diff --git a/hive-forge/src/verbs/ci_rerun.rs b/hive-forge/src/verbs/ci_rerun.rs
index 9fa511b1..8eebc9a7 100644
--- a/hive-forge/src/verbs/ci_rerun.rs
+++ b/hive-forge/src/verbs/ci_rerun.rs
@@ -1,19 +1,14 @@
 //! `ci-rerun --pr <n>` / `ci-rerun --run <n>` / `ci-rerun --branch <name>`
 //! — re-run CI without pushing an empty commit.
 //!
-//! When a run fails for a transient reason (a remote-builder flap, a
-//! cold-daemon window, an `act_runner` hiccup) the only retrigger path used
-//! to be an empty commit, which litters PR history.
-//!
 //! Forgejo exposes no token-usable REST endpoint to *re-run an existing run*:
 //! the run-page rerun buttons hit CSRF-gated web routes that a bare token
 //! POST answers with `404`. Instead this verb dispatches a **fresh** run of
 //! the workflow via the GitHub-compatible workflow-dispatch API,
 //! `POST /repos/<owner>/<repo>/actions/workflows/<workflow>/dispatches` with
-//! `{"ref": "<branch>"}`. That creates a brand-new run on the branch — the
-//! same effect as the empty-commit trick, minus the commit — and accepts a
-//! plain agent token (verified end-to-end on Forgejo 15.0.3, which dispatches
-//! even a `pull_request`-only workflow).
+//! `{"ref": "<branch>"}` — same effect as the empty-commit trick, minus the
+//! commit (verified end-to-end on Forgejo 15.0.3, dispatches even a
+//! `pull_request`-only workflow).
 //!
 //! The branch (and, for `--run`, the workflow file) is resolved from the
 //! given handle:
@@ -21,9 +16,10 @@
 //!   `ci.yml`) on it.
 //! - `--branch <name>` → dispatches `--workflow` on that branch directly.
 //! - `--run <n>` → looks the run up by its display number (same convention
-//!   as `ci-log` / `artifact-get` / `ci-runs`) and dispatches the SAME
-//!   workflow on the SAME ref the run used (the run record's `prettyref` +
-//!   `workflow_id`).
+//!   as `ci-log` / `artifact-get` / `ci-runs`) and dispatches the same
+//!   workflow + ref the run used. A PR-triggered run's ref is a `#<n>`
+//!   pseudo-ref, not a real branch — that case resolves one hop further via
+//!   the same `branch_for_pr` lookup `--pr` uses.
 //!
 //! Dispatch re-runs the whole workflow (no single-job variant). ⚠️ `--pr`
 //! verifies the code but doesn't reliably move the PR's own status
@@ -110,7 +106,10 @@ fn branch_for_pr(client: &Client, pr: u64) -> Result<String> {
 
 /// Resolve the run whose display number is `run_number` to the
 /// `(workflow, branch)` to dispatch a fresh run of it. `fallback_workflow`
-/// is used when the run carries no workflow file name.
+/// is used when the run carries no workflow file name. When the run's own
+/// ref is a PR pseudo-ref (`#<n>`, not a real branch — workflow-dispatch
+/// 500s on it), resolves the PR's actual head branch instead, same as
+/// `--pr` would.
 fn resolve_run(
     client: &Client,
     repo: &str,
@@ -119,16 +118,22 @@ fn resolve_run(
 ) -> Result<(String, String)> {
     let run = find_run_by_number(client, run_number)?
         .with_context(|| format!("ci-rerun: run #{run_number} not found in {repo}"))?;
-    run_dispatch_target(&run, fallback_workflow)
-        .with_context(|| format!("ci-rerun: run #{run_number} has no ref"))
+    let (workflow, branch) = run_dispatch_target(&run, fallback_workflow)
+        .with_context(|| format!("ci-rerun: run #{run_number} has no ref"))?;
+    let branch = match pr_number_from_run_ref(&branch) {
+        Some(pr) => branch_for_pr(client, pr)
+            .with_context(|| format!("ci-rerun: run #{run_number} was triggered by PR #{pr}"))?,
+        None => branch,
+    };
+    Ok((workflow, branch))
 }
 
 /// Pull the `(workflow-file, ref)` dispatch target out of a run record:
 /// `prettyref` is the ref the run ran on (the branch name for push /
-/// dispatch runs — PR-event runs carry a `#<n>` pseudo-ref the dispatch
-/// endpoint will reject with a clear 404), and `workflow_id` is the
-/// workflow file name (e.g. `ci.yml`), falling back to
-/// `fallback_workflow` when absent. `None` only when the run has no ref.
+/// dispatch runs — PR-event runs carry a `#<n>` pseudo-ref instead, resolved
+/// one call site up in [`resolve_run`]), and `workflow_id` is the workflow
+/// file name (e.g. `ci.yml`), falling back to `fallback_workflow` when
+/// absent. `None` only when the run has no ref.
 fn run_dispatch_target(run: &ActionRun, fallback_workflow: &str) -> Option<(String, String)> {
     let branch = run.prettyref.as_deref().filter(|s| !s.is_empty())?;
     let workflow = run
@@ -139,9 +144,19 @@ fn run_dispatch_target(run: &ActionRun, fallback_workflow: &str) -> Option<(Stri
     Some((workflow.to_string(), branch.to_string()))
 }
 
+/// A run's `prettyref` for a PR-triggered run is `#<n>` — the PR number,
+/// not a branch (same pseudo-ref form `ci-runs --branch` accepts as a
+/// listing filter, via its own separate `qualify_ref`; deliberately not
+/// shared, per that function's own doc comment: same field name, different
+/// domain). Returns the parsed PR number for exactly that form, `None` for
+/// anything else (a real branch name, or a malformed `#`-prefixed string).
+fn pr_number_from_run_ref(value: &str) -> Option<u64> {
+    value.strip_prefix('#')?.parse().ok()
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-    use super::{ActionRun, run_dispatch_target};
+    use super::{ActionRun, pr_number_from_run_ref, run_dispatch_target};
     use serde_json::json;
 
     /// Build a typed run record from an API-shaped JSON fixture. The
@@ -182,4 +197,33 @@ mod tests {
     fn no_ref_means_no_target() {
         assert_eq!(run_dispatch_target(&run_from(json!({})), "ci.yml"), None);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pr_triggered_run_keeps_its_pseudo_ref_at_this_layer() {
+        // resolve_run (untested here — does I/O) is what turns this into a
+        // real branch; the pure extractor must NOT do that resolution
+        // itself, or a run with a genuine branch named e.g. "#weird" (not
+        // possible in git, but worth pinning the boundary) would be handled
+        // in two different places.
+        let run = run_from(json!({ "prettyref": "#4199", "workflow_id": "ci.yml" })); // lint:allow: PR-shaped test fixture, not a tracker reference
+        assert_eq!(
+            run_dispatch_target(&run, "fallback.yml"),
+            Some(("ci.yml".to_string(), "#4199".to_string())) // lint:allow: PR-shaped test fixture, not a tracker reference
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pr_ref_parses_the_number() {
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("#4199"), Some(4199)); // lint:allow: PR-shaped test fixture, not a tracker reference
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("#0"), Some(0));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn non_pr_refs_do_not_parse() {
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("main"), None);
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("atlas/4199-foo"), None);
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("#"), None);
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref("#12a"), None);
+        assert_eq!(pr_number_from_run_ref(""), None);
+    }
 }