diff --git a/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.mjs b/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.mjs
index 0795699e80..a38665a965 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.mjs
@@ -283,6 +283,11 @@ const STAGE_STEP = "Stage the activity from the base";
 // request-lane-token's notice when kill-switch-ok ends a kill-switch refusal
 // green with no token.
 const STOPPED = /^\d{4}-\d\d-\d\dT[\d:.]+Z ##\[notice\]lane-token-stopped: the broker refused the token because a lanes kill switch is on(?:,|$)/;
+// The runner's markers around request-lane-token's one composite step, its
+// `Request the lane token` with id `request`; a STOPPED line counts only
+// between the job's first start marker and its end marker.
+const MINT_START = /^\d{4}-\d\d-\d\dT[\d:.]+Z ##\[start-action display=Request the lane token;id=([\w-]+\.request)\]$/;
+const mintEnd = (id) => new RegExp(`^\\d{4}-\\d\\d-\\d\\dT[\\d:.]+Z ##\\[end-action id=${id.replace(".", "\\.")};`);
 const BREAKER = "kill-switch";
 // The refused jobs' logs on 2026-10-24 were 45 KB (broker-check) and 94 KB
 // (apply-issue-patch); a longer one is left unread.
@@ -1130,10 +1135,11 @@ async function didNoWork(jobsOf, refusalOf, runs) {
 
 // The reason the broker refused `job`, from its log: the failed step's last
 // line before the runner's first `Process completed`, in `mode` (check or
-// token), or BREAKER for a `stop` mode log with a STOPPED notice line. Null
-// when there is no such line or the log cannot be read within LOG_CAP_BYTES,
-// or no log reader was given; the log is data, and no other line of it is
-// read.
+// token), or BREAKER for a `stop` mode log with a STOPPED line inside the
+// mint step's MINT_START section. Null when there is no such line or the log
+// cannot be read within LOG_CAP_BYTES, or no log reader was given; the log is
+// data: check and token modes read only that one line, and a STOPPED line
+// outside the section never counts.
 function refusalReader(jobLog, repo) {
   return async (job, mode) => {
     if (!jobLog || !RUN_ID.test(String(job?.id))) {
@@ -1148,7 +1154,13 @@ function refusalReader(jobLog, repo) {
     }
     const lines = String(log ?? "").split("\n");
     if (mode === "stop") {
-      return lines.some((line) => STOPPED.test(line)) ? BREAKER : null;
+      const start = lines.findIndex((line) => MINT_START.test(line));
+      if (start < 0) {
+        return null;
+      }
+      const end = mintEnd(MINT_START.exec(lines[start])[1]);
+      const stop = lines.findIndex((line, at) => at > start && end.test(line));
+      return stop > 0 && lines.slice(start, stop).some((line) => STOPPED.test(line)) ? BREAKER : null;
     }
     const end = lines.findIndex((line) => STEP_FAILED.test(line));
     return end > 0 ? (DENIAL[mode].exec(lines[end - 1])?.[1] ?? null) : null;
diff --git a/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.test.mjs b/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.test.mjs
index 6f42a6bcf8..88ce3ec0e2 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.test.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/work-unblock/label-unblocked.test.mjs
@@ -2338,7 +2338,10 @@ test("breaker trips at the mint never count toward the failed-mint bound", async
 // With request-lane-token's kill-switch-ok, the same refusal ends the mint
 // step green with no token and a `lane-token-stopped` notice: every step that
 // keys on the token, `Stage the activity from the base` first, skips, and the
-// run ends green. Only that shape in the job listing earns a log read.
+// run ends green. Only that shape in the job listing earns a log read. The
+// log's shape is job 120970852314's: the composite's one step sits between a
+// start-action and an end-action marker, and the step's own output follows
+// its script group.
 const stoppedJob = (id, name) => ({
   id,
   name,
@@ -2352,8 +2355,13 @@ const stoppedJob = (id, name) => ({
 });
 const stoppedLog = ({ stamp = "2026-10-30T01:57:51.9466327Z ", line = "lane-token-stopped: the broker refused the token because a lanes kill switch is on, a designed stop; this run takes no token and skips the rest" } = {}) =>
   [
-    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6158116Z ##[group]Run request-lane-token",
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6157454Z ##[group]Run ./.base/.github/actions/request-lane-token",
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6159328Z ##[endgroup]",
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6165385Z ##[start-action display=Request the lane token;id=lane-token.request]",
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6182178Z ##[group]Run set -euo pipefail",
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:50.6340248Z ##[endgroup]",
     `${stamp}##[notice]${line}`,
+    "2026-10-30T01:57:51.9483644Z ##[end-action id=lane-token.request;outcome=success;conclusion=success;duration_ms=1331]",
     "2026-10-30T01:57:52.0000000Z ##[group]Run jq -n \\",
     "",
   ].join("\n");
@@ -2425,6 +2433,23 @@ test("a stopped mint whose log does not carry the kill-switch notice is a failed
   }
 });
 
+test("a kill-switch notice outside the mint step's section is a failed mint, never a breaker trip", async () => {
+  const [head, tail] = stoppedLog().split(/^.*##\[notice\].*\n/m);
+  const notice = stoppedLog().split("\n").find((line) => line.includes("##[notice]"));
+  const start = head.split("\n").find((line) => line.includes("##[start-action"));
+  const end = tail.split("\n").find((line) => line.includes("##[end-action"));
+  for (const [name, log] of [
+    ["in a later step", `${head}${tail}${notice}\n`],
+    ["before the mint step", `${notice}\n${head}${tail}`],
+    ["in a second mint block after the first", `${head}${tail}${start}\n${notice}\n${end}\n`],
+    ["with no end-action marker", `${head}${notice}\n`],
+  ]) {
+    const { github, actions, calls } = stalledRun({ jobs: MINT_STOPPED, logs: { [PATCH_MINT_ID]: log }, conclusion: "success" });
+    assert.equal(await sweep({ github, actions }), 0, name);
+    assert.deepEqual(writes(calls), refired(30), name);
+  }
+});
+
 test("breaker trips past limit-stops-per-issue since a person last added agent-ready wait on the stranded backoff", async () => {
   const under = stalledRun({ jobs: BROKER_REFUSED, logs: CHECK_KILLED, ...(await afterSweeps(2, BROKER_REFUSED, CHECK_KILLED)) });
   assert.equal(await sweep({ github: under.github, actions: under.actions }), 0);
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-run-activity-read.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-run-activity-read.yml
index efd7bdf0fc..c1eaef8635 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-run-activity-read.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-run-activity-read.yml
@@ -2097,8 +2097,10 @@ jobs:
             if ((RESUME_BRANCH === '') !== (RESUME_TIP === '') || (RESUME_TIP !== '' && STARTED !== 'true')) return bad('resume-tip');
             if (STARTED === 'true' && BASE_SHA === '') return bad('base-sha');
             // Branches to prune: at most 20 distinct lane branches of the
-            // issue, none of them the reuse or resume branch. Not re-derived:
-            // the prune job re-checks each against GitHub before deleting.
+            // issue, none of them the reuse or resume branch. The checked step
+            // publishes only the names the re-derived earlier-work check also
+            // names, and the prune job re-checks each against GitHub before
+            // deleting.
             const prune = PRUNE_BRANCHES === '' ? [] : PRUNE_BRANCHES.split(' ');
             if (prune.length > 20 || new Set(prune).size !== prune.length
               || prune.some((name) => !BRANCH.test(name) || name === REUSE_BRANCH || name === RESUME_BRANCH)) return bad('prune-branches');