diff --git a/.github/scripts/marker-check.sh b/.github/scripts/marker-check.sh
index b973f8f..851ed6a 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/marker-check.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/marker-check.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 # own issue uses bare #N, never a self-qualified repository citation (#238 D8).
 # CHANGELOG.md is the release oracle and immutable shipped prose, so it and the
 # fragments that feed it are excluded from the documentation scan (#238 D5).
+# A token inside inline code is a mention, not a marker; spans are stripped
+# individually so unrelated backticks cannot hide a real marker (#238 D9).
 #
 # Usage: marker-check.sh [tree-dir]   (default: the repository root)
 set -euo pipefail
diff --git a/docs/CONSUMERS.md b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
index cb3f30b..413385f 100644
--- a/docs/CONSUMERS.md
+++ b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
@@ -117,9 +117,11 @@ the machinery at all:
    `**unreleased**` immediately followed by its issue citation (for example,
    `(#238)`); whitespace between them may include a line break. A citation is
    mandatory, because a marker the guard cannot trace is a marker it cannot
-   prove false. A marker for this repository's own issue uses bare `#N`.
-   Cross-repo citations such as `(crew#293)` satisfy the traceability rule but
-   are not compared with this repository's release section. The ceremony-only
+   prove false. A token inside an inline-code span is a mention, not a marker;
+   spans are ignored individually, so unrelated inline code cannot hide one.
+   A marker for this repository's own issue uses bare `#N`. Cross-repo
+   citations such as `(crew#293)` satisfy the traceability rule but are not
+   compared with this repository's release section. The ceremony-only
    `marker-check.sh` guard enforces these rules. The release PR that ships the machinery clears, in that same PR,
    every marker its own assembled section makes false: the section cites its
    issues, each marker cites the same issue, and the release PR's diff is the
diff --git a/test/marker-check.test.sh b/test/marker-check.test.sh
index ca373fd..0310c8c 100644
--- a/test/marker-check.test.sh
+++ b/test/marker-check.test.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,26 @@ printf 'The new guard remains **unreleased** for now.\n' \
 check "an uncited marker fails on a dev tree with file and line" 1 \
   "docs/CONSUMERS.md:1" run_check uncited
 
+fixture inline-mention 0.6.0-dev
+cat >"$TMP/inline-mention/docs/CONSUMERS.md" <<'EOF'
+The marker token is `**unreleased**`.
+EOF
+check "an inline-code token is a mention and needs no citation" 0 \
+  "agree with the tree" run_check inline-mention
+
+fixture inline-bare 0.6.0-dev
+printf 'The marker token is **unreleased**.\n' \
+  >"$TMP/inline-bare/docs/CONSUMERS.md"
+check "removing the backticks exposes the uncited marker" 1 \
+  "docs/CONSUMERS.md:1" run_check inline-bare
+
+fixture inline-neighbor 0.6.0-dev
+cat >"$TMP/inline-neighbor/docs/CONSUMERS.md" <<'EOF'
+The `new guard` remains **unreleased** until its tag.
+EOF
+check "unrelated inline code cannot hide an uncited marker on the same line" 1 \
+  "docs/CONSUMERS.md:1" run_check inline-neighbor
+
 fixture shipped 0.6.0
 printf 'The new guard remains **unreleased** (#224).\n' \
   >"$TMP/shipped/docs/CONSUMERS.md"