diff --git a/.vale.ini b/.vale.ini
index b8023a93..fe09e706 100644
--- a/.vale.ini
+++ b/.vale.ini
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ Packages = Microsoft, alex, write-good
 
 [*.md]
 BasedOnStyles = Microsoft, alex, write-good
-# Gated on CI (hyperhive#4546) once the existing backlog cleared to zero
-# (hyperhive#4548, hyperhive#4549) — every remaining hit at the time of this
-# flip is a reviewed false positive, individually wrapped in a scoped
+# Gated on CI once the existing backlog of write-good.Passive hits cleared
+# to zero — every remaining hit at the time of this flip is a reviewed
+# false positive, individually wrapped in a scoped
 # `<!-- vale write-good.Passive = NO/YES -->` pair rather than bulk-ignored.
 write-good.Passive = error
 
diff --git a/scripts/check-issue-refs.sh b/scripts/check-issue-refs.sh
index cbca969d..8c5a3f66 100755
--- a/scripts/check-issue-refs.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-issue-refs.sh
@@ -12,8 +12,11 @@
 # required CI job (branch protection) — a hit blocks merge.
 #
 # Scope: every tracked `*.rs *.nix *.js *.mjs *.ts *.tsx *.css *.html *.md
-# *.yml *.yaml`. CI workflow files (`.forgejo/workflows/*.yml`) are explicitly in
-# scope: a step comment is still a comment. The pattern matches a hash,
+# *.yml *.yaml *.ini`. CI workflow files (`.forgejo/workflows/*.yml`) are explicitly in
+# scope: a step comment is still a comment. `.ini` covers `.vale.ini`, whose
+# own inline comments are exactly the kind of prose this lint polices
+# elsewhere — added after a `.vale.ini` comment named a tracker issue and
+# nothing scanned the file to catch it. The pattern matches a hash,
 # 2-5 digits, then a non-alphanumeric char or end-of-line (skips
 # letter-bearing hex colours and digit-runs-then-letter, e.g. `#24h`;
 # residual: a pure-numeric short hex trips it, write the six-digit form to
@@ -32,7 +35,7 @@ pattern='#[0-9]{2,5}([^0-9a-zA-Z]|$)|/issues/[0-9]+([^0-9a-zA-Z]|$)'
 # one file — mirrors the assertion in scripts/check-doc-refs.sh. If a rename
 # or extension-list edit silences `git ls-files` here, that is a failure of
 # this script, not a property of the tree.
-file_count="$(git ls-files '*.rs' '*.nix' '*.js' '*.mjs' '*.ts' '*.tsx' '*.css' '*.html' '*.md' '*.yml' '*.yaml' | wc -l)"
+file_count="$(git ls-files '*.rs' '*.nix' '*.js' '*.mjs' '*.ts' '*.tsx' '*.css' '*.html' '*.md' '*.yml' '*.yaml' '*.ini' | wc -l)"
 if [ "$file_count" -eq 0 ]; then
   echo 'check-issue-refs: file-list search matched nothing — pattern or tree changed' >&2
   exit 1
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ fi
 # capture the status, then branch on it explicitly rather than erasing it.
 if matches="$(
   git grep -nE "$pattern" -- '*.rs' '*.nix' '*.js' '*.mjs' '*.ts' '*.tsx' '*.css' '*.html' '*.md' \
-    '*.yml' '*.yaml'
+    '*.yml' '*.yaml' '*.ini'
 )"; then
   grep_status=0
 else