || true)"
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # bootstrap_labels retires the GitHub defaults (#93). LABELS.md published
 # them as deleted at bootstrap; nothing deleted them — incubator's first