diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/forge.rs b/swarm-controller/src/forge.rs
index f1b4c7a3..bb4af221 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/forge.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/forge.rs
@@ -408,11 +408,17 @@ impl Client {
     /// a 422's follow-up `user_get` only confirms the username, not that
     /// swarm-controller created it — so before that PATCH this reads the
     /// account once and checks the one thing that *is* comparable: the
-    /// email `create_agent_user` sets at creation (see [`agent_email`]),
-    /// the same marker `hive-c0re`'s legacy `ensure_user_exists` /
-    /// `ensure_user_email` set and converge to. A mismatch means the name
-    /// collided with an account this node didn't create, so it fails the
-    /// node rather than sending the PATCH (or silently skipping) to an
+    /// email. A match against either [`agent_email`] (what
+    /// `create_agent_user` itself sets) or [`legacy_agent_email`] (what
+    /// `hive-c0re::forge::users::ensure_user_exists` used before its own
+    /// `ensure_user_email` alignment pass runs) counts as this agent's
+    /// account — the legacy value has to be accepted too, not just the
+    /// aligned one, because `ensure_user_email` only runs on the forge-host
+    /// hive and only once it has a core token and has ticked at least once,
+    /// so a real, existing legacy agent can still carry the old email when
+    /// this node reads it mid-rollout. A mismatch against both means the
+    /// name collided with an account this node didn't create, so it fails
+    /// the node rather than sending the PATCH (or silently skipping) to an
     /// account nobody verified is agent-controlled.
     async fn disable_repo_creation(&self, agent: &str) -> Result<()> {
         let user = self
@@ -421,10 +427,11 @@ impl Client {
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("read forge user {agent} before locking it down"))?;
         let expected = agent_email(agent);
-        if user.email.as_deref() != Some(expected.as_str()) {
+        let legacy = legacy_agent_email(agent);
+        if !matches!(user.email.as_deref(), Some(e) if e == expected || e == legacy) {
             anyhow::bail!(
                 "forge account `{agent}` exists but is not this agent's (email {:?}, expected \
-                 `{expected}`); refusing to lock it down",
+                 `{expected}` or the legacy `{legacy}`); refusing to lock it down",
                 user.email
             );
         }
@@ -1146,6 +1153,19 @@ fn agent_email(agent: &str) -> String {
     format!("{agent}@hyperhive.local")
 }
 
+/// The pre-alignment email `hive-c0re::forge::users::ensure_user_exists`
+/// gave an agent account before that crate's own `ensure_user_email`
+/// existed — see that function's doc comment ("Existing agents were
+/// created with `{name}@hive.local`; this corrects that"). Accepted by
+/// [`Client::disable_repo_creation`]'s guard alongside [`agent_email`]
+/// because `ensure_user_email`'s alignment PATCH only runs on the
+/// forge-host hive, and only after it has a core token and has ticked at
+/// least once, so a real legacy agent can still carry this value when this
+/// node reads it.
+fn legacy_agent_email(agent: &str) -> String {
+    format!("{agent}@hive.local")
+}
+
 /// The `admin_edit_user` body that sets `max_repo_creation = 0` on `agent`
 /// and nothing else. Same shape as `hive-c0re::forge::users`'
 /// `sparse_edit_user_option`: `login_name` + `source_id = 0` (local auth,
@@ -1606,4 +1626,27 @@ mod tests {
         let body = lockdown_patch(&seen, "alice").expect("no lockdown PATCH sent");
         assert_eq!(body["max_repo_creation"], 0);
     }
+
+    /// argus's round-2 🟡: `hive-c0re`'s `ensure_user_email` alignment pass
+    /// (the thing that rewrites a legacy `{name}@hive.local` account to
+    /// `{name}@hyperhive.local`) only runs on the forge-host hive, and only
+    /// once it has a core token and has ticked — so a real, pre-existing
+    /// agent can still be sitting on the pre-alignment `@hive.local` email
+    /// when this node reads it. The guard must accept that value too, not
+    /// just the aligned one, or a real agent would fail with "not this
+    /// agent's" during the rollout window.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_pre_alignment_legacy_email_still_gets_locked_down() {
+        let (client, seen) = stub_forge(
+            (409, r#"{"message":"user already exists"}"#),
+            (200, r#"{"email":"alice@hive.local"}"#),
+            (200, "{}"),
+        )
+        .await;
+
+        client.ensure_agent_user("alice").await.unwrap();
+
+        let body = lockdown_patch(&seen, "alice").expect("no lockdown PATCH sent");
+        assert_eq!(body["max_repo_creation"], 0);
+    }
 }