diff --git a/lib/notify/fired_keys.dart b/lib/notify/fired_keys.dart
index ff5b38599..8d3513742 100644
--- a/lib/notify/fired_keys.dart
+++ b/lib/notify/fired_keys.dart
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class FiredKeyStore {
         // parsed at cold start and on every reload() above.
         await _prunePrefs(p);
       }
-      await LocalDb.pruneNotifFired(_cutoffLabel());
+      await LocalDb.pruneNotifFired(cutoffLabel());
     } catch (_) {/* bookkeeping is best-effort — the claim stands */}
     return true;
   }
@@ -176,8 +176,12 @@ class FiredKeyStore {
   Future<void> recordFired(String dedupeKey) async => claim(dedupeKey);
 
   /// The oldest day label a dated claim may carry and still be retained.
-  static String _cutoffLabel() =>
-      dayLabelOf(DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(days: retentionDays)));
+  ///
+  /// Calendar days, not `subtract(Duration(days: 14))`: that is 14 x 24 h, and
+  /// across a DST change one of those days is 23 or 25 h long, so in the hour
+  /// either side of midnight the cutoff landed one label early or late.
+  static String cutoffLabel([DateTime? now]) =>
+      dayLabelBefore(todayLabel(now), retentionDays)!;
 
   static Future<SharedPreferences?> _prefs() async {
     try {
@@ -215,7 +219,7 @@ class FiredKeyStore {
   /// prunes a little late. Keys without a leading YYYY-MM-DD are left untouched.
   static Future<void> _prunePrefs(SharedPreferences p) async {
     try {
-      final cutoff = _cutoffLabel();
+      final cutoff = cutoffLabel();
       for (final k in p.getKeys()) {
         if (!k.startsWith(_prefix)) continue;
         final d = leadingDate(k.substring(_prefix.length));
diff --git a/lib/notify/notification_ids.dart b/lib/notify/notification_ids.dart
index 63f99ec9b..879470dc5 100644
--- a/lib/notify/notification_ids.dart
+++ b/lib/notify/notification_ids.dart
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
 import 'package:shared_preferences/shared_preferences.dart';
 
-import '../data/day_label.dart';
 import '../data/db.dart';
 import 'fired_keys.dart';
 import 'notification_event.dart';
@@ -204,8 +203,7 @@ class NotificationIds {
   /// directions. Cheap and rare (only after a FRESH allocation).
   Future<void> _prune(SharedPreferences p, {String? keep}) async {
     try {
-      final cutoff =
-          dayLabelOf(DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(days: retentionDays)));
+      final cutoff = FiredKeyStore.cutoffLabel();
       for (final k in p.getKeys().toList(growable: false)) {
         if (!k.startsWith(_kSlot) || k == keep) continue;
         final rest = k.substring(_kSlot.length); // "<cat>:<dedupeKey>"
diff --git a/test/notify_retention_dst_test.dart b/test/notify_retention_dst_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9c119ea8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/notify_retention_dst_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+// The fired-key / notification-slot retention cutoff is "14 calendar days
+// before today". It used to be `now.subtract(Duration(days: 14))`, which is
+// 336 h: across a DST change one of those days is 23 or 25 h, so in the hour
+// either side of midnight the cutoff landed one day early or late. Real
+// DST only bites if the PROCESS timezone has DST, so this moves it (libc
+// setenv("TZ") + tzset(), as day_window_dst_test does). Windows has neither
+// symbol, so the file is skipped there rather than failing in setUpAll.
+@TestOn('!windows')
+library;
+
+import 'dart:ffi';
+import 'dart:io';
+
+import 'package:ffi/ffi.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:openstrap_edge/notify/fired_keys.dart';
+
+typedef _SetenvNative = Int32 Function(Pointer<Utf8>, Pointer<Utf8>, Int32);
+typedef _SetenvDart = int Function(Pointer<Utf8>, Pointer<Utf8>, int);
+typedef _UnsetenvNative = Int32 Function(Pointer<Utf8>);
+typedef _UnsetenvDart = int Function(Pointer<Utf8>);
+typedef _TzsetNative = Void Function();
+typedef _TzsetDart = void Function();
+
+void _setProcessTz(String? tz) {
+  final lib = DynamicLibrary.process();
+  final key = 'TZ'.toNativeUtf8();
+  try {
+    if (tz == null) {
+      lib.lookupFunction<_UnsetenvNative, _UnsetenvDart>('unsetenv')(key);
+    } else {
+      final value = tz.toNativeUtf8();
+      lib.lookupFunction<_SetenvNative, _SetenvDart>('setenv')(key, value, 1);
+      calloc.free(value);
+    }
+    lib.lookupFunction<_TzsetNative, _TzsetDart>('tzset')();
+  } finally {
+    calloc.free(key);
+  }
+}
+
+void main() {
+  final originalTz = Platform.environment['TZ'];
+  // America/New_York: 2026-03-08 is 23 h long, 2026-11-01 is 25 h long.
+  setUpAll(() => _setProcessTz('America/New_York'));
+  tearDownAll(() => _setProcessTz(originalTz));
+
+  test('the host really is on a DST zone (or this test proves nothing)', () {
+    expect(DateTime(2026, 3, 9).difference(DateTime(2026, 3, 8)).inHours, 23);
+  });
+
+  test('just after midnight, past a 23 h day: still 14 calendar days', () {
+    // 336 h before 00:30 lands at 23:30 on 02-22, a day too far back.
+    expect(FiredKeyStore.cutoffLabel(DateTime(2026, 3, 9, 0, 30)),
+        '2026-02-23');
+  });
+
+  test('just before midnight, past a 25 h day: still 14 calendar days', () {
+    // 336 h before 23:30 lands at 00:30 on 10-20, a day too recent.
+    expect(FiredKeyStore.cutoffLabel(DateTime(2026, 11, 2, 23, 30)),
+        '2026-10-19');
+  });
+
+  test('an ordinary day is unchanged', () {
+    expect(FiredKeyStore.cutoffLabel(DateTime(2026, 6, 20, 12)), '2026-06-06');
+  });
+}