diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 0c20d8c3c2..316cbf5391 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ python3 scripts/release/notes.py docs X.Y.Z --ref vX.Y.Z --mdx ../tablepro-docs/
 
 A `v*` tag runs `release.yml` and nothing else. A run is never cancelled, and every job reads the version, build and channel from `verify`.
 
-- `verify`: `version.py check` refuses a tag that breaks the grammar or the bounds; that `origin/release/<X.Y>` does not contain; whose previous tag on the line is not its ancestor; a stable X.Y.0 with no published beta, or a beta after its X.Y.0; a stable X.Y.0 whose tree differs from its newest published beta outside `CHANGELOG.md` and `changelog.d/`; a `CHANGELOG.md` missing the stable's heading, or a published stable of this or the previous line below it; a stable whose tag still holds fragments in `changelog.d/`. Then it needs macOS Tests, iOS and Package Tests and Release Build green on the tag commit or the nearest first-parent commit that ran them, with no change to the files they read after it, waiting on a pending run. Last, it writes the notes.
+- `verify`: `version.py check` refuses a tag that breaks the grammar or the bounds; that `origin/release/<X.Y>` does not contain; whose previous tag on the line is not its ancestor; a stable X.Y.0 with no published beta, or a beta after its X.Y.0; a stable whose tree differs from its line's newest published beta outside `CHANGELOG.md` and `changelog.d/`, until a stable tag on the line has matched that beta; a `CHANGELOG.md` missing the stable's heading, or a published stable of this or the previous line below it; a stable whose tag still holds fragments in `changelog.d/`. Then it needs macOS Tests, iOS and Package Tests and Release Build green on the tag commit or the nearest first-parent commit that ran them, with no change to the files they read after it, waiting on a pending run. Last, it writes the notes.
 - `app` (`signing`): a GA Xcode for a stable (`setup-xcode` `require-release`), the CloudKit Production schema check, `build.sh app` (archive, export with `scripts/release/ExportOptions.plist`, universal and plugin load checks), `notarize.sh` on the app, `package.sh app`, `notarize.sh` on the DMG.
 - `plugins` (`signing`): the Dameng and HANA bridges, `build.sh plugins` (each target `registry.py targets` prints, universal, signed with Developer ID, the hardened runtime and a timestamp), one notary submission for all, `package.sh plugins` (the zips, described as the manifest will read them).
 - `github-release`: `actions/attest` attests `dist/*`; `gh release create` drafts, uploads and publishes; `gh release verify` and `verify-asset` check the published release.
diff --git a/scripts/release/test_version.py b/scripts/release/test_version.py
index a6d955a095..ef0e8e8248 100644
--- a/scripts/release/test_version.py
+++ b/scripts/release/test_version.py
@@ -322,9 +322,45 @@ def test_a_stable_refuses_a_change_after_its_newest_published_beta(self):
         github = FakeGitHub(releases=releases)
         self.assertEqual(self.check("v0.82.0", github),
                          ["v0.82.0 differs from v0.82.0-beta.2, the newest published beta, in "
-                          "Plugins/Third.swift, TablePro/Second.swift: ship that in a beta first"])
+                          "Plugins/Third.swift, TablePro/Second.swift: revert them on release/0.82, "
+                          "then tag the next number"])
         self.assertEqual(github.run_queries, [])
 
+    def test_the_next_number_after_a_refused_stable_is_held_to_the_beta(self):
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.0-beta.1", self.cut)
+        pick = self.repo.commit("fix: late pick", source="TablePro/Late.swift")
+        refused = self.repo.commit("chore(release): v0.82.0", MAIN_CHANGELOG.replace(
+            "## [0.81.0]", "## [0.82.0] - 2026-10-26\n\n## [0.81.0]"))
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.0", refused)
+        patch = self.repo.commit("chore(release): v0.82.1", MAIN_CHANGELOG.replace(
+            "## [0.81.0]", "## [0.82.1] - 2026-10-27\n\n## [0.81.0]"))
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.1", patch)
+        self.repo.git("revert", "--no-edit", pick)
+        reverted = self.repo.commit("chore(release): v0.82.2", MAIN_CHANGELOG.replace(
+            "## [0.81.0]", "## [0.82.2] - 2026-10-28\n\n## [0.81.0]"))
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.2", reverted)
+        self.repo.line("0.82", reverted)
+        releases = [("v0.81.0", False), ("v0.82.0-beta.1", False)]
+        runs, jobs = green_on(reverted)
+        self.assertEqual(self.check("v0.82.1", FakeGitHub(releases=releases)),
+                         ["v0.82.1 differs from v0.82.0-beta.1, the newest published beta, in "
+                          "TablePro/Late.swift: revert them on release/0.82, then tag the next number"])
+        self.assertEqual(self.check("v0.82.2", FakeGitHub(releases=releases, runs=runs, jobs=jobs)), [])
+
+    def test_a_fix_after_a_stable_tag_that_matched_the_beta_is_a_patch(self):
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.0-beta.1", self.cut)
+        stable = self.repo.commit("chore(release): v0.82.0", MAIN_CHANGELOG.replace(
+            "## [0.81.0]", "## [0.82.0] - 2026-10-26\n\n## [0.81.0]"))
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.0", stable)
+        self.repo.commit("ci: select a GA Xcode", source=".github/actions/setup-xcode/action.yml")
+        release_commit = self.repo.commit("chore(release): v0.82.1", MAIN_CHANGELOG.replace(
+            "## [0.81.0]", "## [0.82.1] - 2026-10-27\n\n## [0.81.0]"))
+        self.repo.line("0.82", release_commit)
+        self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.1", release_commit)
+        runs, jobs = green_on(release_commit)
+        releases = [("v0.81.0", False), ("v0.82.0-beta.1", False), ("v0.82.0", True)]
+        self.assertEqual(self.check("v0.82.1", FakeGitHub(releases=releases, runs=runs, jobs=jobs)), [])
+
     def test_a_stable_may_differ_from_its_newest_beta_in_the_changelog_only(self):
         beta = self.repo.commit("fix: a fix", fragment="3610.fixed.md")
         self.repo.git("tag", "v0.82.0-beta.1", beta)
diff --git a/scripts/release/version.py b/scripts/release/version.py
index cc2ae88e6b..f36e467966 100755
--- a/scripts/release/version.py
+++ b/scripts/release/version.py
@@ -224,17 +224,30 @@ def beta_errors(git: Git, version: Version, releases: List[Tuple[str, bool]]) ->
     return [f"{version.tag} needs a published {version.tag}-beta.N release first"]
 
 
+def untested_paths(git: Git, beta: Version, tag: str) -> List[str]:
+    return [path for path in git.changed_paths(beta.tag, tag)
+            if path != "CHANGELOG.md" and not path.startswith(FRAGMENTS)]
+
+
+def earlier_stables(git: Git, version: Version) -> List[Version]:
+    tags = (try_parse_tag(tag) for tag in git.tags(f"v{version.line}.*"))
+    return [tag for tag in tags
+            if tag is not None and not tag.is_beta and tag.line == version.line and tag.build < version.build]
+
+
 def stable_tree_errors(git: Git, version: Version, releases: List[Tuple[str, bool]]) -> List[str]:
     betas = published_betas(releases, version.line)
-    if version.is_beta or version.patch != 0 or not betas:
+    if version.is_beta or not betas:
         return []
     newest = max(betas, key=lambda beta: beta.build)
-    untested = [path for path in git.changed_paths(newest.tag, version.tag)
-                if path != "CHANGELOG.md" and not path.startswith(FRAGMENTS)]
+    # No beta can follow a stable tag, so a fix after one that matched the beta ships as a patch.
+    if any(not untested_paths(git, newest, stable.tag) for stable in earlier_stables(git, version)):
+        return []
+    untested = untested_paths(git, newest, version.tag)
     if not untested:
         return []
     return [f"{version.tag} differs from {newest.tag}, the newest published beta, in {', '.join(untested)}: "
-            "ship that in a beta first"]
+            f"revert them on release/{version.line}, then tag the next number"]
 
 
 def changelog_errors(changelog: Optional[str], version: Version, stables: List[Version]) -> List[str]: