diff --git a/bin/branch_sweep.sh b/bin/branch_sweep.sh
index dcd9aed..a39d955 100755
--- a/bin/branch_sweep.sh
+++ b/bin/branch_sweep.sh
@@ -182,7 +182,13 @@ while read -r b; do
             fi ;;
         *) keep+=("$b	$word") ;;   # UNKNOWN is never safe
     esac
-done < <(g for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short)' refs/remotes/origin | sed 's|^origin/||')
+    # Full refnames, not `:short`. Git abbreviates refs/remotes/origin/HEAD to
+    # bare `origin`, which survives an `origin/` strip and a `!= HEAD` guard,
+    # then reads as a branch named "origin" with verdict UNKNOWN — a symbolic
+    # ref rendered as an unmerged branch. Harmless (UNKNOWN is never deletable)
+    # but it is a null result dressed as a finding, which is the D1 mistake.
+done < <(g for-each-ref --format='%(refname)' refs/remotes/origin \
+           | sed 's|^refs/remotes/origin/||')
 
 echo
 echo "Branch sweep — $OWNER/$NAME (mode: $MODE, base: $BASE)"
diff --git a/tests/test_branch_sweep.py b/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
index 0f2a52c..28922c8 100644
--- a/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
+++ b/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
@@ -130,6 +130,22 @@ def test_audit_classifies_every_branch(world):
     assert "archive/condemned/something\tgut-transit-ref" in out
 
 
+def test_symbolic_head_is_not_reported_as_a_branch(world):
+    """refs/remotes/origin/HEAD must not surface as a branch called "origin".
+
+    Git abbreviates that ref to bare `origin`, which slips past an `origin/`
+    strip and a `!= HEAD` guard and then lands in KEEP with verdict UNKNOWN —
+    a symbolic ref rendered as unmerged work. It was never deletable, so the
+    cost is a wrong count and a reader misled about what is outstanding.
+    """
+    clone, _, bin_dir = world
+    out = _sweep(clone, bin_dir).stdout
+    assert "origin\tUNKNOWN" not in out
+    assert "\n  origin\t" not in out
+    # the real answer for this fixture, with nothing invented alongside it
+    assert "1 unmerged" in out
+
+
 def test_audit_never_deletes(world):
     clone, origin, bin_dir = world
     before = _git(origin, "for-each-ref", "--format=%(refname)", "refs/heads")