diff --git a/scripts/test-redeploy-fleetd.sh b/scripts/test-redeploy-fleetd.sh
index 864f455..e6f6f2a 100755
--- a/scripts/test-redeploy-fleetd.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-redeploy-fleetd.sh
@@ -857,6 +857,43 @@ test_await_daemon_started_never_appears_dies_with_log_tail() {
   source "$ROOT/scripts/redeploy-fleetd.sh"
 }
 
+# fleetd #603 review — the path the fall-through actually exists for, and the one gap a lead
+# mutation found in the first version of this test file: running_pid() NEVER finds anything (as its
+# own doc comment says it eventually will, once the daemon stops being launched as a plain
+# `java -jar` its allowlist recognises), while /healthz answers anyway. Neither of the two tests
+# above drives this: the slow-pid test has the pid appear, so the `else` branch never runs, and the
+# never-appears test fails BOTH checks, so it dies either way and cannot tell which branch fired.
+# This must not die, must warn (so the operator is told the pid could not be identified), and must
+# leave NEW_PID empty — the honest "could not establish this" answer, never a guessed pid, which is
+# what the final result line's `${NEW_PID:-unknown}` fallback exists to print truthfully.
+#
+# Proof this actually pins the behavior, not just the source text (paste from a real run, not
+# claimed): reverting the `warn` below back to `die "no process appeared"` (the old fleetd #603
+# defect, reintroduced) turns this one test red —
+#   FAIL: await_daemon_started must not die when the pid is never found but healthz answers
+# — and restoring `warn` turns the whole suite green again. Both halves observed, not asserted.
+test_await_daemon_started_pid_never_found_but_healthy_warns_and_survives() {
+  source "$ROOT/scripts/redeploy-fleetd.sh"
+  stub_die_recorder
+  local out_file="$TMP/await-pid-never-found.out" output
+  printf 'boot line\n' > "$out_file"
+  running_pid() { printf ''; }
+  sleep() { :; }
+  poll_health_body() { printf '{"status":"ok"}'; return 0; }
+  # NOT `output="$(await_daemon_started ...)"` — see the slow-pid test above for why that would
+  # drop NEW_PID's assignment in a subshell instead of reaching this test's own shell.
+  await_daemon_started 3 "" "http://ignored/healthz" "$out_file" \
+    > "$TMP/await-pid-never-found-output.log" 2>&1
+  output="$(cat "$TMP/await-pid-never-found-output.log")"
+  [ "$DIED_CALLED" = 0 ] \
+    || fail "await_daemon_started must not die when the pid is never found but healthz answers: $DIED_MESSAGE"
+  printf '%s' "$output" | grep -qF 'falling through to the health check' \
+    || fail "await_daemon_started did not warn that the pid could not be identified"
+  assert_equals "" "$NEW_PID" \
+    "await_daemon_started NEW_PID when the pid is never found but healthz answers — must stay empty, never a guessed pid"
+  source "$ROOT/scripts/redeploy-fleetd.sh"
+}
+
 test_await_daemon_started_call_site_present() {
   local src="$ROOT/scripts/redeploy-fleetd.sh" call_line
   call_line="$(grep -Fn 'await_daemon_started "$HEALTH_WAIT" "$OLD_PID" "$HEALTH" "$OUT"' "$src" | head -1 | cut -d: -f1 || true)"
@@ -2141,6 +2178,7 @@ test_wait_for_new_pid_returns_true_once_pid_appears
 test_wait_for_new_pid_times_out_if_pid_never_appears
 test_await_daemon_started_slow_pid_then_healthy_succeeds
 test_await_daemon_started_never_appears_dies_with_log_tail
+test_await_daemon_started_pid_never_found_but_healthy_warns_and_survives
 test_await_daemon_started_call_site_present
 test_swap_ordered_after_wait_and_before_start
 test_drain_gate_abort_message_says_no_no_build