diff --git a/crates/ghostlight-dungeon/tests/build_provenance.rs b/crates/ghostlight-dungeon/tests/build_provenance.rs
index b5ea6c5..09a4ee1 100644
--- a/crates/ghostlight-dungeon/tests/build_provenance.rs
+++ b/crates/ghostlight-dungeon/tests/build_provenance.rs
@@ -1,19 +1,24 @@
-use std::{path::Path, process::Command};
+use std::{fs, path::Path, process::Command};
 
 #[test]
 fn embedded_commit_matches_checkout_head() {
     let repo_root = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("../..");
     let output = Command::new("git")
         .args(["rev-parse", "HEAD"])
-        .current_dir(repo_root)
+        .current_dir(&repo_root)
         .output()
         .expect("git must be available for the provenance regression test");
-    assert!(output.status.success(), "git rev-parse HEAD failed");
-
-    let checkout_head = String::from_utf8(output.stdout)
-        .expect("git commit must be UTF-8")
-        .trim()
-        .to_owned();
+    let checkout_head = if output.status.success() {
+        String::from_utf8(output.stdout)
+            .expect("git commit must be UTF-8")
+            .trim()
+            .to_owned()
+    } else {
+        fs::read_to_string(repo_root.join(".ghostlight-source-commit"))
+            .expect("frozen source archive must carry its exact commit witness")
+            .trim()
+            .to_owned()
+    };
     assert_eq!(
         env!("GHOSTLIGHT_BUILD_COMMIT"),
         checkout_head,