diff --git a/src/main/browser/browser-session-persisted-profile-validation.ts b/src/main/browser/browser-session-persisted-profile-validation.ts
index f2845d28379..18a1ff62fb1 100644
--- a/src/main/browser/browser-session-persisted-profile-validation.ts
+++ b/src/main/browser/browser-session-persisted-profile-validation.ts
@@ -30,17 +30,20 @@ export function inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes(
   let noticePending = false
   let degraded = false
   for (const profile of profiles) {
-    if (!isValidPersistedBrowserSessionProfile(profile, activeOrcaProfileId)) {
-      noticePending = true
-      degraded = true
-      continue
-    }
-    if (!Object.hasOwn(profile, 'userAgentMode')) {
+    // Refusing to hydrate an entry is not the same as finding a retired choice: hydrateFromPersisted
+    // already skips it silently, and a notice here would claim an old choice could not be inspected
+    // for a profile that never carried one.
+    if (!profile || typeof profile !== 'object' || !Object.hasOwn(profile, 'userAgentMode')) {
       continue
     }
     noticePending = true
     const mode = Reflect.get(profile, 'userAgentMode')
-    if (mode !== 'clean' && mode !== 'native') {
+    // Degraded covers both ways the choice is uninspectable: an unreadable mode, and a mode sitting
+    // on an entry we refuse to hydrate, where we cannot say which profile it belonged to.
+    if (
+      (mode !== 'clean' && mode !== 'native') ||
+      !isValidPersistedBrowserSessionProfile(profile, activeOrcaProfileId)
+    ) {
       degraded = true
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/main/browser/browser-session-user-agent-migration-inspection.test.ts b/src/main/browser/browser-session-user-agent-migration-inspection.test.ts
index 499b341e265..73fc76c446e 100644
--- a/src/main/browser/browser-session-user-agent-migration-inspection.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/browser/browser-session-user-agent-migration-inspection.test.ts
@@ -3,38 +3,73 @@ import { getOrcaProfileBrowserSessionPartition } from '../../shared/orca-profile
 import { inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes } from './browser-session-persisted-profile-validation'
 
 const ORCA_PROFILE_ID = 'local-default'
+const PROFILE_ID = '11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111'
 
 function profileWithMode(mode: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
-  const id = '11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111'
   return {
-    id,
+    id: PROFILE_ID,
     scope: 'isolated',
-    partition: getOrcaProfileBrowserSessionPartition(ORCA_PROFILE_ID, id),
+    partition: getOrcaProfileBrowserSessionPartition(ORCA_PROFILE_ID, PROFILE_ID),
     label: 'Existing',
     source: null,
     userAgentMode: mode
   }
 }
 
+/** Fails `isValidPersistedBrowserSessionProfile` on its id, for reasons unrelated to identity. */
+function unhydratableProfile(extra: Record<string, unknown> = {}): Record<string, unknown> {
+  return {
+    id: 'not-a-uuid',
+    scope: 'isolated',
+    partition: 'persist:orca-browser-session-not-a-uuid',
+    label: 'Unhydratable',
+    source: null,
+    ...extra
+  }
+}
+
 describe('retired browser profile identity inspection', () => {
   it('detects an inspectable old choice without removing its bytes', () => {
     const profile = profileWithMode('native')
 
-    expect(
-      inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([profile], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)
-    ).toEqual({ noticePending: true, degraded: false })
+    expect(inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([profile], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)).toEqual({
+      noticePending: true,
+      degraded: false
+    })
     expect(profile.userAgentMode).toBe('native')
   })
 
-  it.each([[null], [42], ['broken'], [profileWithMode('unexpected')]])(
-    'turns malformed metadata into a degraded notice without throwing',
-    (entry) => {
-      expect(() =>
-        inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([entry], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)
-      ).not.toThrow()
-      expect(
-        inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([entry], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)
-      ).toEqual({ noticePending: true, degraded: true })
+  // "I refuse to hydrate this" is not "a retired identity choice was found". hydrateFromPersisted
+  // skips these entries silently, and the notice text claims an old choice could not be inspected —
+  // which would be a lie about a profile that never carried one, repeated on every launch.
+  it.each([
+    { scenario: 'null', entry: null },
+    { scenario: 'a number', entry: 42 },
+    { scenario: 'a string', entry: 'broken' },
+    {
+      scenario: 'a profile that fails validation for an unrelated reason',
+      entry: unhydratableProfile()
     }
-  )
+  ])('stays silent about $scenario, which carries no identity choice', ({ entry }) => {
+    expect(inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([entry], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)).toEqual({
+      noticePending: false,
+      degraded: false
+    })
+  })
+
+  it.each([
+    { scenario: 'an unreadable mode', entry: profileWithMode('unexpected') },
+    {
+      scenario: 'a mode on an entry that cannot be hydrated',
+      entry: unhydratableProfile({ userAgentMode: 'native' })
+    }
+  ])('turns $scenario into a degraded notice without throwing', ({ entry }) => {
+    expect(() =>
+      inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([entry], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)
+    ).not.toThrow()
+    expect(inspectRetiredBrowserSessionProfileUserAgentModes([entry], ORCA_PROFILE_ID)).toEqual({
+      noticePending: true,
+      degraded: true
+    })
+  })
 })