diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index db5dd0b9..2f204f2d 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -8570,7 +8570,7 @@
 		},
 		"packages/plugin": {
 			"name": "@harperfast/prerender",
-			"version": "0.84.0",
+			"version": "0.85.0",
 			"license": "Apache-2.0",
 			"dependencies": {
 				"fast-xml-parser": "^5.0.9",
diff --git a/packages/plugin/package.json b/packages/plugin/package.json
index 499d5bc5..cf082229 100644
--- a/packages/plugin/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "@harperfast/prerender",
-	"version": "0.84.0",
+	"version": "0.85.0",
 	"type": "module",
 	"description": "Configurable Harper plugin for prerendering pages for bots and crawlers",
 	"license": "Apache-2.0",
diff --git a/packages/plugin/src/resources/RenderQueue.js b/packages/plugin/src/resources/RenderQueue.js
index 49694ff1..6b9912da 100644
--- a/packages/plugin/src/resources/RenderQueue.js
+++ b/packages/plugin/src/resources/RenderQueue.js
@@ -705,11 +705,22 @@ export class RenderQueue extends Resource {
 			// Suppress writes the URL row (its recheck) and drops every device's page; the verdict
 			// SUPPRESSES the target rather than deleting it — see Target.suppress, which also grades
 			// http-error verdicts by status (404/410 recheck less, die sooner).
-			const { deleted } = await Target.suppress(url, { reason: verdict.reason, statusCode: verdict.statusCode });
+			const { deleted, absent } = await Target.suppress(url, {
+				reason: verdict.reason,
+				statusCode: verdict.statusCode,
+			});
 			// At maxStrikes the suppression DELETED the target, and `Target.delete` took the URL's default
 			// device rows with it — so a folding row is already gone (a second delete would only write a
 			// tombstone), while a non-default one-device row still needs retiring below.
 			if (deleted) job.rowGone = job.fold;
+			// A gone verdict on a URL with no Target: nothing was minted (see Target.suppress), so this
+			// job's row is settled as any targetless result's is — already gone when a sibling job's
+			// retirement took it (the common case), dropped for a one-off, deferred for a recurring row
+			// whose target may simply not have replicated here yet.
+			else if (absent) {
+				logger.info(`Prerendered url ${url} is gone and has no Target on this node — not minting one`);
+				await settleTargetless(job, await readTargetlessRow(job));
+			}
 			await retireRowIfConverted(job, held);
 			return;
 		}
diff --git a/packages/plugin/src/resources/Target.js b/packages/plugin/src/resources/Target.js
index e49edcaa..48a30b54 100644
--- a/packages/plugin/src/resources/Target.js
+++ b/packages/plugin/src/resources/Target.js
@@ -198,8 +198,10 @@ export class Target extends TargetTable {
 	 * row is the only thing holding the next refresh off. See util/suppression.js.
 	 *
 	 * Creates the row when absent (a render-now one-off or a redirect destination can be
-	 * proven non-indexable before anything targeted it). Deletes the cached pages either
-	 * way — stale content of a page that said "don't index me" must not keep serving.
+	 * proven non-indexable before anything targeted it) — EXCEPT on a gone verdict, which
+	 * returns `{ absent: true }` and writes nothing: see the guard below. Deletes the cached
+	 * pages either way — stale content of a page that said "don't index me" must not keep
+	 * serving.
 	 */
 	static async suppress(url, { reason, statusCode } = {}) {
 		const existing = await Target.get({
@@ -211,17 +213,33 @@ export class Target extends TargetTable {
 		// The grading reads `sitemapUrl`, which this projection already carries: a gone verdict on a
 		// target no sitemap lists has its own (lower) ceiling, because nothing re-creates it. See
 		// util/suppression.js for why that asymmetry exists and why it is scoped to gone verdicts.
-		const { storedReason, recheckInterval, maxStrikes } = gradeSuppression({
+		const { gone, storedReason, recheckInterval, maxStrikes } = gradeSuppression({
 			reason,
 			statusCode,
 			fromSitemap: !!existing?.sitemapUrl,
 		});
 
-		// `existing` is still required: with no row there is nothing to retire, and minting one is
-		// this method's documented job (a render-now one-off or a redirect destination can be proven
-		// non-indexable before anything targeted it). At an unlisted ceiling of 1 that row is created
-		// only to be retired on its first recheck — rare enough (those two paths only) to leave as
-		// the simpler behaviour rather than special-case a second deletion path here.
+		// A GONE VERDICT NEVER MINTS A ROW. A suppressed row exists to stop something re-creating the
+		// URL, and for a 404/410 nothing can: discovery mints only on a 200, and a URL a sitemap lists
+		// already has its row (attribution lives on it). So a minted gone row blocks nothing, costs a
+		// recheck render at `gone.recheckInterval`, and — because `handlePageScheduling` treats ANY row
+		// as "already known" — stops discovery re-creating the URL if the origin brings it back.
+		//
+		// This used to be assumed rare (a render-now one-off, a redirect destination). It is not: two
+		// jobs for one URL — its URL row and a pre-0.66.0 device row still waiting to fold — can be in
+		// flight together. The first 404 retires the target (unlisted, first verdict) and its
+		// `Target.delete` takes both rows; the second 404 arrives a moment later, finds no row, and
+		// minted it back as `http-gone` with a strike and a 14-day recheck. Measured on a four-node
+		// deployment: ~76,600 discovered URLs re-minted this way in the week after the unlisted
+		// ceiling shipped, i.e. the first-verdict retirement was undone for every URL that raced.
+		//
+		// The caller settles the job's own row (see RenderQueue.processDecodedJobResult).
+		if (!existing && gone) return { deleted: false, absent: true };
+
+		// With no row there is nothing to retire, and minting one is this method's documented job (a
+		// render-now one-off or a redirect destination can be proven non-indexable before anything
+		// targeted it) — for the verdicts whose page the origin still serves 200, which discovery
+		// WOULD otherwise re-mint.
 		if (existing && Number.isFinite(maxStrikes) && maxStrikes > 0 && strikes >= maxStrikes) {
 			logger.warn(
 				`Prerender target ${url} non-indexable ${strikes} consecutive times (${storedReason ?? 'no reason'}) — deleting it`
diff --git a/packages/plugin/test/renderQueueTargetless.test.js b/packages/plugin/test/renderQueueTargetless.test.js
index 226f23d1..fd836453 100644
--- a/packages/plugin/test/renderQueueTargetless.test.js
+++ b/packages/plugin/test/renderQueueTargetless.test.js
@@ -289,6 +289,100 @@ test('the redirect path defers a recurring targetless row too', async () => {
 	assert.ok(stores.renderSchedule.get(A)?.targetMissingSince, 'deferred, not dropped');
 });
 
+// ───────────────────────────── a gone verdict never mints a row ─────────────────────────────
+//
+// A suppressed row exists to stop something re-creating the URL, and for a 404/410 nothing can:
+// discovery mints only on a 200. So `Target.suppress` returns `absent` instead of minting, and the
+// job's row is settled like any other targetless result's. The race it closes: a URL row and a
+// pre-0.66.0 device row in flight together — the first 404 retires the target and takes both rows,
+// and the second used to mint it straight back as a suppressed row with a 14-day recheck.
+
+const gone = (deviceType, statusCode = 404) => ({
+	deviceType,
+	statusCode,
+	outcome: 'non-indexable',
+	isIndexable: false,
+	reason: 'http-error',
+	headers: {},
+	renderTime: 100,
+});
+
+/** An unlisted target with its URL row AND a device row not yet folded — both due. */
+const seedUnfoldedPair = () => {
+	stores.target.set(A, { url: A, renderInterval: 4 * HOUR });
+	stores.renderSchedule.set(A, { nextRenderTime: 1, fromSitemap: false, effectiveInterval: 4 * HOUR });
+	stores.renderSchedule.set(key(A, 'mobile'), { nextRenderTime: 1, fromSitemap: false });
+};
+
+const assertRetiredForGood = async () => {
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'the late sibling must not mint the target back as suppressed');
+	assert.equal(stores.renderSchedule.size, 0, 'no recheck row, and no device row left behind');
+	assert.equal(stores.prerenderedPage.size, 0);
+	assert.deepEqual(await claim(), [], 'nothing left to render');
+};
+
+test('a device-row 404 landing after its URL row retired the target does NOT re-mint it', async () => {
+	seedUnfoldedPair();
+	const claimed = (await claim()).map((job) => job.id).sort();
+	assert.deepEqual(claimed, [A, key(A, 'mobile')].sort(), 'precondition: both rows are in flight at once');
+
+	await postVariants(A, [gone('desktop'), gone('mobile')]);
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'precondition: an unlisted 404 retires on the first verdict');
+	assert.equal(stores.renderSchedule.has(key(A, 'mobile')), false, 'precondition: and its delete took the device row');
+
+	await post({ id: key(A, 'mobile'), url: A, ...gone('mobile') });
+
+	await assertRetiredForGood();
+	assert.ok(
+		infos.some((m) => m.includes('not minting')),
+		'the skipped mint is logged'
+	);
+});
+
+test('the same race in the other order: a URL-row 404 after the device row retired the target', async () => {
+	seedUnfoldedPair();
+	await claim();
+
+	await post({ id: key(A, 'mobile'), url: A, ...gone('mobile') });
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'precondition: the device-row verdict retired the target');
+
+	await postVariants(A, [gone('desktop'), gone('mobile')]);
+
+	await assertRetiredForGood();
+});
+
+test('a gone one-off with no target drops its row and mints nothing', async () => {
+	stores.renderSchedule.set(A, { nextRenderTime: 1, fromSitemap: false, effectiveInterval: null });
+	await claim();
+	await postVariants(A, [gone('desktop', 410), gone('mobile', 410)]);
+
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false);
+	assert.equal(stores.renderSchedule.has(A), false, 'the one-off row is dropped');
+	assert.equal(leased(A), false);
+});
+
+test('a gone verdict on a recurring row whose target is missing here defers the row and mints nothing', async () => {
+	// The target may exist elsewhere and not have replicated yet — minting here would REPLACE it with
+	// a row carrying `sitemapUrl: null` once it arrives. Deferred like any targetless recurring row.
+	seedRecurringRow();
+	await claim();
+	await postVariants(A, [gone('desktop'), gone('mobile')]);
+
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'a 404 must not mint a suppressed target');
+	assert.ok(stores.renderSchedule.get(A)?.targetMissingSince, 'deferred, not dropped');
+	assert.deepEqual(outcomes(), [['suppressed', 'http-error']], 'the verdict is still counted');
+});
+
+test('a NON-gone verdict with no target still mints its suppressed row — the page 200s, so discovery would', async () => {
+	stores.renderSchedule.set(A, { nextRenderTime: 1, fromSitemap: false, effectiveInterval: null });
+	await claim();
+	const noindex = (deviceType) => ({ ...gone(deviceType, 200), reason: 'noindex' });
+	await postVariants(A, [noindex('desktop'), noindex('mobile')]);
+
+	assert.equal(stores.target.get(A)?.state, 'suppressed');
+	assert.equal(stores.target.get(A)?.suppressedReason, 'noindex');
+});
+
 // ───────────────────────────── retirement leaves no page behind ─────────────────────────────
 
 test('retiring a target deletes its pages for EVERY supported device — a tablet one-off included', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/plugin/test/suppressionStatus.test.js b/packages/plugin/test/suppressionStatus.test.js
index d3ee47c4..3eb641a1 100644
--- a/packages/plugin/test/suppressionStatus.test.js
+++ b/packages/plugin/test/suppressionStatus.test.js
@@ -494,21 +494,37 @@ test('a client-side redirect landing on a 503 page keeps the source and seeds no
 	assert.equal(stores.target.has(B), false, 'transient destination must not become a suppressed row');
 });
 
-test('a client-side redirect landing on a 404 page retires the source and seeds an http-gone destination', async () => {
-	// The genuine-verdict path the guard must NOT swallow: gone destinations still classify.
+const redirectedToGone = () => ({
+	id: key(A),
+	url: A,
+	statusCode: 404,
+	outcome: 'redirected',
+	redirectedTo: B,
+	isIndexable: false,
+	reason: 'http-error',
+});
+
+test('a client-side redirect landing on a 404 page retires the source and mints no destination row', async () => {
+	// A suppressed row for a 404 destination would block nothing — discovery cannot mint a URL the
+	// origin 404s — and would cost a recheck render (see Target.suppress).
 	seedSource();
-	await postResult({
-		id: key(A),
-		url: A,
-		statusCode: 404,
-		outcome: 'redirected',
-		redirectedTo: B,
-		isIndexable: false,
-		reason: 'http-error',
-	});
+	await postResult(redirectedToGone());
 
 	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'source retired — it leads to a page that is gone');
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(B), false, 'a gone destination nothing targets is not minted');
+	assert.equal(stores.renderSchedule.has(B), false, 'and gets no recheck row');
+});
+
+test('a client-side redirect landing on a 404 page still classifies a TARGETED destination as gone', async () => {
+	// The genuine-verdict path the auth/transient guard must NOT swallow: gone destinations still
+	// classify. Sitemap-listed, so the gone verdict suppresses rather than retiring on first sight.
+	seedSource();
+	stores.target.set(B, { url: B, sitemapUrl: SITEMAP });
+	await postResult(redirectedToGone());
+
+	assert.equal(stores.target.has(A), false, 'source retired');
 	assert.equal(stores.target.get(B)?.suppressedReason, 'http-gone', 'destination suppressed under the gone class');
+	assert.equal(stores.target.get(B)?.sitemapUrl, SITEMAP, 'its sitemap attribution is kept');
 });
 
 test('a BigInt strikes value (Harper numeric surfacing) still counts toward the slow lane', async () => {