diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index a01a41c..66a74a5 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# .ci-fingerprint is deliberately NOT excluded: it is the CI cache barrier
+# that keeps the check stages from replaying a cached pass. See the lint
+# stage of the Dockerfile.
 .git/
 bin/
 *.md
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
index 5d9892e..6f21cdd 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
@@ -11,5 +11,53 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2 2024-10-23
+        with:
+          # The fingerprint step below needs history to find the last commit
+          # that touched the Docker build context.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Neutralize superseded run statuses
+        # Gitea cancels the in-flight run when another commit is pushed to the
+        # same branch and records the cancellation as `failure`, so a commit
+        # that was never tested reads red. The cancellation is unconditional
+        # server-side for push events and cannot be disabled from a workflow
+        # file, so the superseding run rewrites those statuses to `skipped`.
+        # Only the exact cancellation status is touched; a real failure is
+        # left alone.
+        env:
+          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          api="${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
+          ctx='check / check (push)'
+          for sha in $(git rev-list --max-count=20 "${GITHUB_SHA}^" || true); do
+            latest="$(curl -sf "${api}/commits/${sha}/status" | jq -r \
+              --arg c "$ctx" \
+              '[.statuses[] | select(.context == $c)][0] // empty
+               | "\(.status)|\(.description)"')" || continue
+            [ "$latest" = 'failure|Has been cancelled' ] || continue
+            curl -sf -X POST "${api}/statuses/${sha}" \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+              -d "$(jq -nc --arg c "$ctx" '{
+                context: $c,
+                state: "skipped",
+                description: "Superseded by a newer commit; never tested"
+              }')" >/dev/null
+            echo "neutralized superseded status on ${sha}"
+          done
+
+      - name: Fingerprint the build context
+        # `.dockerignore` keeps docs out of the build context, so a docs-only
+        # commit legitimately replays the whole image from cache and stays
+        # cheap. Every other commit writes a new fingerprint into the context,
+        # which invalidates the `COPY . .` layer of both check stages: a
+        # commit that was never linted, formatted-checked, tested and built
+        # cannot report success from cache.
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          fp="$(git log -1 --format=%H -- . ':!*.md' ':!LICENSE' ':!.editorconfig')"
+          printf '%s\n' "${fp:-$GITHUB_SHA}" > .ci-fingerprint
+
       - name: Build Docker image (runs make check)
         run: script/cibuild
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d615704..16f68ad 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -41,4 +41,7 @@ data/
 
 # Temporary files
 tmp/
-temp/ 
\ No newline at end of file
+temp/
+
+# CI cache barrier, written into the build context by the check workflow
+.ci-fingerprint 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8d62594..f43c43a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ WORKDIR /src
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 RUN go mod download
 
-# Copy source code
+# Copy source code. In CI the context also carries .ci-fingerprint, whose
+# value changes with every commit that touches the build context (see
+# .gitea/workflows/check.yml). That invalidates this layer, so the checks
+# below cannot report success by replaying a cached pass. Do not add it to
+# .dockerignore.
 COPY . .
 
 # Run formatting check and linter
@@ -36,7 +40,8 @@ WORKDIR /build
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 RUN go mod download
 
-# Copy source code
+# Copy source code, including the .ci-fingerprint cache barrier described in
+# the lint stage above.
 COPY . .
 
 # Run tests and build
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 12e1338..9b764f9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1109,6 +1109,34 @@ binary is statically linked and runs on Alpine.
 `docker build .` is the CI gate — if it passes, the code is formatted,
 linted, tested, and compiled.
 
+#### CI gate honesty
+
+A layer cache lets `docker build .` exit 0 in seconds with the lint and
+test stages replayed rather than executed, which would make a green
+check meaningless. The `check` workflow therefore writes
+`.ci-fingerprint` into the build context before building. Its value is
+the hash of the last commit that touched the build context, so:
+
+- Any commit that changes code (including a squash merge whose tree
+  matches an already-built branch) gets a new fingerprint, invalidates
+  the `COPY . .` layer of both check stages, and really runs
+  `make fmt-check`, `make lint`, `make test`, and `make build`. A run
+  that reports success ran them.
+- A docs-only commit leaves the fingerprint unchanged — `.dockerignore`
+  excludes `*.md` and `LICENSE` from the context anyway — so the image
+  replays from cache and costs seconds.
+
+The module download layer sits above `COPY . .` and stays cached either
+way.
+
+The workflow's first step covers a second way the gate lied: Gitea
+cancels an in-flight run when a newer commit lands on the same branch
+and records that cancellation as a `failure` status, marking a commit
+red that was never tested. Cancellation is unconditional server-side for
+push events, so the superseding run rewrites the exact
+`Has been cancelled` status to `skipped`. Genuine failures are never
+touched.
+
 ## TODO
 
 See [TODO.md](TODO.md).