diff --git a/tests/functional/diff_collect.rs b/tests/functional/diff_collect.rs
index 063f0b6..2db72f1 100644
--- a/tests/functional/diff_collect.rs
+++ b/tests/functional/diff_collect.rs
@@ -242,15 +242,20 @@ fn diff_collect_errors_with_no_prior_collect() {
     );
 }
 
-/// When one sha out of several diverges, `run` proceeds with the rows still
-/// anchored at reachable shas — only tests stranded at the diverged sha
-/// rerun (as "new"). The diverged rows stay in the DB until the user runs
-/// `cargo affected clean`.
+/// A `collect_sha` that HEAD has moved off of is still *reachable* as long
+/// as its commit sits in the object database — reachability is `git cat-file
+/// -e`, not ancestry. So `run` diffs against the sibling like any other sha:
+/// the test anchored there comes back as plain `affected`, nothing is
+/// stranded, and the run doesn't widen. The sibling's rows stay in the DB
+/// until the user runs `cargo affected clean`.
+///
+/// The genuinely-missing case — where the commit is gone and its tests do
+/// strand — is [`run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_sha_is_missing`].
 ///
 /// One-test-per-file isolates each test's row set per file so the
 /// structural-edit backstop doesn't pull unrelated tests in.
 #[test]
-fn run_uses_reachable_shas_when_one_sha_diverges() {
+fn run_uses_sibling_sha_without_stranding_or_widening() {
     let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
     let dir = tmp.path();
     write_three_one_test_modules(dir, "sample_diff_partial_diverge");
@@ -298,9 +303,11 @@ fn run_uses_reachable_shas_when_one_sha_diverges() {
 
     // Selection chose exactly one test (test_fa — anchored at sha1, which is
     // a sibling but reachable, and the diff against it picks up the edit).
+    // The breakdown pins the *category*: a sibling sha contributes `affected`
+    // hits, never `stranded` ones.
     assert!(
-        combined.contains("1 tests to run"),
-        "expected '1 tests to run' (test_fa affected via sha1), got:\n{combined}"
+        combined.contains("1 tests to run (1 affected + 0 config + 0 new + 0 stranded"),
+        "expected test_fa selected as 'affected' with nothing stranded, got:\n{combined}"
     );
     assert!(
         combined.contains("test_fa"),
@@ -334,12 +341,20 @@ fn run_uses_reachable_shas_when_one_sha_diverges() {
     );
 }
 
-/// Middle-case: one sha diverged, one reachable — and there's a real edit
-/// against a file covered by the reachable sha. Verifies the union of
-/// `affected` (over the reachable sha) and `new_tests` (the stranded one)
-/// is what runs, not just one or the other.
+/// Middle-case: one sha genuinely gone, one reachable — and there's a real
+/// edit against a file covered by the reachable sha. Verifies the union of
+/// `affected` (over the reachable sha) and `stranded` (the tests anchored
+/// only at the missing one) is what runs, not just one or the other.
+///
+/// Resetting HEAD is *not* enough to strand anything. Reachability is
+/// `git cat-file -e`, so an orphaned commit still in the object database
+/// stays reachable and its tests come back as ordinary `affected` hits —
+/// that variant is
+/// [`run_uses_sibling_sha_without_stranding_or_widening`]. Expiring the
+/// reflog and running `git gc --prune=now` is what actually removes the
+/// commit and drives the `stranded` path.
 #[test]
-fn run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_partially_diverged() {
+fn run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_sha_is_missing() {
     let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
     let dir = tmp.path();
     write_three_one_test_modules(dir, "sample_diff_partial_diverge_with_edit");
@@ -358,7 +373,7 @@ fn run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_partially_diverged() {
     replace_in_file(&dir.join("src/a.rs"), "x + 1", "x + 1 /* edited */");
     git(dir, &["add", "."]);
     git(dir, &["commit", "-q", "-m", "edit fa"]);
-    let _sha1 = git_head(dir);
+    let sha1 = git_head(dir);
     let diff = cargo_affected(dir, &["affected", "collect", "--diff"]);
     assert!(
         diff.status.success(),
@@ -366,10 +381,29 @@ fn run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_partially_diverged() {
         String::from_utf8_lossy(&diff.stderr),
     );
 
-    // Reset HEAD to sha0 (orphans sha1) AND modify b.rs so there's a real
-    // diff against sha0. Selection should pick test_fb (overlap at sha0)
-    // AND test_fa (stranded → "new").
+    // Reset HEAD to sha0, then expire the reflog and gc so sha1's commit
+    // object is really gone — the reset alone orphans it but leaves it
+    // findable, which would make it reachable and this scenario a duplicate
+    // of the sibling test above.
     git(dir, &["reset", "--hard", "-q", &sha0]);
+    git(dir, &["reflog", "expire", "--expire=now", "--all"]);
+    git(dir, &["gc", "--prune=now", "--quiet"]);
+    assert!(
+        // `.output()` rather than `.status()`: the probe is expected to fail,
+        // and this keeps git's "Not a valid object name" off the test log.
+        !std::process::Command::new("git")
+            .args(["cat-file", "-e", &format!("{sha1}^{{commit}}")])
+            .current_dir(dir)
+            .output()
+            .unwrap()
+            .status
+            .success(),
+        "sha1 {sha1} should be pruned out of the object database",
+    );
+
+    // Modify b.rs so there's a real diff against sha0. Selection should pick
+    // test_fb (overlap at sha0) AND test_fa (anchored only at the missing
+    // sha1 → stranded).
     replace_in_file(&dir.join("src/b.rs"), "x + 1", "x + 1 /* run-time edit */");
 
     let run = cargo_affected(dir, &["affected", "run", "-v"]);
@@ -381,9 +415,21 @@ fn run_unions_affected_and_stranded_when_partially_diverged() {
     );
     let combined = combined_output(&run);
 
+    // The breakdown is the assertion that matters: one hit from each
+    // category. A bare "2 tests to run" would also pass with both tests
+    // classified `affected`, which is exactly what happens if sha1 survives.
+    assert!(
+        combined.contains("2 tests to run (1 affected + 0 config + 0 new + 1 stranded"),
+        "expected the affected ∪ stranded union, got:\n{combined}"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        combined.contains("test_fa (stranded)"),
+        "test_fa is anchored only at the missing sha → stranded, got:\n{combined}"
+    );
+    // The missing sha is announced, not silently dropped.
     assert!(
-        combined.contains("2 tests to run"),
-        "expected '2 tests to run' (test_fb affected + test_fa as new), got:\n{combined}"
+        combined.contains("not in the repo"),
+        "expected the missing-sha notice for {sha1}, got:\n{combined}"
     );
     for t in ["test_fa", "test_fb"] {
         assert!(