diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees-remove-host-disambiguation.test.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-remove-host-disambiguation.test.ts
index 289609a2b86..d456f1051e8 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktrees-remove-host-disambiguation.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-remove-host-disambiguation.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import {
   removeWorktreeMock,
+  listWorktreesMock,
   parseOrcaYamlMock,
   hasHooksFileMock,
   getSshGitProviderMock,
@@ -144,6 +145,66 @@ describe('registerWorktreeHandlers', () => {
     expect(removeWorktreeMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  it('refuses a row whose execution host and connection id name different machines', async () => {
+    // #11163: everything below the handler picks the filesystem from `repo.connectionId` while the
+    // prune, the archive-hook route and the home guard come from the resolved execution host. This
+    // row would have listed a remote checkout on this client and deleted a same-named local path.
+    const brokenRepo = {
+      id: 'repo-host-only',
+      path: '/remote/repo',
+      displayName: 'ssh',
+      badgeColor: '#000',
+      addedAt: 0,
+      connectionId: null,
+      executionHostId: 'ssh:conn-1' as const
+    }
+    const provider = {
+      listWorktrees: vi.fn(),
+      removeWorktree: vi.fn(),
+      worktreeIsClean: vi.fn()
+    }
+    store.getRepo.mockReturnValue(brokenRepo)
+    store.getRepos.mockReturnValue([brokenRepo])
+    getSshGitProviderMock.mockReturnValue(provider)
+
+    await expect(
+      handlers['worktrees:remove'](null, {
+        worktreeId: 'repo-host-only::/remote/feature-wt',
+        force: true
+      })
+    ).rejects.toThrow(
+      'Refusing to delete worktree: repo repo-host-only names execution host ssh:conn-1, but its checkout is only reachable as local.'
+    )
+
+    expect(listWorktreesMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(provider.listWorktrees).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(removeWorktreeMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('refuses the mirror row that names local while carrying a connection id', async () => {
+    const brokenRepo = {
+      id: 'repo-local-spelled',
+      path: '/remote/repo',
+      displayName: 'ssh',
+      badgeColor: '#000',
+      addedAt: 0,
+      connectionId: 'conn-1',
+      executionHostId: 'local' as const
+    }
+    store.getRepo.mockReturnValue(brokenRepo)
+    store.getRepos.mockReturnValue([brokenRepo])
+
+    await expect(
+      handlers['worktrees:remove'](null, {
+        worktreeId: 'repo-local-spelled::/remote/feature-wt',
+        force: true
+      })
+    ).rejects.toThrow(
+      'Refusing to delete worktree: repo repo-local-spelled names execution host local, but its checkout is only reachable as ssh:conn-1.'
+    )
+    expect(removeWorktreeMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   it('tears down the remote session when an ownerless remote worktree is deleted', async () => {
     const sshRepo = {
       id: 'repo-1',
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-harness.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-harness.ts
index f438df48e3d..8297c695374 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-harness.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-harness.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { resetSshProviderAuthorities } from '../ssh/ssh-provider-authority'
 import { createWorktreeRuntimeStub, type WorktreeRuntimeStub } from './worktrees-test-runtime-stub'
 import { handlers, mainWindow, store } from './worktrees-test-ipc-surface'
 import { configureMetadataPruningStoreMocks } from './worktrees-test-metadata-pruning-store'
+import { resetWorktreeTestSshHostHome } from './worktrees-test-ssh-host-home'
 import {
   ORIGINAL_PLATFORM,
   setPlatform,
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ export const harnessRepo = {
 
 /** Registers worktree IPC handlers against freshly reset shared mocks and returns the runtime stub. */
 export function setupWorktreeHandlers(): WorktreeRuntimeStub {
+  resetWorktreeTestSshHostHome()
   delete (store as typeof store & { getAllWorktreeMetaForHost?: (...args: unknown[]) => unknown })
     .getAllWorktreeMetaForHost
   setPlatform(ORIGINAL_PLATFORM)
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-ssh-host-home.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-ssh-host-home.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a373afe0e51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees-test-ssh-host-home.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver } from '../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
+
+/** The `$HOME` the worktree IPC suites' SSH hosts report. */
+export const TEST_SSH_HOST_HOME = '/home/remote-user'
+
+/**
+ * Makes the harness's SSH hosts answer the removal guards' home question.
+ *
+ * Every suite that registers an SSH provider is modelling a connected relay session, and a
+ * connected session has always read the host's `$HOME`. Without it the guards refuse the recursive
+ * orphan delete — the right answer for a host that never answered, the wrong fixture for one that
+ * did. Deliberately not wired from `worktrees-test-module-mocks`: that module is imported from
+ * `vi.mock` factories, and reaching the production route module from there pulls in
+ * `providers/ssh-git-dispatch` while it is being mocked, which deadlocks the module runner.
+ */
+export function resetWorktreeTestSshHostHome(): void {
+  setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(() => TEST_SSH_HOST_HOME)
+}
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/execute-worktree-removal.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/execute-worktree-removal.ts
index 4d91e0b57d1..6da1354f918 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/execute-worktree-removal.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/execute-worktree-removal.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { Repo } from '../../../../shared/repo-types'
-import type { ExecutionHostId } from '../../../../shared/execution-host'
+import { getRepoExecutionHostId, type ExecutionHostId } from '../../../../shared/execution-host'
 import type { RemoveWorktreeResult } from '../../../../shared/worktree/create-types'
 import { isFolderRepo } from '../../../../shared/repo-kind'
 import { assertWorktreeUnlockedForRemoval } from '../../../../shared/worktree/removal'
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { resolveWorktreeRemovalMetadata } from '../../../worktree-removal-repo-o
 import { isPrunableGitFileWorktree } from '../../../worktree-prunable-git-file'
 import { findRegisteredDeletableWorktree } from '../../../worktree-removal-safety'
 import { removeStaleLocalWorktreeRegistration } from '../../../local-worktree-removal-recovery'
-import { resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection } from '../../../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
+import { resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost } from '../../../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
 import { runHook } from '../../../hooks'
 import type { ArchiveHookOverride } from '../../../../shared/worktree/archive-hook-removal-gate'
 import { gateWorktreeRemovalOnArchiveHook } from '../../../worktree-archive-hook-gate'
@@ -33,6 +33,35 @@ import { removeUnregisteredWorktree } from './remove-unregistered-worktree'
 import { removeRegisteredRemoteWorktree } from './remove-registered-remote-worktree'
 import { removeRegisteredLocalWorktree } from './remove-registered-local-worktree'
 
+/**
+ * Refuses a repo row whose two host spellings disagree.
+ *
+ * Everything below picks the filesystem it deletes on from `repo.connectionId`, while the metadata
+ * prune, the archive-hook route and the home authority all come from `removalHostId`. A row naming
+ * `executionHostId: 'ssh:<target>'` with no `connectionId` therefore lists and deletes a same-named
+ * path on THIS machine while the guards vouch for the remote one, and the reverse row does the
+ * mirror image (#11163). Neither spelling is evidence about the other, so refuse instead of picking
+ * a winner: the worktree is left in place, which is the recoverable outcome
+ * (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+ */
+function assertRemovalHostMatchesRepoRow(
+  repo: Repo,
+  repoId: string,
+  removalHostId: ExecutionHostId
+): void {
+  // Same function `removalHostId` came from, with the row's own `executionHostId` withheld: the two
+  // spellings then differ only when the row really carries two host names, never on normalisation.
+  const repoRowHostId = getRepoExecutionHostId({
+    connectionId: repo.connectionId,
+    executionHostId: null
+  })
+  if (removalHostId !== repoRowHostId) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Refusing to delete worktree: repo ${repoId} names execution host ${removalHostId}, but its checkout is only reachable as ${repoRowHostId}.`
+    )
+  }
+}
+
 export async function executeWorktreeRemoval(
   context: WorktreeIpcContext,
   args: RemoveWorktreeArgs,
@@ -45,6 +74,7 @@ export async function executeWorktreeRemoval(
   if (isFolderRepo(repo)) {
     return removeFolderWorkspace(context, args, repo, repoId, removalHostId)
   }
+  assertRemovalHostMatchesRepoRow(repo, repoId, removalHostId)
   const provider = repo.connectionId ? requireSshGitProvider(repo.connectionId) : null
   const localWorktreeGitOptions = repo.connectionId
     ? {}
@@ -61,7 +91,7 @@ export async function executeWorktreeRemoval(
     repo.path,
     worktreePath,
     registeredWorktrees,
-    resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection(repo.connectionId)
+    resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost(removalHostId)
   )
   if (!registeredWorktree) {
     return removeUnregisteredWorktree(
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree-host-home.test.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree-host-home.test.ts
index 790623d539a..9d88143d3c4 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree-host-home.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree-host-home.test.ts
@@ -115,4 +115,17 @@ describe('removeUnregisteredWorktree against an SSH host home', () => {
 
     expect(fsProvider.deletePath).toHaveBeenCalledWith(worktreePath, true)
   })
+
+  it('refuses a proven orphan when the host never reported a home', async () => {
+    // The orphan proof is complete and the path looks ordinary; the only thing missing is the
+    // host's answer. `unverifiable` leaves the directory in place rather than deleting it.
+    setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(() => null)
+    const worktreePath = `${HOST_HOME}/workspaces/leftover`
+    const fsProvider = provenOrphanFilesystem(worktreePath)
+
+    await expect(removeOverSsh(worktreePath, fsProvider)).rejects.toThrow(
+      `Refusing to delete unregistered worktree path: ${worktreePath}`
+    )
+    expect(fsProvider.deletePath).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree.ts b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree.ts
index dc1b99a6d77..7eec3879080 100644
--- a/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree.ts
+++ b/src/main/ipc/worktrees/removal/remove-unregistered-worktree.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
   ORPHANED_WORKTREE_DIRECTORY_MESSAGE,
   UNREGISTERED_MISSING_WORKTREE_MESSAGE
 } from '../../../worktree-removal-safety'
-import { resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection } from '../../../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
+import { resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost } from '../../../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
 import {
   getLocalWorktreePathAccess,
   removeLocalWorktreePath,
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export async function removeUnregisteredWorktree(
 ): Promise<RemoveWorktreeResult> {
   const { mainWindow, store, runtime } = context
   const fsProvider = repo.connectionId ? getSshFilesystemProvider(repo.connectionId) : null
-  const removalHome = resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection(repo.connectionId)
+  const removalHome = resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost(removalHostId)
   let canCleanOrphanedDirectory = false
   if (
     canCleanupUnregisteredOrcaWorktreeDirectory({
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/worktree-removal-and-reconciliation-part-03.spec.ts b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/worktree-removal-and-reconciliation-part-03.spec.ts
index 9006502ad73..941579fe645 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/worktree-removal-and-reconciliation-part-03.spec.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-tests/worktree-removal-and-reconciliation-part-03.spec.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   writeFile
 } from '../orca-runtime-test-mocks.spec'
 import type { WorktreeMeta } from '../orca-runtime-test-mocks.spec'
+import { setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver } from '../../worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
 import {
   TEST_REPO_ID,
   TEST_REPO_PATH,
@@ -462,6 +463,9 @@ describe('OrcaRuntimeService', () => {
     }
     registerSshGitProvider(repo.connectionId, gitProvider as never)
     registerSshFilesystemProvider(repo.connectionId, fsProvider as never)
+    // Why: the orphan-directory gate is a recursive delete, so it refuses until the host names its
+    // own home. A connected relay session always has, which is what this fixture stands for.
+    setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(() => '/home/remote-user')
     const runtime = new OrcaRuntimeService(runtimeStore as never, undefined, {
       getSshProvider: () => ptyProvider as never
     })
@@ -471,6 +475,7 @@ describe('OrcaRuntimeService', () => {
         runtime.removeManagedWorktree(`id:${worktreeId}`, { force: true })
       ).resolves.toEqual({})
     } finally {
+      setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(() => null)
       unregisterSshGitProvider(repo.connectionId)
       unregisterSshFilesystemProvider(repo.connectionId)
     }
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/runtime-unregistered-worktree-removal-host-home.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/runtime-unregistered-worktree-removal-host-home.test.ts
index b2e2f542369..0f57ed51cd2 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/runtime-unregistered-worktree-removal-host-home.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/runtime-unregistered-worktree-removal-host-home.test.ts
@@ -92,4 +92,16 @@ describe('removeRuntimeUnregisteredWorktree against an SSH host home', () => {
 
     expect(fsProvider.deletePath).toHaveBeenCalledWith(worktreePath, true)
   })
+
+  it('refuses a proven orphan when the host never reported a home', async () => {
+    // Same orphan, same proof; the host just never answered. Loss of contact is not permission.
+    setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(() => null)
+    const worktreePath = `${HOST_HOME}/workspaces/leftover`
+    const fsProvider = provenOrphanFilesystem(worktreePath)
+
+    await expect(
+      removeRuntimeUnregisteredWorktree(removalArgs(worktreePath, fsProvider))
+    ).rejects.toThrow(`Refusing to delete unregistered worktree path: ${worktreePath}`)
+    expect(fsProvider.deletePath).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.test.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.test.ts
index adb0caca15e..a9b7db8f060 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { ExecutionHostNotDispatchableError } from './providers/execution-host-pr
 import {
   getWorktreeRemovalConnectionId,
   resolveWorktreeRemovalHome,
+  resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost,
   resolveWorktreeRemovalRoute,
   setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver
 } from './worktree-removal-execution-host-route'
@@ -129,3 +130,40 @@ describe('resolveWorktreeRemovalHome', () => {
     })
   })
 })
+
+describe('resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost', () => {
+  it('answers an ssh host id without needing a registered provider', () => {
+    // The IPC entry point resolves the home before it has a route, and a row naming its owner only
+    // as `executionHostId: 'ssh:<target>'` has no `connectionId` to key on at all.
+    setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver((id) => (id === HOST_A ? '/srv/homes/alice' : null))
+
+    expect(resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost('ssh:target-a')).toEqual({
+      kind: 'executionHost',
+      homePath: '/srv/homes/alice'
+    })
+    expect(resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost('ssh:target-b')).toEqual({
+      kind: 'executionHost',
+      homePath: null
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the client home for the local host', () => {
+    expect(resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost('local')).toEqual({ kind: 'client' })
+  })
+
+  it('refuses to answer a runtime host with this client s home', () => {
+    // `runtime:<env>` deletes on that environment's own server; this client's home vouches for
+    // nothing there, so the authority stays unknown and the guard refuses.
+    expect(resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost('runtime:env-1')).toEqual({
+      kind: 'executionHost',
+      homePath: null
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('refuses to answer an id that names no host', () => {
+    expect(resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost('nonsense' as never)).toEqual({
+      kind: 'executionHost',
+      homePath: null
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.ts
index 2ad0a0aa211..b57d92327b9 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-execution-host-route.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@
  * worktree in place, while the incumbent fallback deleted a client-side path.
  */
 
-import type { ExecutionHostId, LOCAL_EXECUTION_HOST_ID } from '../shared/execution-host'
+import {
+  parseExecutionHostId,
+  type ExecutionHostId,
+  type LOCAL_EXECUTION_HOST_ID
+} from '../shared/execution-host'
 import {
   CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME,
   executionHostRemovalHome,
@@ -98,23 +102,36 @@ export function setWorktreeRemovalSshHostHomeResolver(
 
 /**
  * Whose home directory the removal's safety guards may consult — one answer for
- * the whole removal, taken from the same route that owns the filesystem.
+ * the whole removal, taken from the same host id that owns the filesystem.
  */
 export function resolveWorktreeRemovalHome(
   route: WorktreeRemovalRoute
 ): WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority {
-  return resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection(
-    route.kind === 'ssh' ? route.connectionId : undefined
-  )
+  return resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost(route.hostId)
 }
 
-/** The same answer for the callers that still carry `repo.connectionId` instead of a route. */
-export function resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForConnection(
-  connectionId: string | null | undefined
+/**
+ * The same answer for the entry points that hold a host id rather than a route.
+ *
+ * Keyed on the resolved `ExecutionHostId`, not on `repo.connectionId`: a row naming its owner only
+ * as `executionHostId: 'ssh:<target>'` has a null `connectionId`, and answering that with this
+ * client's home is how the guard would vouch for the wrong machine (#11163).
+ */
+export function resolveWorktreeRemovalHomeForHost(
+  hostId: ExecutionHostId
 ): WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority {
-  return connectionId
-    ? executionHostRemovalHome(sshHostHomeResolver(connectionId))
-    : CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME
+  const parsed = parseExecutionHostId(hostId)
+  switch (parsed?.kind) {
+    case 'local':
+      return CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME
+    case 'ssh':
+      return executionHostRemovalHome(sshHostHomeResolver(parsed.targetId))
+    default:
+      // Why: `runtime:<env>` deletes on that environment's own server, and an id that parses to
+      // nothing names no machine at all. Neither can be answered with this client's home, so both
+      // stay unknown and the guard refuses.
+      return executionHostRemovalHome(null)
+  }
 }
 
 /** The connection to teardown PTYs, watchers and history against — `undefined` on a local host. */
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.test.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.test.ts
index a562bb3c448..d06940acdd3 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.test.ts
@@ -8,15 +8,28 @@ vi.mock('node:os', async (importOriginal) => {
   return { ...actual, homedir: homedirMock }
 })
 
-const { CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME, executionHostRemovalHome, getPathOps, isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath } =
-  await import('./worktree-removal-home-guard')
+const {
+  CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME,
+  executionHostRemovalHome,
+  getPathOps,
+  isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath,
+  isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved
+} = await import('./worktree-removal-home-guard')
 
 function isHome(
   worktreePath: string,
   home: Parameters<typeof isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath>[2]
 ): boolean {
-  const pathOps = getPathOps(worktreePath)
-  return isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(pathOps.resolve(worktreePath), pathOps, home)
+  return isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(worktreePath, getPathOps(worktreePath), home)
+}
+
+/** The ops a removal actually gets: chosen from the worktree/repo pair, not the path alone. */
+function isHomeForPair(
+  worktreePath: string,
+  repoPath: string,
+  home: Parameters<typeof isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath>[2]
+): boolean {
+  return isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(worktreePath, getPathOps(worktreePath, repoPath), home)
 }
 
 function withProcessPlatform<T>(platform: NodeJS.Platform, callback: () => T): T {
@@ -102,16 +115,30 @@ describe('whose home the guard consults', () => {
     // Without the host's answer the same path has no recognisable home shape,
     // which is exactly why the client home must not stand in for it.
     expect(isHome('/srv/homes/alice', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(false)
-    expect(isHome('/srv/homes/alice', executionHostRemovalHome(null))).toBe(false)
   })
 
-  it('never lets an unknown execution-host home fall back to the client homedir', () => {
-    // The client's home coincides with the remote path here; `null` still means unknown.
+  it('reports an unanswered execution host as unresolved, never as this client s home', () => {
+    // `null` is `unverifiable`. The client's home coincides with the remote path here, and must
+    // still not be the thing that answers — the shape rules are all that is left.
     homedirMock.mockReturnValue('/srv/homes/alice')
+    expect(isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(executionHostRemovalHome(null))).toBe(false)
     expect(isHome('/srv/homes/alice', executionHostRemovalHome(null))).toBe(false)
+    expect(isHome('/home/alice', executionHostRemovalHome(null))).toBe(true)
     expect(homedirMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  it('treats an empty execution-host home as unknown rather than as a resolved answer', () => {
+    // An empty `$HOME` is an absent answer; normalising it here keeps the authority type honest
+    // instead of leaving `''` to read as "resolved" at every consumer.
+    expect(executionHostRemovalHome('')).toEqual({ kind: 'executionHost', homePath: null })
+    expect(isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(executionHostRemovalHome(''))).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('treats the client and an answering host as resolved', () => {
+    expect(isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(true)
+    expect(isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/alice'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
   it('honours a Windows execution-host home in the forward-slash form the relay reports', () => {
     // `normalizeRemoteHome` folds a Windows host's `$HOME` to `C:/Users/bob`, not `C:\Users\bob`.
     const hostHome = executionHostRemovalHome('C:/Users/bob/OneDrive')
@@ -145,3 +172,50 @@ describe('whose home the guard consults', () => {
     ).toBe(true)
   })
 })
+
+describe('path ops chosen from the worktree/repo pair', () => {
+  // `getPathOps` switches to win32 as soon as EITHER path looks Windows-absolute, and `//nas/...`
+  // does. A POSIX worktree path then gets judged by Windows-only shape rules, which recognise
+  // `<root>\\Users\\<name>` and nothing else — so `/home/alice` and a non-standard client home
+  // both stopped being homes because of a path the home comparison never involved.
+  it('still recognises a POSIX home when the repo path drags the pair into win32 ops', () => {
+    homedirMock.mockReturnValue('/Users/ci')
+    expect(isHomeForPair('/home/alice', '//nas/share/repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(true)
+    expect(isHomeForPair('/home', '//nas/share/repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(true)
+    expect(isHomeForPair('/root', 'C:\\src\\repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('still recognises the client home itself under the same contaminated ops', () => {
+    homedirMock.mockReturnValue('/srv/homes/ci')
+    expect(
+      withProcessPlatform('linux', () =>
+        isHomeForPair('/srv/homes/ci', '//nas/share/repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    expect(
+      withProcessPlatform('linux', () =>
+        isHomeForPair('/srv/homes/ci', 'C:\\src\\repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('still recognises an execution-host home under the same contaminated ops', () => {
+    expect(
+      isHomeForPair(
+        '/srv/homes/alice',
+        'C:\\src\\repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/alice')
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('keeps a linked worktree deletable when the pair is mixed-syntax', () => {
+    homedirMock.mockReturnValue('/srv/homes/ci')
+    expect(
+      withProcessPlatform('linux', () =>
+        isHomeForPair('/srv/homes/ci/wt/feature', '//nas/share/repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+    expect(isHomeForPair('/opt/src/checkout', '//nas/share/repo', CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.ts
index 85596093c13..d6c36fefb84 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-home-guard.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,23 @@ export const CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME: WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority = { kind: 'client
 export function executionHostRemovalHome(
   homePath: string | null | undefined
 ): WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority {
-  return { kind: 'executionHost', homePath: homePath ?? null }
+  // Why `||`: an empty answer is an absent one, and `''` would otherwise read as a resolved home.
+  return { kind: 'executionHost', homePath: homePath || null }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether the host that executes the removal actually named its home directory.
+ *
+ * `false` is `unverifiable`, not "no home here" (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md). The
+ * recursive-directory gates in `worktree-removal-safety.ts` require `true`, because there the home
+ * guard is the only evidence standing between an `rm -rf` and somebody's `$HOME` — a bare-repo
+ * dotfiles checkout puts a real `.git` file at the top of a home directory, which is exactly the
+ * orphan proof those gates accept. `git worktree remove` does not require it: the execution host's
+ * own Git registry already established that the path is a linked worktree of that repo, and a
+ * missing second opinion does not retract that.
+ */
+export function isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(home: WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority): boolean {
+  return home.kind === 'client' || !!home.homePath
 }
 
 export function getPathOps(...paths: string[]): PathOps {
@@ -54,16 +70,34 @@ export function containsPath(parentPath: string, childPath: string, pathOps: Pat
 }
 
 /**
- * Whether removing `resolvedWorktreePath` would take a home directory with it.
+ * Whether removing `worktreePath` would take a home directory with it.
  *
  * True when the path is, or contains, the home of the machine that executes the
- * removal, or when its shape is a home directory on the filesystem it names.
+ * removal, or when its shape is a home directory on the filesystem it names. An
+ * execution host that never reported a home answers neither — see
+ * `isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved` for who has to insist on an answer.
  */
 export function isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(
-  resolvedWorktreePath: string,
+  worktreePath: string,
   pathOps: PathOps,
   home: WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority
 ): boolean {
+  if (isHomeUnderPathOps(worktreePath, pathOps, home)) {
+    return true
+  }
+  // Why: `pathOps` is picked from the worktree/repo PAIR, so a Windows-shaped repo path drags a
+  // POSIX worktree path into win32 rules and `/home/alice` stops matching anything. Read the path
+  // in its own syntax as well, and refuse if either reading names a home.
+  const ownPathOps = getPathOps(worktreePath)
+  return ownPathOps !== pathOps && isHomeUnderPathOps(worktreePath, ownPathOps, home)
+}
+
+function isHomeUnderPathOps(
+  worktreePath: string,
+  pathOps: PathOps,
+  home: WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority
+): boolean {
+  const resolvedWorktreePath = pathOps.resolve(worktreePath)
   const homePath = resolveGuardHomePath(home, pathOps)
   if (!!homePath && containsPath(resolvedWorktreePath, pathOps.resolve(homePath), pathOps)) {
     return true
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.test.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.test.ts
index 91859a3b423..5aae44274f9 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.test.ts
@@ -553,8 +553,10 @@ describe('isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath on an execution host', () => {
     ['C:\\Users', 'C:\\src\\repo', true],
     ['C:\\Users\\bob\\wt\\foo', 'C:\\src\\repo', false]
   ])('%s under %s -> dangerous=%s', (worktreePath, repoPath, expected) => {
+    // `/var/empty` is a resolved host home that matches no row, so each verdict comes from the
+    // path rules alone — the same verdicts the client authority reaches.
     expect(
-      isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(worktreePath, repoPath, executionHostRemovalHome(null))
+      isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(worktreePath, repoPath, executionHostRemovalHome('/var/empty'))
     ).toBe(expected)
     expect(isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(worktreePath, repoPath, CLIENT_REMOVAL_HOME)).toBe(
       expected
@@ -570,6 +572,32 @@ describe('isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath on an execution host', () => {
       )
     ).toBe(true)
   })
+
+  it('recognises a POSIX home when the repo path drags the pair into win32 path ops', () => {
+    // `getPathOps` reads both paths, so a `//`-rooted repo path put `/home/alice` under
+    // Windows-only shape rules and the last guard on a recursive delete stopped matching.
+    expect(
+      isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(
+        '/home/alice',
+        '//nas/share/repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome('/var/empty')
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    expect(
+      isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(
+        '/srv/homes/alice',
+        '//nas/share/repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/alice')
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    expect(
+      isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(
+        '/srv/homes/alice/wt/feature',
+        '//nas/share/repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/alice')
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('canSafelyRemoveOrphanedWorktreeDirectory on an execution host', () => {
@@ -624,4 +652,63 @@ describe('canSafelyRemoveOrphanedWorktreeDirectory on an execution host', () =>
       )
     ).resolves.toBe(true)
   })
+
+  it('refuses a proven orphan of any shape while the host home is unanswered', async () => {
+    // A bare-repo dotfiles checkout puts exactly this `.git` file at the top of a home directory,
+    // and `/srv/homes/alice` has no home shape to fall back on. Unanswered is not permission.
+    const orphan = {
+      statPath: makeStatPath(['/srv/homes/alice/.git'], ['/opt/src/repo/.git']),
+      readPath: makeReadPath([
+        ['/srv/homes/alice/.git', 'gitdir: /opt/src/repo/.git/worktrees/alice\n'],
+        ['/opt/src/repo/.git/worktrees/alice/gitdir', '/srv/homes/alice/.git\n']
+      ])
+    }
+
+    await expect(
+      canSafelyRemoveOrphanedWorktreeDirectory(
+        '/srv/homes/alice',
+        '/opt/src/repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome(null),
+        orphan.statPath,
+        orphan.readPath
+      )
+    ).resolves.toBe(false)
+    // The same call with an answer that does not match still removes it, so the refusal above is
+    // the missing answer and not the path.
+    await expect(
+      canSafelyRemoveOrphanedWorktreeDirectory(
+        '/srv/homes/alice',
+        '/opt/src/repo',
+        executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/bob'),
+        orphan.statPath,
+        orphan.readPath
+      )
+    ).resolves.toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('refuses the leftover-directory cleanup while the host home is unanswered', async () => {
+    const leftoverArgs = {
+      meta: { orcaCreatedAt: 1, orcaCreationSource: 'ssh' } as never,
+      worktreePath: '/srv/homes/alice',
+      runtimeWorktreePath: '/srv/homes/alice',
+      repo: { path: '/opt/src/repo' },
+      runtimeRepoPath: '/opt/src/repo',
+      registeredWorktrees: [],
+      statPath: makeStatPath([], ['/srv/homes/alice']),
+      isGitRepository: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(false)
+    }
+
+    await expect(
+      canCleanupUnregisteredOrcaLeftoverDirectory({
+        ...leftoverArgs,
+        home: executionHostRemovalHome(null)
+      })
+    ).resolves.toBe(false)
+    await expect(
+      canCleanupUnregisteredOrcaLeftoverDirectory({
+        ...leftoverArgs,
+        home: executionHostRemovalHome('/srv/homes/bob')
+      })
+    ).resolves.toBe(true)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.ts b/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.ts
index 129a44cfbef..c26d3fd0bf5 100644
--- a/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.ts
+++ b/src/main/worktree-removal-safety.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   containsPath,
   getPathOps,
   isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath,
+  isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved,
   type WorktreeRemovalHomeAuthority
 } from './worktree-removal-home-guard'
 import {
@@ -75,7 +76,8 @@ export function isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(
     return true
   }
 
-  return isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(resolvedWorktreePath, pathOps, home)
+  // Raw, not `resolvedWorktreePath`: the guard re-reads the path under its own syntax too.
+  return isHomeDirectoryRemovalPath(worktreePath, pathOps, home)
 }
 
 export function getRegisteredDeletableWorktree(
@@ -135,6 +137,14 @@ export async function canSafelyRemoveOrphanedWorktreeDirectory(
   statPath: StatPath = lstat,
   readPath: ReadPath = (path) => readFile(path, 'utf8')
 ): Promise<boolean> {
+  // Why: this answer authorises a recursive delete, and the proof it relies on — a `.git` file at
+  // the top of the directory — is also what a bare-repo dotfiles home looks like. An execution host
+  // that never named its home leaves that check with nothing to compare against, and
+  // `unverifiable` does not authorise a delete (docs/reference/ssh-execution-boundary.md).
+  if (!isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(home)) {
+    return false
+  }
+
   if (isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(worktreePath, repoPath, home)) {
     return false
   }
@@ -186,6 +196,11 @@ export async function canCleanupUnregisteredOrcaLeftoverDirectory(args: {
     return false
   }
 
+  // Why: same recursive delete, same rule — no home answer from the executing host, no delete.
+  if (!isRemovalHomeAuthorityResolved(args.home)) {
+    return false
+  }
+
   if (
     isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(args.worktreePath, args.repo.path, args.home) ||
     isDangerousWorktreeRemovalPath(args.runtimeWorktreePath, args.runtimeRepoPath, args.home)