diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2075c5d..94290a9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -91,6 +91,40 @@ on the way to cutting its first release, and this file starts there.
   are pinned in `test/labels-reconcile.sh`. Ported from heavy-duty/box#137 so
   the three repos' reconcilers stay byte-identical; fixtures 19 → 51.
 
+- **A missing `/run/sshd` no longer reads as a broken sshd config** (#92) —
+  `sshd -t` folds two questions into one exit code: is the merged config
+  parseable, and is the privilege-separation directory there. Both call sites
+  that validate before bouncing the daemon ran it as `sshd -t 2>/dev/null` and
+  read *any* non-zero exit as the first question's answer, discarding the one
+  line that named the second. Bootstrap aborted with `sshd rejects the merged
+  config` — a verdict sshd never reached — and the follow-up hint, `Run 'sshd
+  -t' to see which file is bad`, sent the operator to audit `/etc/ssh` files
+  that were never broken, on a box whose SSH door was serving their own session
+  at that moment.
+
+  The absent directory is not an exotic state. `/run` is a tmpfs and
+  `/run/sshd` is `ssh.service`'s `RuntimeDirectory`, which systemd creates with
+  that unit and removes when it stops — so it is legitimately gone under socket
+  activation (`ssh.socket`, the default on current Debian/Ubuntu), where
+  per-connection `ssh@.service` instances serve the door and no long-lived unit
+  holds the directory open. Reported from a box mid-bootstrap right after an
+  `openssh-server` upgrade.
+
+  The classification is now a pure, sourceable `sshd_privsep_gap` — the STATUS
+  is the verdict and the text only classifies a *failure*, so a passing `sshd
+  -t` is never diverted whatever its output says — and `sshd_config_ok` repairs
+  the gap with an idempotent `install -d` and retests once. The repair creates
+  exactly what systemd would and is not meant to outlive a reboot; by then the
+  ssh unit has recreated it. **A genuine parse refusal still refuses, and the
+  rollback is untouched**: the daemon is never bounced into a config it rejects.
+
+  The refusals now carry sshd's own stderr instead of asserting a cause and
+  withholding the evidence for it. `rig users close-root` had the identical
+  three lines — the more dangerous copy, since it is the command that shuts the
+  root door — and now reaches the shared judgement through `lib/sshd.sh` rather
+  than keeping a second copy of it, which is what #31 extracted that lib for
+  and what let this bug ship twice.
+
 ### Added
 
 - **`rig platform` — what is this machine, calculated at run time, stored
diff --git a/commands/lib/sshd.sh b/commands/lib/sshd.sh
index d666250..4c73955 100644
--- a/commands/lib/sshd.sh
+++ b/commands/lib/sshd.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,48 @@
 # a hardening block is drift by construction, the same law that keeps rig's
 # hands off Incus. Callers provide log/warn/die.
 
+# sshd_privsep_gap <status> <stderr> — true when a FAILED `sshd -t` failed for
+# the missing privilege-separation directory rather than for anything in the
+# config. Pure and sourceable (repo precedent: parse_users_file, deny_verdict)
+# so the distinction is provable without root or a live sshd.
+#
+# `sshd -t` folds two questions into one exit code: is the merged config
+# parseable, and is /run/sshd there. The second is not a fact about the config
+# at all — /run is a tmpfs and /run/sshd is ssh.service's RuntimeDirectory,
+# which systemd creates with that unit and removes when it stops, so the
+# directory is legitimately absent under socket activation (ssh.socket, the
+# default on current Debian/Ubuntu) on a box whose SSH door is serving
+# connections perfectly well. Reading that as a config refusal aborted
+# bootstrap with a verdict sshd never reached (#92).
+#
+# The STATUS is the verdict; this text match only classifies a failure. A
+# passing `sshd -t` is never diverted here, whatever its output happens to say.
+sshd_privsep_gap() {
+  [ "$1" -ne 0 ] || return 1
+  case "$2" in
+    *"Missing privilege separation directory"*) return 0 ;;
+    *) return 1 ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# sshd_config_ok — validate the merged config, repairing a privsep gap once and
+# retesting. Returns sshd's verdict and leaves sshd's own stderr in $sshd_err
+# for the caller's refusal message: a message that asserts a cause must carry
+# the evidence for it, or the operator greps /etc/ssh blind (#92).
+#
+# The repair is `install -d`, which is idempotent and creates exactly what
+# systemd would. It does not survive a reboot and is not meant to — by then the
+# ssh unit has recreated it.
+sshd_config_ok() {
+  local rc
+  sshd_err="$(sshd -t 2>&1)"; rc=$?
+  if sshd_privsep_gap "$rc" "$sshd_err"; then
+    install -d -m 0755 /run/sshd
+    sshd_err="$(sshd -t 2>&1)"; rc=$?
+  fi
+  return "$rc"
+}
+
 # harden_sshd <closed|open> — install the 00-rig.conf hardening drop-in,
 # validate the merged config before touching the daemon, restart only when the
 # drop-in actually changed, and assert the EFFECTIVE config (sshd -T), with the
@@ -42,10 +84,10 @@ EOF
     # leaves no listener and no way back in. `sshd -t` parses everything sshd
     # would parse — our drop-in, cloud-init's, and any third-party file — so a
     # broken neighbour is caught here rather than after the door has shut.
-    if ! sshd -t 2>/dev/null; then
+    if ! sshd_config_ok; then
       if [ -n "$backup" ]; then cp -a "$backup" "$dropin"; else rm -f "$dropin"; fi
       rm -f "$tmp" "$backup"
-      die "sshd rejects the merged config; drop-in rolled back, daemon untouched. Run 'sshd -t' to see which file is bad."
+      die "sshd rejects the merged config; drop-in rolled back, daemon untouched: $sshd_err"
     fi
     rm -f "$backup"
 
diff --git a/commands/users-close-root.sh b/commands/users-close-root.sh
index e3463c3..afc4492 100755
--- a/commands/users-close-root.sh
+++ b/commands/users-close-root.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ set -euo pipefail
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")" && pwd)"
 # shellcheck source=SCRIPTDIR/lib/users-config.sh
 . "$HERE/lib/users-config.sh"
+# The sshd validator is shared with bootstrap's hardening on purpose: both
+# commands ask sshd the same question before bouncing the daemon, and two
+# copies of that judgement is drift by construction (#31's law, #92's bug —
+# the flaw this fixes was present in both copies).
+# shellcheck source=SCRIPTDIR/lib/sshd.sh
+. "$HERE/lib/sshd.sh"
 
 log()  { printf 'rig-users: %s\n' "$*"; }
 warn() { printf 'rig-users: WARNING: %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
@@ -270,13 +276,13 @@ if [ "$RESTART" -eq 1 ]; then
   # to become — restarting into a config the daemon refuses to parse leaves
   # no listener and no way back in. Roll back (when we installed anything)
   # and stop rather than shut the door on a maybe.
-  if ! sshd -t 2>/dev/null; then
+  if ! sshd_config_ok; then
     if [ "$INSTALLED" -eq 1 ]; then
       if [ -n "$BACKUP" ]; then cp -a "$BACKUP" "$DROPIN"; else rm -f "$DROPIN"; fi
       rm -f "$BACKUP"
-      die "sshd rejects the merged config; drop-in rolled back, daemon untouched. Run 'sshd -t' to see which file is bad."
+      die "sshd rejects the merged config; drop-in rolled back, daemon untouched: $sshd_err"
     fi
-    die "sshd rejects the current config; daemon untouched. Run 'sshd -t' to see which file is bad."
+    die "sshd rejects the current config; daemon untouched: $sshd_err"
   fi
   rm -f "$BACKUP"
   systemctl restart ssh
diff --git a/test/cli.sh b/test/cli.sh
index f7b6695..68d0141 100644
--- a/test/cli.sh
+++ b/test/cli.sh
@@ -1623,7 +1623,7 @@ check "users close-root: drop-in name is the load-bearing one" 0 "" \
 # bouncing the daemon into a config it refuses to parse leaves no way back in.
 # Match the call, not the word (repo precedent: the repo-guard ordering check);
 # defaults fail closed.
-sshdt_at="$(grep -nE '^[[:space:]]*if ! sshd -t' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
+sshdt_at="$(grep -nE '^[[:space:]]*if ! sshd_config_ok' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
 restart_at="$(grep -n 'systemctl restart ssh' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
 check "users close-root: sshd -t precedes the ssh restart" \
   0 "" test "${sshdt_at:-999999}" -lt "${restart_at:-0}"
@@ -1879,10 +1879,57 @@ check "sshd lib: root-door=open refusal names the stale close-root drop-in" 0 ""
   grep -q "leftover /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-rig-users.conf" "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh"
 # Validate-then-apply survived the extraction: sshd -t on the merged config
 # must still precede the restart (same idiom as the close-root ordering check).
-libt_at="$(grep -nE '^[[:space:]]*if ! sshd -t' "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
+libt_at="$(grep -nE '^[[:space:]]*if ! sshd_config_ok' "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
 librestart_at="$(grep -nE '^[[:space:]]*systemctl restart ssh$' "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh" | head -n1 | cut -d: -f1)"
 check "sshd lib: sshd -t precedes the ssh restart" \
   0 "" test "${libt_at:-999999}" -lt "${librestart_at:-0}"
+# `sshd -t` answers TWO questions through ONE exit code: is the merged config
+# parseable, and is the privilege-separation directory there. /run is a tmpfs
+# and /run/sshd is ssh.service's RuntimeDirectory — systemd removes it when
+# that unit stops — so it is legitimately absent under socket activation
+# (ssh.socket, the default on current Debian/Ubuntu) on a box whose SSH door is
+# serving connections normally. Reading that as "the config is bad" aborted
+# bootstrap with a verdict sshd never reached, and sent the operator to audit
+# /etc/ssh files that were never broken (#92). The classifier is pure and
+# sourceable so the distinction is proven here, non-root and without a live
+# sshd (repo precedent: parse_users_file, deny_verdict).
+privsep_gap() { # privsep_gap <status> <stderr-text>
+  bash -c 'set -euo pipefail
+    . "$1/commands/lib/sshd.sh"
+    sshd_privsep_gap "$2" "$3"' _ "$ROOT" "$1" "$2"
+}
+check "sshd lib: a missing privsep dir is not a config verdict" 0 "" \
+  privsep_gap 1 "Missing privilege separation directory: /run/sshd"
+check "sshd lib: a genuine parse refusal stays a config verdict" 1 "" \
+  privsep_gap 1 "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-cloud-init.conf: line 3: Bad configuration option: frobnicate"
+# The STATUS is the verdict; the text only classifies a failure. A passing
+# sshd -t is never diverted, whatever its output happens to say — otherwise a
+# box could be sent down the repair path with nothing wrong with it.
+check "sshd lib: a passing sshd -t is never read as a privsep gap" 1 "" \
+  privsep_gap 0 "Missing privilege separation directory: /run/sshd"
+# Surfacing sshd's own words is the substance of #92: the old message asserted a
+# cause and then discarded, via 2>/dev/null, the one line that named the real
+# one. Both call sites make the claim, so both are pinned.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016  # the literal source line is the pattern, unexpanded
+check "sshd lib: the refusal quotes sshd's own stderr" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'daemon untouched: $sshd_err' "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+check "users close-root: the refusal quotes sshd's own stderr" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'daemon untouched: $sshd_err' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh"
+# ...and the gap is REPAIRED, not merely diagnosed: a message the operator must
+# act on by hand is still a blocked bootstrap.
+check "sshd lib: the privsep gap is repaired before the retest" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'install -d -m 0755 /run/sshd' "$ROOT/commands/lib/sshd.sh"
+# close-root does NOT carry its own copy of that repair — it reaches it through
+# the shared lib. #31 extracted ONE sshd converger precisely so a judgement
+# cannot drift between the two commands, and #92 is what drift costs: the same
+# flawed three lines sat in both files and had to be fixed twice. Pin the
+# sharing, not a duplicate: the source line and the call.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+check "users close-root: validates through the shared sshd lib" 0 "" \
+  grep -qE '^\. "\$HERE/lib/sshd\.sh"$' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh"
+check "users close-root: no second copy of the privsep repair" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'install -d -m 0755 /run/sshd' "$ROOT/commands/users-close-root.sh"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016
 check "bootstrap: hardening runs through the shared lib" 0 "" \
   grep -qE '^harden_sshd "\$ROOT_DOOR"$' "$ROOT/commands/bootstrap.sh"