diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4ef284c..3f8f6ed 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ provide:
   step's exit status, saying on stderr that it did and why. Every step of
   `make build` runs through it; `make build-debug` runs none of them through it.
   A step that succeeds removes nothing, and a removal that cannot be completed
-  is reported as loudly as one that was
+  is reported as loudly as one that was.
 - `script/test-verify-build` — exercise every failure mode of
   `script/verify-build` against a fixture tree in a temp dir, asserting the exit
   status and the message of each, assert the state of `dist/` on disk after a
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index c60adca..a986140 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -45,6 +45,17 @@ but the review is broader than any of them.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-07: `script/discard-dist-on-failure` returns the failed step's own
+  exit status even when it cannot write its message, to a closed stderr or to a
+  pipe nobody reads any more
+  ([#342](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/342)); it used to return 2
+  or 141 instead. Its header now states that an interrupt removes nothing and
+  says nothing, because an interrupt is not a build failure, and that a failed
+  `check-censored --require-dist` removes `dist/` like any other step, because a
+  `dist/` not cleared of the name `RULES.md` bars must not ship. Neither
+  behaviour changed. `script/test-verify-build` runs the wrapper with stderr
+  closed.
+
 - 2026-10-06: `script/bootstrap` no longer reports success while node cannot
   find a package listed in `dependencies` or `devDependencies` of `package.json`
   ([#263](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/263)). After the install
diff --git a/script/discard-dist-on-failure b/script/discard-dist-on-failure
index 35d439c..b44ca14 100755
--- a/script/discard-dist-on-failure
+++ b/script/discard-dist-on-failure
@@ -3,22 +3,19 @@
 # step fails, remove dist/ before returning its exit status. Our own extension
 # to scripts-to-rule-them-all, wrapped around every step of make build.
 #
-# Why: with AUTISTMASK_DEBUG=1 exported in the calling shell, make build
-# compiles a debug bundle and then fails on it in script/verify-build — but the
-# bundle is already written. It is loadable, and every wallet it creates gets
-# the publicly committed test recovery phrase from src/shared/constants.js. A
-# failed release build that leaves that behind is a smaller version of the trap
-# the verifier exists to close, and "the failure was loud" only works on an
-# operator who does not load dist/chrome/ anyway. Removing the artifact does not
-# depend on that.
+# Why: with AUTISTMASK_DEBUG=1 exported, make build compiles a debug bundle and
+# then fails on it in script/verify-build, after the bundle is written. It is
+# loadable, and every wallet it creates gets the publicly committed test
+# recovery phrase from src/shared/constants.js, so a failed build must not leave
+# it behind. The removal is never silent: it says on stderr that dist/ is gone
+# and why.
 #
-# Two things this deliberately does not do. It does not wrap make build-debug: a
-# debug build that failed is not a mistakable artifact, and its output is the
-# evidence of what went wrong. And it never removes anything on a step that
-# SUCCEEDS, including the final check-censored --require-dist pass.
-#
-# The removal is never silent: it says dist/ is gone and why, on stderr, above
-# the build's own failure.
+# A failed check-censored --require-dist removes dist/ like any other step: a
+# dist/ not cleared of the name RULES.md bars must not ship either. A step that
+# succeeds removes nothing. An interrupt (Ctrl-C) removes nothing and says
+# nothing: it is not a build failure, and whoever interrupted the build knows it
+# did not finish. make build-debug is not wrapped: a debug build that failed is
+# not a mistakable artifact, and its output is the evidence of what went wrong.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
@@ -71,7 +68,10 @@ main() {
 
     [ "$_status" -ne 0 ] || return 0
 
-    discard_dist
+    # A message that cannot be written, to a closed stderr or to a pipe nobody
+    # reads any more, must not replace the step's status.
+    trap '' PIPE
+    discard_dist || true
     exit "$_status"
 }
 
diff --git a/script/test-verify-build b/script/test-verify-build
index 098ea8d..f7c8d30 100755
--- a/script/test-verify-build
+++ b/script/test-verify-build
@@ -915,6 +915,22 @@ run_cases() {
     discard_case "the wrapper given no command removes nothing" \
         c_control 1 kept "no command given" ""
 
+    # With stderr closed the wrapper cannot write its message, and must still
+    # remove dist/ and return the step's own status.
+    build_fixture
+    _status=0
+    (cd "$FIXTURE" &&
+        "$FIXTURE/script/discard-dist-on-failure" sh -c 'exit 6' 2>&-) ||
+        _status=$?
+    if [ "$_status" -eq 6 ] && [ ! -e "$FIXTURE/dist" ]; then
+        PASSED=$((PASSED + 1))
+        echo "  ok: a failed step's status survives a closed stderr"
+    else
+        FAILED=$((FAILED + 1))
+        echo "  FAIL: a failed step's status survives a closed stderr"
+        echo "    exit status $_status, wanted 6, and dist/ must be gone"
+    fi
+
     check_makefile_wiring
 }