diff --git a/tests/deployment_scoping.bats b/tests/deployment_scoping.bats
index b8fea0f..7028dbc 100644
--- a/tests/deployment_scoping.bats
+++ b/tests/deployment_scoping.bats
@@ -198,12 +198,18 @@ REMOTE_DEPLOY="$REPO_ROOT/scripts/deploy-remote.sh"
 }
 
 @test "remote runner recognizes a pending service at the same revision" {
+    # Contract superseded 2026-09-17: recognition used to mean "retry and
+    # hard-fail at the dispatcher" (exit 2), which let a retired service's
+    # stale pending entry (frank-default-sightsound) block every deploy
+    # before the e2e gate. Recognition now means: name the entry, prune it
+    # to the trash, and keep the run going.
     local state_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
     printf 'revision=%s\nstatus=pending\n' "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" > "$state_dir/unknown-service"
-    run env DEPLOY_STATE_DIR="$state_dir" REMOTE_DIR="$REPO_ROOT" \
+    run env DEPLOY_STATE_DIR="$state_dir" REMOTE_DIR="$REPO_ROOT" HOME="$(mktemp -d)" \
         bash "$REMOTE_DEPLOY" dankclaw "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" --pending
-    [ "$status" -eq 2 ]
-    [[ "$output" == *"unknown-service"* || "$output" == *"not deployed"* ]]
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"unknown-service"* ]]
+    [ ! -e "$state_dir/unknown-service" ]
 }
 
 @test "top-level deployer delegates to the service-scoped remote runner" {