diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/action.yml b/actions/labels-reconcile/action.yml
index 36257fe..90a5f53 100644
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/action.yml
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/action.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ runs:
         BOOTSTRAP: ${{ inputs.bootstrap }}
         LABELS_CONF: ${{ github.workspace }}/.github/labels.conf
       run: |
-        if [ "$BOOTSTRAP" = yes ]; then
-          export GITHUB_EVENT_NAME=workflow_dispatch
-        fi
+        # BOOTSTRAP passes through as-is: the script gates on the input. The
+        # export-the-event-name hack that lived here died with ceremony#215 —
+        # the script keyed on GITHUB_EVENT_NAME, which #209 made true for
+        # every machine wake, so "no" could never mean no.
         bash "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/labels-reconcile.sh"
diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index 449ab12..72e8375 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ fi
 # stale approval must never promote unreviewed code to the human.
 #
 # DRY_RUN=1 narrates every mutation instead of performing it (how this script
-# is rehearsed against the live repo). A workflow_dispatch run also bootstraps
-# the taxonomy (label create --force) — that heal is dispatch-only; the cron
+# is rehearsed against the live repo). A run with BOOTSTRAP=yes also
+# bootstraps the taxonomy (label create --force) — the operator's manual
+# dispatch defaults the input to yes; every machine wake passes no. The cron
 # sweep tolerates a missing label rather than recreating it.
 #
 # The state machine below is pure (globals in, state out) and covered by
@@ -1021,8 +1022,15 @@ main() {
   load_config "$LABELS_CONF"
   NOW="$(date +%s)"
 
-  if [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME:-}" = workflow_dispatch ]; then
-    log "workflow_dispatch: bootstrapping the taxonomy"
+  # The bootstrap keys on the INPUT, never the event name. It used to test
+  # GITHUB_EVENT_NAME = workflow_dispatch — correct while an operator's manual
+  # dispatch was the only dispatch there was, and wrong from #209 on, when the
+  # trigger job made EVERY event-woken sweep a workflow_dispatch run: the
+  # bootstrap=no input became inert by construction, and every board event
+  # re-upserted the taxonomy (ceremony#215 — runs 459/523, then venue drill
+  # runs 16/17, which bootstrapped on a delivered "no" and caught this).
+  if [ "${BOOTSTRAP:-no}" = yes ]; then
+    log "bootstrap=yes: bootstrapping the taxonomy"
     bootstrap_labels
   fi
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/215.md b/changelog.d/215.md
index 9411adf..160ee13 100644
--- a/changelog.d/215.md
+++ b/changelog.d/215.md
@@ -31,3 +31,17 @@
 - The same test drives the four value paths — schedule-empty, `no`, `yes`,
   invalid — through the shipped expressions into the action's real
   validator (#215).
+
+- The taxonomy bootstrap keys on the `BOOTSTRAP` input, never the event name.
+  It tested `GITHUB_EVENT_NAME = workflow_dispatch` — correct while an
+  operator's manual dispatch was the only dispatch there was, inert-by-
+  construction from #209 on, when every machine wake became a dispatch
+  event (#215).
+
+- The venue drill caught that: with the bridge delivering `no` perfectly,
+  drill runs 16/17 still bootstrapped, because the script never read the
+  input the whole chain existed to deliver (#215).
+
+- `test/labels-reconcile.test.sh` pins the regression pair exactly: a
+  `workflow_dispatch` event with `BOOTSTRAP=no` (or unset) creates and
+  deletes nothing; only `BOOTSTRAP=yes` bootstraps (#215).
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
index d9e9a9a..696fb9f 100755
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -1148,17 +1148,18 @@ EOF
 chmod +x "$EXEC/stub/gh"
 printf 'panel=bot-a bot-b bot-c\n' >"$EXEC/labels.conf"
 
-exec_env() { # $1 = event name → the real script, executed under the PATH stub
+exec_env() { # $1 = event name, $2 = BOOTSTRAP value ("" = unset)
   : >"$EXEC/record"
   env PATH="$EXEC/stub:$PATH" GH_RECORD="$EXEC/record" \
     CEREMONY_FORGE=github \
     REPO=owner/repo LABELS_CONF="$EXEC/labels.conf" GITHUB_EVENT_NAME="$1" \
+    ${2:+BOOTSTRAP="$2"} \
     bash actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
 }
 
 exec_rc=0
-exec_out="$(exec_env workflow_dispatch 2>&1)" || exec_rc=$?
-expect "an executed dispatch with all six absent completes green" 0 "$exec_rc"
+exec_out="$(exec_env workflow_dispatch yes 2>&1)" || exec_rc=$?
+expect "an executed bootstrap=yes with all six absent completes green" 0 "$exec_rc"
 expect "...reaching the end of the sweep" \
   yes "$(grep -q 'reconciled.' <<<"$exec_out" && echo yes || echo no)"
 expect "...having attempted all six deletions" \
@@ -1167,12 +1168,18 @@ expect "...and created the full taxonomy" \
   "$(core_label_rows | cut -d'|' -f1)" \
   "$(sed -n 's/^create //p' "$EXEC/record")"
 
-# -- bootstrap is dispatch-only, deletes included: the cron and
-#    pull_request_target paths touch no label
-for ev in schedule pull_request_target; do
+# -- the bootstrap keys on the INPUT, never the event (ceremony#215): from
+#    #209 on, EVERY machine wake is a workflow_dispatch event, so an event
+#    gate made bootstrap=no inert — runs 459/523 and venue drill runs 16/17
+#    bootstrapped on a delivered "no". The regression case is exactly that
+#    pair: dispatch event, no.
+for pair in "workflow_dispatch:no" "workflow_dispatch:" "schedule:no" "schedule:" "pull_request_target:"; do
+  ev="${pair%%:*}"; bs="${pair#*:}"
   ev_rc=0
-  exec_env "$ev" >/dev/null 2>&1 || ev_rc=$?
-  expect "the $ev path completes green" 0 "$ev_rc"
+  exec_env "$ev" "$bs" >/dev/null 2>&1 || ev_rc=$?
+  expect "the $ev event with BOOTSTRAP='${bs:-unset}' completes green" 0 "$ev_rc"
+  expect "...and creates nothing" \
+    no "$(grep -q '^create ' "$EXEC/record" && echo yes || echo no)"
   expect "...and deletes nothing" \
     no "$(grep -q '^delete ' "$EXEC/record" && echo yes || echo no)"
 done