diff --git a/LABELS.md b/LABELS.md
index 6a5af1e..b8eaf55 100644
--- a/LABELS.md
+++ b/LABELS.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ and re-entry does not set `attention`.
 | Label | Color | Meaning |
 |---|---|---|
 | `stale` | `#B60205` | no activity for 48h — sweep-managed, never hand-applied |
-| `blocked` | `#6A737D` | (see above — same label serves PRs waiting on another PR/issue; legitimately quiet, the staleness sweep skips it) |
+| `blocked` | `#6A737D` | (see above — same label serves PRs waiting on another PR/issue; legitimately quiet, the staleness sweep skips it). The reconciler refuses `state:needs-human` while `blocked` stands — the PR falls to `state:addressing` (#180) |
 | `offsite` | `#CFD3D7` | issue deliverable is a PR in another repository; set by the builder with the draft link and cleared by the builder at handoff |
 | `needs-ruling` | `#D4C5F9` | a human-owned decision is required; use BUILDER.md's ruling template and ladder. Set by triage or the builder; a state, not a signal — it clears on agreement, not on a reply |
 | `attention` | `#D93F0B` | issue-only demand parked for the assignee; hand-set, and never written by the machine |
diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index 25b1827..9e7d337 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -389,6 +389,20 @@ decide_state() { # → the one state:* label this PR should carry
   if [ "$s" = state:needs-human ] && has_label needs-ruling; then
     echo state:addressing; return
   fi
+
+  # A directed hold disqualifies it the same way (#180): `blocked` is hand-set
+  # intent — triage sets it, anyone may correct it — and during the #111
+  # freeze rig#126/#128 carried it beside state:needs-human, so the board said
+  # "mergeable right now" about PRs a hold said must not merge (rig#126 was
+  # merged seven minutes later). Not a BLOCKERS entry, deliberately: that
+  # array is machine-owned and the converge loop strips whatever the facts do
+  # not re-derive, so emitting the label there would strip a live hold on the
+  # next 15-minute tick — the same trap #51 names for `needs-ruling`.
+  # state:addressing is the accepted imprecision: under a hold the builder
+  # owes nothing, but "a human could merge this now" must not lie.
+  if [ "$s" = state:needs-human ] && has_label blocked; then
+    echo state:addressing; return
+  fi
   echo "$s"
 }
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/180.md b/changelog.d/180.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d619e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/180.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+- `decide_state()` refuses `state:needs-human` while the hand-set `blocked`
+  label stands — the PR falls to `state:addressing`, exactly parallel to the
+  `needs-ruling` exclusion; never emitted by `blockers()` (#180).
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
index ed3439c..00fcafd 100755
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -556,6 +556,34 @@ LABELS="needs-ruling"
 expect "needs-ruling adds nothing to blockers()" blocker:conflict "$(blockers)"
 MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE LABELS=""
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# blocked (#180): a directed hold. Same shape as needs-ruling — hand-set
+# intent the machine reads and never writes, an EXCLUSION on needs-human,
+# never a blocker and never a latch. During the #111 freeze rig#126/#128
+# carried blocked beside state:needs-human, and rig#126 was merged seven
+# minutes after the reconciler wrote the green label.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+DRAFT=false HEAD_SHA=head1 REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON="$ALL_APPROVE" MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
+LABELS=""
+expect "the hold-free fixture hands off (control)" state:needs-human "$(decide_state)"
+LABELS="blocked"
+expect "a directed hold excludes needs-human" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+LABELS=""
+expect "...and clearing it hands off again — an exclusion, not a latch" state:needs-human "$(decide_state)"
+LABELS="blocked" DRAFT=true
+expect "a draft carrying blocked is still building" state:building "$(decide_state)"
+DRAFT=false
+
+# blockers() must not know this label exists either: it is not a branch fact,
+# and the converge loop strips every BLOCKERS entry the facts do not
+# re-derive — emitting it there would strip a live hold on the next tick.
+MERGEABLE=CONFLICTING
+LABELS=""
+expect "conflict fixture emits its blocker (control)" blocker:conflict "$(blockers)"
+LABELS="blocked"
+expect "blocked adds nothing to blockers()" blocker:conflict "$(blockers)"
+MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE LABELS=""
+
 # The guard the other fixtures cannot see: an UNGUARDED has_label read under
 # set -u does not go red — bash treats the unset expansion inside the
 # herestring redirection as a redirection error (bash 5.2: rc 127, the shell