diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 28bad38..dd58e61 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -410,7 +410,10 @@ runner, `KeepAlive` restarts it and it passes again within seconds. Anywhere
 else, `factory lease grant` and `factory watchdog ensure` start one, and
 `factory watchdog once`, which `doctor` carries, says `NO RUNNER` at exit 4
 for as long as a live lease has none. A dead runner restarts instead of being
-reported, and a lease it left standing is the status quo. The lease is what
+reported, and a lease it left standing is the status quo. A runner that starts
+without a live lease says `no live lease` on fd 1 and exits, which is why the
+launchd log of a machine nobody has granted anything reads as idle rather than
+as empty, and empty is what a crash looks like too. The lease is what
 you switch: `grant` and it runs, `revoke` and it stops, and `shift-over` is
 the log's last line when a timed lease ran out.
 
diff --git a/libexec/factory-watchdog b/libexec/factory-watchdog
index 326b53d..64f3c73 100755
--- a/libexec/factory-watchdog
+++ b/libexec/factory-watchdog
@@ -536,11 +536,24 @@ run)
     fi
     case "$rc" in
     1)
-      # The lease ended. A runner that passed under it says so, once, so the
-      # log's last line is the end of the shift and not merely its last pass;
-      # one that never saw a lease — started after the expiry, or racing a
-      # revoke — has nothing to add. No lease, so `note` restores nothing.
-      [ "$passes" -eq 0 ] || note info "shift-over: lease ended — $passes pass(es) this run"
+      # The lease ended. A runner that passed under it says so in the log,
+      # once, so the log's last line is the end of the shift and not merely
+      # its last pass. No lease, so `note` restores nothing.
+      #
+      # One that never saw a lease — started after the expiry, or racing a
+      # revoke — has nothing for the LOG, since nothing passed and so nothing
+      # is over. It still owes a line on fd 1. Under launchd this is the
+      # ORDINARY exit rather than the rare one: `KeepAlive` starts the runner
+      # again every throttle interval for as long as nobody has granted
+      # anything, and its stdout is the only window onto a process nobody
+      # watched start. Silent, `launchctl list` shows `-  0` whether the
+      # runner is idle for want of a lease or exiting on a bug, and an empty
+      # log is exactly the claim this refuses to make.
+      if [ "$passes" -eq 0 ]; then
+        out_info "watchdog: no live lease — nothing to run"
+      else
+        note info "shift-over: lease ended — $passes pass(es) this run"
+      fi
       exit 0
       ;;
     3)
diff --git a/test/factory-watchdog.bats b/test/factory-watchdog.bats
index 141158c..39fc6d9 100644
--- a/test/factory-watchdog.bats
+++ b/test/factory-watchdog.bats
@@ -311,15 +311,20 @@ runner_count_is() {
   [ "$(shift_calls)" -le 4 ]
 }
 
-@test "a runner that never saw a lease adds nothing to the log" {
+@test "a runner that never saw a lease says so on fd 1, and adds nothing to the log" {
   # Started after the expiry — launchd restarting it, or `ensure` racing a
-  # revoke. Nothing passed, so nothing is over.
+  # revoke. Nothing passed, so nothing is over and the log gains nothing. The
+  # line is still owed: under launchd this is the exit taken every throttle
+  # interval for as long as nobody has granted anything, and a silent one
+  # leaves `launchctl list` reading the same for an idle runner and a broken
+  # one.
   lease 1 3600
   log_aged 60
   sleep 2
-  run "$WD" run
+  run --separate-stderr "$WD" run
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-  [ -z "$output" ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"no live lease"* ]]
+  [ -z "$stderr" ]
   ! grep -q "shift-over" "$(today_log)"
   [ "$(shift_calls)" -eq 0 ]
 }