diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3231cad..7927f39 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,18 @@ actually cutting it, and this file starts there.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **The release suite accepts the ceremony's own tree** (#108) —
+  `test/release.test.ts` demanded the real `CHANGELOG.md`'s literal
+  `Unreleased` section extract non-empty and contain `#96`: false by
+  construction on the `release: X.Y.Z` tree the ceremony's own PR produces
+  (it stamps that heading into `## X.Y.Z — date`), so the first real
+  release PR turned CI red and the flow blocked itself — invisible to the
+  fork rehearsals, which tag a branch (`release.yml` runs; `ci.yml` never
+  does). The guard now asserts its actual purpose: whatever the TOP `## `
+  section is — `Unreleased` between releases, the stamped version on and
+  right after one — the exact `release-notes.sh` the workflow runs
+  extracts it non-empty. rig's twin is heavy-duty/rig#44.
+
 - **`apply` no longer demands a GitHub App for a manifest that declares no
   applications** (#103) — found live in the 2026-07-19 release drill, where a
   databases-only manifest (`applications: {}`) rendered its plan of two
diff --git a/test/release.test.ts b/test/release.test.ts
index 341a823..3627cac 100644
--- a/test/release.test.ts
+++ b/test/release.test.ts
@@ -143,12 +143,24 @@ describe("release-notes.sh", () => {
     expect(r.output).toContain("no such file");
   });
 
-  // The REAL changelog: its Unreleased section must extract non-empty with
-  // the exact tool release.yml runs — the guard against header-format drift.
-  it("the real CHANGELOG.md's Unreleased section extracts", async () => {
-    const r = await notes("Unreleased", join(ROOT, "CHANGELOG.md"));
+  // The REAL changelog: the guard against header-format drift. The file has
+  // two legitimate states, and this test used to know only one (#108, found
+  // the day the first release PR turned CI red): BETWEEN releases the top
+  // section is `## Unreleased`; on a `release: X.Y.Z` tree — the ceremony's
+  // own PR stamps that heading into `## X.Y.Z — date` — and on main right
+  // after it, the top section IS the stamped release. Demanding the literal
+  // Unreleased (with an issue number inside it, rotting per release) made
+  // the release PR unshippable by construction, invisible to fork
+  // rehearsals (a tag push runs release.yml, never ci.yml). Whatever the
+  // top section is called, the exact tool release.yml runs must extract it
+  // non-empty.
+  it("the real CHANGELOG.md's top section extracts", async () => {
+    const changelog = readFileSync(join(ROOT, "CHANGELOG.md"), "utf8");
+    const top = changelog.match(/^## (\S+)/m);
+    if (!top) throw new Error("CHANGELOG.md has no ## section at all");
+    const r = await notes(top[1], join(ROOT, "CHANGELOG.md"));
     expect(r.code).toBe(0);
-    expect(r.output).toContain("#96");
+    expect(r.output.trim()).not.toBe("");
   });
 });