diff --git a/changelog.d/8126-loop-poll-guard-cfg-assert.md b/changelog.d/8126-loop-poll-guard-cfg-assert.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ed3e876af5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/8126-loop-poll-guard-cfg-assert.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+`loop_safepoint_purity`'s guard assertion no longer depends on block print
+order. `a_surviving_poll_is_guarded_by_the_arming_word` failed on main while
+the lowering was correct: every `load volatile @PERRY_GC_POLL_ARMED` is
+followed by `icmp` and `br i1` into a `gcpoll.N` block holding the call.
+
+The test searched the whole remainder of the IR after each load and required
+the first `br i1` to precede the first poll call, which assumed each poll block
+is printed next to its guard. It is not — the guards sit inline in `for.cond` /
+`for.body` / `for.update` while the `gcpoll.N` blocks are emitted together
+after the loop — so the leading segments contained no call, `find` returned
+`None`, and a correctly-guarded poll was rejected.
+
+The check is now bounded at the load's own basic block: that block must end in
+a conditional branch and must not contain the call. The negative controls are
+unchanged and still pass, so the assertion keeps its teeth.
diff --git a/crates/perry-codegen/tests/loop_safepoint_purity.rs b/crates/perry-codegen/tests/loop_safepoint_purity.rs
index 1ca85e0752..372fb8bf56 100644
--- a/crates/perry-codegen/tests/loop_safepoint_purity.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-codegen/tests/loop_safepoint_purity.rs
@@ -457,11 +457,21 @@ fn a_surviving_poll_is_guarded_by_the_arming_word() {
         .split("load volatile i32, ptr @PERRY_GC_POLL_ARMED")
         .skip(1)
         .all(|after| {
-            // The `icmp` + `br` must come before the call: the call is on the
-            // taken arm, not in the same straight line as the load.
-            let call = after.find(POLL);
-            let branch = after.find("br i1 ");
-            matches!((call, branch), (Some(c), Some(b)) if b < c)
+            // The property is about the CFG, not about text order: the load's
+            // own block must end in a conditional branch, and the call must
+            // not be in that block — it belongs to a successor.
+            //
+            // Asking instead for "the first `br i1` appears before the first
+            // POLL anywhere after the load" silently depended on the poll
+            // blocks being emitted next to their guards. They are not: the
+            // guards sit inline in `for.cond` / `for.body` / `for.update`,
+            // while every `gcpoll.N` block is emitted together after the loop.
+            // Under that layout the first two segments contain no call at all,
+            // so the old check read `None` and failed a correctly-guarded
+            // poll. Bounding the search at the block edge asserts the real
+            // thing and does not care where the successor is printed.
+            let block_tail = after.split("\n\n").next().unwrap_or(after);
+            block_tail.contains("br i1 ") && !block_tail.contains(POLL)
         });
     assert!(
         guarded,