diff --git a/lib/changelog.sh b/lib/changelog.sh
index a333819..974b4a8 100644
--- a/lib/changelog.sh
+++ b/lib/changelog.sh
@@ -215,6 +215,13 @@ changelog_shape_problem() {
   local sentinel="$dir/shape" declared=""
 
   if [ -f "$sentinel" ]; then
+    # The one-line contract is checked on the file itself: command
+    # substitution strips every trailing newline, so the captured word
+    # cannot tell 'grouped' from 'grouped' plus blank lines.
+    if [ "$(wc -l <"$sentinel")" -gt 1 ]; then
+      printf "'%s' declares neither shape — its whole content must be 'flat' or 'grouped', one line\n" "$sentinel"
+      return 1
+    fi
     declared="$(cat "$sentinel")"
     case "$declared" in
       flat | grouped) ;;
diff --git a/test/changelog-armed.test.sh b/test/changelog-armed.test.sh
index fdb3700..66c0f88 100644
--- a/test/changelog-armed.test.sh
+++ b/test/changelog-armed.test.sh
@@ -404,6 +404,11 @@ check "fragment mode: a malformed sentinel is refused, file named" 1 \
   "'changelog.d/shape' declares neither shape" \
   in_tree fragments-dev-flip
 
+printf 'grouped\n\n' >"$TMP/fragments-dev-flip/changelog.d/shape"
+check "fragment mode: a sentinel with a trailing blank line is refused, file named" 1 \
+  "'changelog.d/shape' declares neither shape" \
+  in_tree fragments-dev-flip
+
 fragment_tree fragments-dev-no-published 1.2.4-dev <<'EOF'
 # Changelog
 
diff --git a/test/changelog.test.sh b/test/changelog.test.sh
index 57f7b74..0c9979d 100755
--- a/test/changelog.test.sh
+++ b/test/changelog.test.sh
@@ -540,6 +540,16 @@ printf 'grouped\nflat\n' >"$SHAPE_DIR/shape"
 check "shape: a two-line sentinel is refused" 1 \
   "'$SHAPE_DIR/shape' declares neither shape" \
   changelog_shape_problem "$SHAPE_CHANGELOG" "$SHAPE_DIR"
+# Trailing blank lines are the case command substitution launders away: the
+# captured word is a clean 'grouped', only the file's line count still knows.
+printf 'grouped\n\n' >"$SHAPE_DIR/shape"
+check "shape: 'grouped' with a trailing blank line is refused, file named" 1 \
+  "'$SHAPE_DIR/shape' declares neither shape" \
+  changelog_shape_problem "$SHAPE_CHANGELOG" "$SHAPE_DIR"
+printf 'flat\n\n' >"$SHAPE_DIR/shape"
+check "shape: 'flat' with a trailing blank line is refused, file named" 1 \
+  "'$SHAPE_DIR/shape' declares neither shape" \
+  changelog_shape_problem "$SHAPE_CHANGELOG" "$SHAPE_DIR"
 
 # The sentinel is not a fragment (#182 D3): the *.md glob is the mechanism,
 # but the assertion is on the list itself, so a glob change cannot silently