diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 33949f9..b3f2dfe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -88,13 +88,21 @@ provide:
 - `script/lint` — run the linter
 - `script/fmt` — format all files (writes)
 - `script/fmt-check` — check formatting (read-only)
-- `script/check` — run test, lint, and fmt-check
+- `script/check` — run test, test-verify-build, lint, and fmt-check
 - `script/verify-build` — assert the compiled `DEBUG` state of the bundles in
   `dist/`: every bundle containing `src/shared/constants.js` must have `DEBUG`
   off, or on when `AUTISTMASK_DEBUG=1`. Run automatically at the end of
   `make build` and `make build-debug`; fails loudly rather than passing if it
   cannot determine a bundle's state. Not part of `make check`, which does not
   depend on build artifacts existing.
+- `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. Part of `make check`; it reads no build
+  artifacts and writes nothing under `dist/`. The cases that depend on file
+  permissions cannot mean anything for a process that is not subject to them, so
+  the harness proves its runner against a mode-000 file before counting them,
+  dropping to an unprivileged user when run as root; if it cannot, it skips
+  those cases and says so in a banner rather than passing them.
 - `script/docker` — build the Docker image tagged via `script/projectname`
 - `script/cibuild` — CI entrypoint: plain `docker build .`
 - `script/precommit` — run by the git pre-commit hook; runs `script/check`
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index dcc905f..a22708e 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ undefined identifiers, which is how
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-08-12: `script/verify-build`'s failure modes are now a committed target,
+  `script/test-verify-build`, run by `make check`. It asserts the exit status
+  and the message of every case against a fixture tree in a temp dir, and drops
+  privileges (proving the runner against a mode-000 file first) for the cases
+  that only mean something when file permissions are in force
+  ([#227](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/227)).
 - 2026-08-12: Bundled token list documentation no longer states a count. The
   four "top 250" claims in `README.md` and the "roughly 500" claim in
   `docs/README.md` are replaced with a description of how the list is actually
diff --git a/script/check b/script/check
index 3e1778c..ef90d77 100755
--- a/script/check
+++ b/script/check
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# script/check: run all checks (test, lint, fmt-check). Our own
-# extension to scripts-to-rule-them-all. Must not modify any files.
+# script/check: run all checks (test, test-verify-build, lint, fmt-check).
+# Our own extension to scripts-to-rule-them-all. Must not modify any files.
 set -eu
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
 
 main() {
     "$SCRIPT_DIR/test"
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/test-verify-build"
     "$SCRIPT_DIR/lint"
     "$SCRIPT_DIR/fmt-check"
 }
diff --git a/script/test-verify-build b/script/test-verify-build
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a708afd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/test-verify-build
@@ -0,0 +1,444 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# script/test-verify-build: exercise every failure mode of
+# script/verify-build. Our own extension to scripts-to-rule-them-all, run
+# from script/check so make check covers it.
+#
+# Why this exists: verify-build is the build-integrity guard, and three
+# separate reviews of it each found a fresh vacuous pass — the grep exit-2
+# conflation, the discarded find status, the line-delimited walk. Every one
+# was caught by someone building a tree by hand, because nothing in make check
+# could catch it. This is that hand battery, committed and automated.
+#
+# Each case asserts the exit status AND a substring of the message. A guard
+# that fails for the wrong reason (right status, different fault) is itself a
+# defect, so matching the status alone would not be a test of anything.
+#
+# The fixture is a temp tree containing script/verify-build as a SYMLINK to
+# the real script: verify-build takes its ROOT from dirname "$0"/.., so it
+# operates on the fixture's dist/ and never reads or writes the repo's build
+# output. The symlink rather than a copy is what makes a deliberate break in
+# the real script fail here.
+set -eu
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
+VERIFY_BUILD="$ROOT/script/verify-build"
+
+MARKER_ON="autistmask-build-debug=on"
+MARKER_OFF="autistmask-build-debug=off"
+
+NEWLINE='
+'
+
+PASSED=0
+FAILED=0
+SKIPPED=0
+SKIPPED_NAMES=""
+
+# The command prefix that runs the permission-dependent cases as a user who
+# is actually subject to file permissions, and whether those cases can run at
+# all. Both are decided by probe_permission_runner, never assumed.
+UNPRIV=""
+PERM_ENABLED=no
+PERM_HOW=""
+
+WORK=""
+
+cleanup() {
+    [ -n "$WORK" ] || return 0
+    # The cases chmod 000 files and directories on purpose.
+    chmod -R u+rwX "$WORK" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -rf "$WORK"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM
+
+WORK="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/autistmask-test-verify-build.XXXXXX")"
+FIXTURE="$WORK/fixture"
+
+# verify-build mktemps its dist/ listing under TMPDIR. Pointing that inside
+# our work dir keeps the run leaving no residue, and keeps it writable for the
+# unprivileged user the permission cases run as.
+TMPDIR="$WORK/tmp"
+export TMPDIR
+mkdir -p "$TMPDIR"
+chmod 1777 "$TMPDIR"
+chmod 755 "$WORK"
+
+# --- fixture ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# A stand-in for an emitted bundle: some text plus one marker literal, which
+# is all verify-build reads out of the real thing.
+write_bundle() {
+    printf 'var a=1;/* %s */\nvar b=2;\n' "$2" >"$1"
+}
+
+# A dist/ shaped like a real build: two listed bundles under different
+# browsers, an unlisted subtree to make unwalkable, and unlisted files that
+# carry no marker and must not be objected to.
+build_fixture() {
+    chmod -R u+rwX "$FIXTURE" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -rf "$FIXTURE"
+
+    mkdir -p "$FIXTURE/script"
+    ln -s "$VERIFY_BUILD" "$FIXTURE/script/verify-build"
+
+    mkdir -p "$FIXTURE/dist/chrome/src/popup" \
+        "$FIXTURE/dist/chrome/src/content" \
+        "$FIXTURE/dist/firefox/src/popup"
+
+    write_bundle "$FIXTURE/dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js" "$MARKER_OFF"
+    write_bundle "$FIXTURE/dist/firefox/src/popup/index.js" "$MARKER_OFF"
+    printf 'body{color:#000}\n' >"$FIXTURE/dist/styles.css"
+    printf 'var c=3;\n' >"$FIXTURE/dist/chrome/src/content/content.js"
+
+    {
+        echo "dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js"
+        echo "dist/firefox/src/popup/index.js"
+    } >"$FIXTURE/dist/constants-bundles.txt"
+
+    # Readable and traversable by the unprivileged user the permission cases
+    # run as, before those cases take that away again on purpose.
+    chmod -R a+rX "$FIXTURE"
+}
+
+# --- permission runner ------------------------------------------------------
+
+# Run a command through the current unprivileged runner. Unquoted on purpose:
+# UNPRIV is a command prefix that has to word-split.
+run_unpriv() {
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+    $UNPRIV "$@"
+}
+
+# Decide whether the permission-dependent cases can run, and prove it rather
+# than assuming it.
+#
+# The problem: the CI image declares no USER, so CI runs as root, and root is
+# not subject to file permissions — chmod 000 stops neither find nor grep. A
+# permission case run as root passes vacuously, which is worse than no case at
+# all because it reads as coverage.
+#
+# So the runner is validated with two probes before any permission case is
+# counted:
+#
+#   - a mode-644 file MUST be readable through it. If not, the runner itself
+#     is broken (missing helper, no such user, sandbox), and every case run
+#     through it would fail for the wrong reason.
+#   - a mode-000 file MUST NOT be readable through it. If it is, permissions
+#     are not in force and the cases would pass without proving anything.
+#
+# Unprivileged: the runner is empty and both probes are about this process,
+# which is the honest answer. Root: setpriv and runuser are tried, both
+# present in the pinned CI base image. Only when no candidate passes both
+# probes are the cases skipped, and a skipped run says so unmistakably.
+probe_permission_runner() {
+    _probe="$WORK/probe"
+    mkdir -p "$_probe"
+    printf 'readable\n' >"$_probe/public"
+    printf 'secret\n' >"$_probe/private"
+    chmod 755 "$_probe"
+    chmod 644 "$_probe/public"
+    chmod 000 "$_probe/private"
+
+    if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
+        _candidates="setpriv|setpriv --reuid=65534 --regid=65534 --clear-groups --
+runuser|runuser -u nobody --"
+    else
+        _candidates="direct|"
+    fi
+
+    _tried=""
+    _saved_ifs="$IFS"
+    IFS="$NEWLINE"
+    for _line in $_candidates; do
+        IFS="$_saved_ifs"
+        _label="${_line%%|*}"
+        _cmd="${_line#*|}"
+        _tried="${_tried:+$_tried, }$_label"
+
+        if [ -n "$_cmd" ]; then
+            _bin="${_cmd%% *}"
+            command -v "$_bin" >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
+        fi
+
+        UNPRIV="$_cmd"
+        # Broken or unusable runner: the cases would fail for the wrong
+        # reason. Reaching the script under test is part of usable.
+        run_unpriv cat "$_probe/public" >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
+        run_unpriv cat "$VERIFY_BUILD" >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
+        # Permissions not in force through this runner: the cases would pass
+        # without testing anything.
+        if run_unpriv cat "$_probe/private" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        PERM_ENABLED=yes
+        PERM_HOW="$_label"
+        IFS="$_saved_ifs"
+        return 0
+    done
+    IFS="$_saved_ifs"
+
+    UNPRIV=""
+    PERM_ENABLED=no
+    PERM_HOW="$_tried"
+}
+
+# --- case runner ------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# check_case <name> <perm:yes|no> <mode:release|debug> <status> <text> <setup>
+#
+# Rebuilds the fixture, applies <setup> inside it, runs verify-build, and
+# requires both the exit status and the message. <perm> marks a case that only
+# means anything when file permissions are in force.
+check_case() {
+    _name="$1"
+    _perm="$2"
+    _mode="$3"
+    _want_status="$4"
+    _want_text="$5"
+    _setup="$6"
+
+    if [ "$_perm" = yes ] && [ "$PERM_ENABLED" != yes ]; then
+        SKIPPED=$((SKIPPED + 1))
+        SKIPPED_NAMES="$SKIPPED_NAMES##   - $_name$NEWLINE"
+        echo "  SKIP (permissions not in force): $_name"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    build_fixture
+    if ! (cd "$FIXTURE" && "$_setup") >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        FAILED=$((FAILED + 1))
+        echo "  FAIL: $_name"
+        echo "    the case's own setup failed, so nothing was tested."
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if [ "$_mode" = debug ]; then
+        _debug=1
+    else
+        _debug=""
+    fi
+
+    # Exported rather than set as a command prefix: run_unpriv is a function,
+    # and an assignment prefixed to a function call is not portable.
+    AUTISTMASK_DEBUG="$_debug"
+    export AUTISTMASK_DEBUG
+
+    _status=0
+    if [ "$_perm" = yes ]; then
+        _out="$(run_unpriv "$FIXTURE/script/verify-build" 2>&1)" || _status=$?
+    else
+        _out="$("$FIXTURE/script/verify-build" 2>&1)" || _status=$?
+    fi
+
+    _ok=yes
+    _why=""
+
+    if [ "$_status" -ne "$_want_status" ]; then
+        _ok=no
+        _why="exit status $_status, wanted $_want_status"
+    fi
+
+    # Same discipline verify-build itself applies to grep: 0 and 1 are
+    # answers, anything else is not, and must not be read as "no match".
+    _g=0
+    printf '%s\n' "$_out" | grep -q -F -e "$_want_text" || _g=$?
+    case "$_g" in
+    0) ;;
+    1)
+        _ok=no
+        _why="${_why:+$_why; }message did not contain: $_want_text"
+        ;;
+    *)
+        _ok=no
+        _why="${_why:+$_why; }grep exited $_g matching the message, so the
+      message was never checked"
+        ;;
+    esac
+
+    if [ "$_ok" = yes ]; then
+        PASSED=$((PASSED + 1))
+        echo "  ok: $_name"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    FAILED=$((FAILED + 1))
+    echo "  FAIL: $_name"
+    echo "    $_why"
+    echo "    --- verify-build output ---"
+    printf '%s\n' "$_out" | sed 's/^/    /'
+    echo "    --- end output ---"
+}
+
+# --- cases ------------------------------------------------------------------
+#
+# Each runs with the fixture as its working directory.
+
+c_control() { :; }
+
+c_trailing_space() {
+    cp dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js "dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js "
+}
+
+c_embedded_newline() {
+    cp dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js "dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js$NEWLINE"
+}
+
+c_dist_symlink() {
+    mv dist dist.real
+    ln -s dist.real dist
+}
+
+c_unwalkable_subtree() { chmod 000 dist/chrome/src/content; }
+
+c_dangling_symlink() {
+    ln -s /nonexistent-target-for-test-verify-build dist/chrome/dangling.js
+}
+
+c_dir_symlink() { ln -s src dist/chrome/link-to-dir; }
+
+c_alias_symlink() { ln -s popup/index.js dist/chrome/src/aliased.js; }
+
+c_manifest_missing() { rm dist/constants-bundles.txt; }
+
+c_manifest_empty() { : >dist/constants-bundles.txt; }
+
+c_manifest_unreadable() { chmod 000 dist/constants-bundles.txt; }
+
+c_bundle_missing() { rm dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js; }
+
+c_bundle_empty() { : >dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js; }
+
+c_bundle_unreadable() { chmod 000 dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js; }
+
+c_unlisted_extension() {
+    cp dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js dist/chrome/src/popup/extra.mjs
+}
+
+c_no_marker() { printf 'var d=4;\n' >dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js; }
+
+c_both_markers() {
+    printf '/* %s */\n' "$MARKER_ON" >>dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js
+}
+
+run_cases() {
+    check_case "control: untouched dist passes" \
+        no release 0 "2 bundle(s) verified $MARKER_OFF" c_control
+
+    check_case "unlisted marker-carrying file, trailing space in name" \
+        no release 1 "carries a debug marker but is absent from" \
+        c_trailing_space
+
+    check_case "unlisted marker-carrying file, newline in name" \
+        no release 1 "carries a debug marker but is absent from" \
+        c_embedded_newline
+
+    check_case "dist/ replaced by a symlink" \
+        no release 1 "dist is a symlink, not a directory." c_dist_symlink
+
+    check_case "unwalkable subtree under dist/" \
+        yes release 1 "enumerating dist/, so part of the tree" \
+        c_unwalkable_subtree
+
+    check_case "dangling symlink under dist/" \
+        no release 1 \
+        "reading dist/chrome/dangling.js, so the file could not be" \
+        c_dangling_symlink
+
+    check_case "symlink to a directory under dist/" \
+        no release 1 \
+        "reading dist/chrome/link-to-dir, so the file could not be" \
+        c_dir_symlink
+
+    check_case "symlink to a listed bundle under an unlisted path" \
+        no release 1 \
+        "dist/chrome/src/aliased.js carries a debug marker but is absent" \
+        c_alias_symlink
+
+    check_case "manifest missing" \
+        no release 1 "dist/constants-bundles.txt is missing." \
+        c_manifest_missing
+
+    check_case "manifest empty" \
+        no release 1 "is empty, so no emitted bundle was found to contain" \
+        c_manifest_empty
+
+    check_case "manifest unreadable" \
+        yes release 1 "is not readable, so nothing was inspected." \
+        c_manifest_unreadable
+
+    check_case "listed bundle missing" \
+        no release 1 \
+        "lists dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js, which does not exist." \
+        c_bundle_missing
+
+    check_case "listed bundle empty" \
+        no release 1 "which is empty. An empty bundle" c_bundle_empty
+
+    check_case "listed bundle unreadable" \
+        yes release 1 \
+        "reading dist/chrome/src/popup/index.js, so the file could not be" \
+        c_bundle_unreadable
+
+    check_case "unlisted extension carrying a marker" \
+        no release 1 \
+        "dist/chrome/src/popup/extra.mjs carries a debug marker but is" \
+        c_unlisted_extension
+
+    check_case "listed bundle carries no marker" \
+        no release 1 "carries no debug marker, so its DEBUG state cannot be" \
+        c_no_marker
+
+    check_case "listed bundle carries both markers" \
+        no release 1 "carries both debug markers, so DEBUG was not resolved" \
+        c_both_markers
+
+    check_case "wrong marker for the requested mode" \
+        no debug 1 "is $MARKER_OFF but this build expects $MARKER_ON" \
+        c_control
+}
+
+# --- main --------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+main() {
+    cd "$ROOT"
+
+    [ -x "$VERIFY_BUILD" ] || {
+        echo "test-verify-build: $VERIFY_BUILD is missing or not executable" >&2
+        exit 1
+    }
+
+    echo "Testing script/verify-build failure modes..."
+    probe_permission_runner
+    if [ "$PERM_ENABLED" = yes ]; then
+        echo "  permission cases: enabled (runner: $PERM_HOW, proved against" \
+            "a mode-000 file)"
+    fi
+
+    run_cases
+
+    if [ "$FAILED" -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "test-verify-build: $FAILED case(s) FAILED," \
+            "$PASSED passed, $SKIPPED skipped" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    if [ "$SKIPPED" -ne 0 ]; then
+        cat <<EOF
+################################################################################
+## WARNING: $SKIPPED PERMISSION CASE(S) DID NOT RUN, AND THIS RUN DOES NOT
+## PROVE THEM. This process is uid $(id -u), and no runner subject to file
+## permissions was available. Tried: $PERM_HOW.
+## Under root, chmod 000 stops neither find nor grep, so these cases would
+## have passed without testing anything. They were skipped, not counted:
+$SKIPPED_NAMES################################################################################
+EOF
+        echo "test-verify-build: $PASSED case(s) passed," \
+            "$SKIPPED SKIPPED AND NOT PROVEN (see the warning above)"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    echo "test-verify-build: $PASSED case(s) passed"
+}
+
+main "$@"