diff --git a/bin/branch_sweep.sh b/bin/branch_sweep.sh
index 3e2ba6b..351dfb8 100755
--- a/bin/branch_sweep.sh
+++ b/bin/branch_sweep.sh
@@ -219,17 +219,36 @@ if [[ "$MODE" == "audit" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # --- delete ------------------------------------------------------------------
-deleted=0 failed=0 n=0
+# Two things learned the hard way on the first org-wide delete run, where 99
+# pushes failed and the log recorded nothing but the word FAILED 99 times:
+#
+#   * KEEP THE ERROR. `push >/dev/null 2>&1` throws away the one piece of
+#     information a failure carries. A run that cannot say why it failed is
+#     barely better than one that failed silently.
+#   * STOP EARLY. Delete permission is a property of the credential, not of
+#     the branch, so the first few failures already answer the question for
+#     all of them. Grinding through 99 doomed pushes just buries the reason
+#     and burns the API budget.
+deleted=0 failed=0 n=0 streak=0
 for entry in "${safe[@]}"; do
     b="${entry%%	*}"
     if [[ "$LIMIT" -gt 0 && "$n" -ge "$LIMIT" ]]; then
         echo "  (limit $LIMIT reached — $(( ${#safe[@]} - n )) left for the next run)"; break
     fi
     n=$((n + 1))
-    if g push origin --delete "$b" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        echo "  deleted  $b"; deleted=$((deleted + 1))
+    if err=$(g push origin --delete "$b" 2>&1); then
+        echo "  deleted  $b"; deleted=$((deleted + 1)); streak=0
     else
-        echo "  FAILED   $b"; failed=$((failed + 1))
+        reason=$(grep -iEm1 'error|fatal|denied|forbidden|protected' <<<"$err" | sed 's/^remote: *//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')
+        echo "  FAILED   $b — ${reason:-no error text returned}"
+        failed=$((failed + 1)); streak=$((streak + 1))
+        if [[ "$streak" -ge 3 ]]; then
+            echo
+            echo "  Stopping: $streak deletions in a row failed for the same credential."
+            echo "  That is a permission property, not a per-branch one — the remaining"
+            echo "  $(( ${#safe[@]} - n )) would fail identically. Nothing has been deleted."
+            break
+        fi
     fi
 done
 echo
diff --git a/tests/test_branch_sweep.py b/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
index 449955b..390673c 100644
--- a/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
+++ b/tests/test_branch_sweep.py
@@ -193,6 +193,58 @@ def test_a_legacy_trunk_is_protected_even_when_fully_merged(tmp_path):
     assert "master" in remaining, "a legacy trunk must never be swept"
 
 
+def _readonly_origin(tmp_path: Path):
+    """A world whose origin refuses ref deletion, like a read-only credential."""
+    origin = tmp_path / "origin"
+    origin.mkdir()
+    subprocess.run(["git", "init", "-q", "-b", "main", str(origin)], check=True)
+    _git(origin, "config", "user.email", "t@t")
+    _git(origin, "config", "user.name", "t")
+    _commit(origin, "f", "base", "base")
+    for i in range(5):
+        _git(origin, "branch", f"spent{i}")           # all contained in main
+    # the closest local stand-in for "this credential may not delete refs"
+    _git(origin, "config", "receive.denyDeletes", "true")
+
+    clone = tmp_path / "clone"
+    subprocess.run(["git", "clone", "-q", str(origin), str(clone)], check=True)
+    bin_dir = tmp_path / "bin"
+    bin_dir.mkdir()
+    (bin_dir / "gh").write_text('#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n')
+    (bin_dir / "gh").chmod(0o755)
+    return clone, origin, bin_dir
+
+
+def test_a_failed_delete_reports_why(tmp_path):
+    """`FAILED <branch>` with no reason is barely better than silence.
+
+    The first org-wide delete run failed 99 times and recorded nothing but the
+    word FAILED, because the push was redirected to /dev/null. The error text
+    is the only thing a failure carries; keep it.
+    """
+    clone, _, bin_dir = _readonly_origin(tmp_path)
+    out = _sweep(clone, bin_dir, mode="delete").stdout
+    assert "FAILED" in out
+    assert "no error text returned" not in out, "the push error was swallowed"
+    assert "denyDeletes" in out or "denied" in out.lower() or "error" in out.lower()
+
+
+def test_repeated_delete_failures_stop_early(tmp_path):
+    """Delete permission belongs to the credential, not the branch.
+
+    Once a few in a row fail the answer is known for all of them, so grinding
+    through the rest only buries the reason.
+    """
+    clone, origin, bin_dir = _readonly_origin(tmp_path)
+    proc = _sweep(clone, bin_dir, mode="delete")
+    assert proc.returncode == 2, "a run where nothing could be deleted must not report success"
+    assert "Stopping:" in proc.stdout
+    # stopped after the streak rather than attempting all five
+    assert proc.stdout.count("FAILED") == 3
+    remaining = set(_git(origin, "for-each-ref", "--format=%(refname:short)", "refs/heads").split())
+    assert {f"spent{i}" for i in range(5)} <= remaining, "nothing should have been deleted"
+
+
 def test_refuses_to_run_without_gh(world):
     """Blind to open PRs means blind to in-flight work: refuse, do not guess."""
     clone, _, _ = world