diff --git a/packages/tool-server/src/tools/flows/flow-actions.ts b/packages/tool-server/src/tools/flows/flow-actions.ts
index 326c203485..debd3f88a9 100644
--- a/packages/tool-server/src/tools/flows/flow-actions.ts
+++ b/packages/tool-server/src/tools/flows/flow-actions.ts
@@ -148,11 +148,11 @@ export interface ActionEnv {
    * frame space, for the directives that turn a UI-space direction into it
    * (`swipe: down`, `scroll-to`; see `flow-orientation.ts`) and for the
    * selector relations and picks that go by reading order (`after`, `next`,
-   * `any: true`, a `text` condition; see `ui-tree-match.ts`). Written by every
-   * read that goes through {@link readFlowTree} — the settle a swipe or a
-   * scroll round makes before it dispatches is the read that fills it, and
-   * every selector resolves against the tree of the read that just filled it
-   * — and one holder per run, shared with nested `run:` flows like
+   * `any: true`; see `ui-tree-match.ts`). Written by every read that goes
+   * through {@link readFlowTree} — the settle a swipe or a scroll round makes
+   * before it dispatches is the read that fills it, and every selector
+   * resolves against the tree of the read that just filled it — and one
+   * holder per run, shared with nested `run:` flows like
    * {@link ActionEnv.treeOutage}. Absent for a caller that builds an
    * `ActionEnv` by hand, which leaves every direction, and reading order, in
    * the frame space.
@@ -1693,7 +1693,9 @@ async function waitForCondition(
 ): Promise<DirectiveOutcome> {
   const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
 
+  // The last TRUSTED read's matches, with the orientation they were read in.
   let lastMatches: ReturnType<typeof findAll> = [];
+  let lastMatchesOrientation: UiOrientation | undefined;
   let fetchError: string | undefined;
   let everMatched = false;
   // Date.now() of the most recent TRUSTED read — undefined until one lands.
@@ -1708,18 +1710,22 @@ async function waitForCondition(
     if (env.signal?.aborted) return ABORTED_OUTCOME;
     try {
       const data = await readFlowTree(env);
-      lastMatches = flowFindAll(data.tree, step.selector, data.uiOrientation);
+      const matches = flowFindAll(data.tree, step.selector, data.uiOrientation);
       fetchError = undefined;
-      everMatched ||= lastMatches.length > 0;
+      everMatched ||= matches.length > 0;
       const blind = isBlindRead(data, everMatched);
-      if (!blind) lastTrustedReadAt = Date.now();
+      if (!blind) {
+        lastMatches = matches;
+        lastMatchesOrientation = data.uiOrientation;
+        lastTrustedReadAt = Date.now();
+      }
       lastReadTrusted = !blind;
       if (
         !blind &&
         evaluateCondition(
           step.condition,
           step.expectedText,
-          lastMatches,
+          matches,
           step.textMatch,
           data.uiOrientation
         )
@@ -1729,7 +1735,7 @@ async function waitForCondition(
     } catch (err) {
       fetchError = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
       // A throw is as blind as an empty tree — `lastMatches` still holds the
-      // previous successful read, which must not pass for current evidence.
+      // previous trusted read, which must not pass for current evidence.
       lastReadTrusted = false;
     }
     if (Date.now() >= deadline) {
@@ -1813,9 +1819,7 @@ async function waitForCondition(
         step.expectedText,
         step.textMatch,
         lastMatches,
-        // The read `lastMatches` came from is the last one that answered, and
-        // only a read that answers writes the orientation.
-        readingOrientation(env)
+        lastMatchesOrientation
       ) + blipNote,
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/tool-server/test/flows/flow-hidden-blank-reads.test.ts b/packages/tool-server/test/flows/flow-hidden-blank-reads.test.ts
index a3697b54e3..fd380c4ae1 100644
--- a/packages/tool-server/test/flows/flow-hidden-blank-reads.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tool-server/test/flows/flow-hidden-blank-reads.test.ts
@@ -354,4 +354,94 @@ describe("dark-tail diagnostics (non-hidden conditions)", () => {
       /final poll could not read the UI tree: native devtools disconnected/
     );
   });
+
+  // Trusted reads of `nodes` in `trustedOrientation` until 950ms into the 1s
+  // assert window, then empty trees: blind once the selector has matched, and
+  // inside the dark-tail tolerance.
+  function blankFrom950ms(
+    nodes: DescribeNode[],
+    trustedOrientation?: DescribeTreeData["uiOrientation"],
+    blankOrientation?: DescribeTreeData["uiOrientation"]
+  ): void {
+    let firstReadAt: number | undefined;
+    currentFetch = () => {
+      firstReadAt ??= Date.now();
+      return Date.now() - firstReadAt >= 950
+        ? { tree: screen([]), source: "native-devtools", uiOrientation: blankOrientation }
+        : { tree: screen(nodes), source: "native-devtools", uiOrientation: trustedOrientation };
+    };
+  }
+
+  async function assertOnce(step: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<FlowRunResult> {
+    await writeFlow("blank-blip", {
+      executionPrerequisite: "",
+      steps: [{ kind: "assert", selector: { identifier: "total" }, ...step }],
+    } as Parameters<typeof serializeFlow>[0]);
+    return run("blank-blip");
+  }
+
+  it("assert text: an empty final poll within the tolerance keeps the trusted text mismatch", async () => {
+    blankFrom950ms([
+      n({
+        identifier: "total",
+        label: "Total $41.50",
+        frame: { x: 0.1, y: 0.1, width: 0.8, height: 0.1 },
+      }),
+    ]);
+
+    const result = await assertOnce({
+      condition: "text",
+      expectedText: "Total $42.00",
+      textMatch: "equals",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.steps[0].status).toBe("fail");
+    expect(result.steps[0].reason).toBe(
+      'element matched id="total" but its text was "Total $41.50" (wanted to equal "Total $42.00")'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("assert visible: an empty final poll within the tolerance keeps the trusted zero-area match", async () => {
+    blankFrom950ms([
+      n({ identifier: "total", label: "Total", frame: { x: 0.1, y: 0.1, width: 0, height: 0 } }),
+    ]);
+
+    const result = await assertOnce({ condition: "visible" });
+
+    expect(result.steps[0].status).toBe("fail");
+    expect(result.steps[0].reason).toBe(
+      'element(s) matched id="total" but none was visible (zero-area frame)'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("assert text: the reason picks among the trusted matches in their own read's orientation", async () => {
+    // landscapeLeft reading order puts "Left" first; read in portrait (or the frame space), "Top" would lead.
+    blankFrom950ms(
+      [
+        n({
+          identifier: "total",
+          label: "Left",
+          frame: { x: 0.05, y: 0.6, width: 0.2, height: 0.1 },
+        }),
+        n({
+          identifier: "total",
+          label: "Top",
+          frame: { x: 0.7, y: 0.1, width: 0.2, height: 0.1 },
+        }),
+      ],
+      "landscapeLeft",
+      "portrait"
+    );
+
+    const result = await assertOnce({
+      condition: "text",
+      expectedText: "Total $42.00",
+      textMatch: "equals",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.steps[0].status).toBe("fail");
+    expect(result.steps[0].reason).toBe(
+      'element matched id="total" but its text was "Left" (wanted to equal "Total $42.00")'
+    );
+  });
 });