diff --git a/scripts/media-apply.py b/scripts/media-apply.py
index 751d77c..9351cfd 100755
--- a/scripts/media-apply.py
+++ b/scripts/media-apply.py
@@ -241,6 +241,11 @@ def sweep_targets(root, journal):
     journalled destination lives under it. A symlink anywhere inside disqualifies
     the whole subtree: this tool never follows a link, and deleting the folder
     that holds one would delete someone's mount point.
+
+    Proof carries downward: once a folder qualifies, every empty directory inside
+    it qualifies too. A release's junk (``Screens/``, ``Sample/``) is never itself
+    a move source, so without that rule it holds its emptied parent on disk
+    forever — the parent can never be removed while the child stands.
     """
     moves = [r for r in journal.records if r.get("op") == "move"]
     made = {r["dst"] for r in journal.records if r.get("op") == "mkdir"}
@@ -268,8 +273,15 @@ def sweep_targets(root, journal):
                 return False
         return True
 
-    return sorted((d for d in marked if removable(d)),
-                  key=lambda q: (-q.count(os.sep), q))
+    roots = [d for d in marked if removable(d)]
+    targets = set(roots)
+    for d in roots:
+        for dirpath, dirnames, _ in os.walk(d):
+            for c in dirnames:
+                p = os.path.join(dirpath, c)
+                if removable(p):
+                    targets.add(p)
+    return sorted(targets, key=lambda q: (-q.count(os.sep), q))
 
 
 def do_sweep(args, root, journal):
diff --git a/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankserver/Media Relayout.md b/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankserver/Media Relayout.md
index f9b17b2..c40ca0a 100644
--- a/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankserver/Media Relayout.md	
+++ b/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankserver/Media Relayout.md	
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ curl -s -K /tmp/jf.hdr -o /dev/null -w "jellyfin scan: %{http_code}\n" \
   inside disqualifies the subtree, because the thing behind a link is not this
   tool's to delete. Every removal is journalled as `rmdir` and `rollback`
   recreates the folder, so the sweep is undone by the same command as the moves.
+  Proof carries downward: inside a folder the journal proves emptied, every
+  empty directory goes with it. A release's `Screens/` or `Sample/` is never a
+  move source itself, so 146 of them held their emptied parents on disk after
+  the first sweep.
 - **An episode-shaped name marks a SERIES, not a film — and the series is the
   name BEFORE the marker.** `Monk - S05E03 - Mr. Monk and the Big Game` is series
   `Monk`. Keyed on the whole title instead, every episode became a group of one
diff --git a/tests/media_relayout.bats b/tests/media_relayout.bats
index 900c92a..bd0a614 100755
--- a/tests/media_relayout.bats
+++ b/tests/media_relayout.bats
@@ -408,6 +408,17 @@ PY
     [ -d "$LIB/A Empty Placeholder" ]
 }
 
+@test "a swept folder carries the empty junk folders inside it" {
+    mkdir -p "$LIB/AMERICAN POP/Screens"   # screenshots, never a move source
+    plan
+    apply_plan
+    run python3 "$APPLY" sweep --root "$LIB" --journal "$JOURNAL" --apply
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"0 left in place"* ]]
+    [ ! -e "$LIB/AMERICAN POP/Screens" ]
+    [ ! -e "$LIB/AMERICAN POP" ]
+}
+
 @test "sweep without --apply reports the husks and changes nothing" {
     plan
     apply_plan