diff --git a/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh b/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
index 216353e..89ff1cb 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -56,7 +56,14 @@ run() { # every mutation goes through here — DRY_RUN=1 logs instead of doing
 
 requested() { grep -qxF "$1" <<<"$REQUESTED"; }
 
-checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
+checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE | UNREADABLE
+  # UNREADABLE is the absence of the key itself, which is what a failed fetch
+  # leaves behind — distinct from a present-but-empty rollup, which honestly
+  # means this PR has no checks. Collapsing the two let an API hiccup present
+  # as "nothing is failing", i.e. as mergeable-by-a-human: the same
+  # unknown-certified-as-green shape as the bug this machine exists to stop.
+  # The caller skips the PR entirely rather than labelling on facts it did not
+  # read; blocking on it instead would flap the whole board on one bad call.
   # The rollup mixes two node types with two different closed enums: CheckRun
   # carries `conclusion` (CheckConclusionState), StatusContext carries `state`
   # (StatusState). Rather than list the outcomes that block — the version that
@@ -70,6 +77,8 @@ checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
   # not in consequence: a false FAILURE parks the PR on the agent, who looks;
   # a false SUCCESS invites a human to merge a tree that will not merge.
   jq -r '
+    if (has("statusCheckRollup") | not) then "UNREADABLE" else
+
     # NEUTRAL and SKIPPED satisfy branch protection — a skipped required check
     # is not a failed one, and path-filtered jobs skip constantly here.
     ["SUCCESS", "NEUTRAL", "SKIPPED"] as $passing
@@ -121,7 +130,9 @@ checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
     | if   ($latest | length) == 0                            then "NONE"
       elif (($latest - $passing - $waiting) | length) > 0     then "FAILURE"
       elif (($latest - $passing) | length) > 0                then "PENDING"
-      else "SUCCESS" end'
+      else "SUCCESS" end
+
+    end'
 }
 
 bot_verdict() { # $1 = login → MISSING | BLOCK | APPROVE | STALE | FEEDBACK
@@ -414,6 +425,13 @@ main() {
       GH_VIEW="$(gh pr view "$n" -R "$REPO" --json mergeable,statusCheckRollup 2>/dev/null || echo '{}')"
       MERGEABLE="$(jq -r '.mergeable // "UNKNOWN"' <<<"$GH_VIEW")"
       CHECKS="$(checks_state <<<"$GH_VIEW")"
+      # Read failed: leave this PR exactly as it is. Recomputing on facts we
+      # did not read is how an API hiccup turns into a false "merge me" —
+      # and the next tick is 15 minutes away, not 15 hours.
+      if [ "$CHECKS" = UNREADABLE ]; then
+        log "#$n: could not read mergeability/checks — left alone this pass"
+        exit 0
+      fi
       reconcile_pr "$n"
     ) || log "#$n: reconcile failed — continuing with the remaining PRs"
   done
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.sh
index 863e216..c756fb1 100644
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -258,6 +258,13 @@ ctx_() { jq -n --arg n "$1" --arg s "$2" --arg t "${3:-2026-07-20T15:00:00Z}" \
   '{__typename:"StatusContext", context:$n, state:$s, createdAt:$t}'; }
 
 expect "no checks at all is NONE" NONE "$(rollup '[]' | checks_state)"
+# A failed fetch leaves no rollup KEY; a PR with no checks leaves an empty
+# ARRAY. Collapsing the two let an API hiccup read as "nothing is failing" —
+# the same unknown-certified-as-green shape as #136, in the one place that
+# fix did not look. The caller skips an UNREADABLE PR rather than relabelling.
+expect "a failed read is UNREADABLE, not NONE" UNREADABLE "$(echo '{}' | checks_state)"
+expect "...and a real empty rollup is still NONE" NONE \
+  "$(echo '{"mergeable":"MERGEABLE","statusCheckRollup":[]}' | checks_state)"
 expect "all green is SUCCESS" SUCCESS \
   "$(rollup "[$(run_ a SUCCESS),$(run_ b SUCCESS)]" | checks_state)"
 expect "a queued run is PENDING" PENDING \