diff --git a/tests/unit/check-docs-symbols.test.ts b/tests/unit/check-docs-symbols.test.ts
index eab0d442ac..40ae9b7b40 100644
--- a/tests/unit/check-docs-symbols.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/check-docs-symbols.test.ts
@@ -156,8 +156,11 @@ test("collectRouteFiles finds the real route tree (non-empty, all route.ts)", ()
   for (const f of files) assert.match(f, /route\.tsx?$/);
 });
 
-test("KNOWN_STALE_DOC_REFS is a frozen, documented allowlist (non-empty)", () => {
-  assert.ok(allowlist.size > 0);
+test("KNOWN_STALE_DOC_REFS is a frozen, documented allowlist (/api/ paths; may be empty)", () => {
+  // The allowlist legitimately empties once every previously-stale ref is fixed — v3.8.46
+  // removed the last two entries (/api/chat, /api/settings/tunnels) because the gate's
+  // stale-enforcement flagged them as no longer suppressing a live miss. The structural
+  // invariant is only that any present entry is an /api/ path (not a minimum count).
   for (const p of allowlist) assert.match(p, /^\/api\//);
 });
 
@@ -183,7 +186,8 @@ test("stale-enforcement: all current KNOWN_STALE_DOC_REFS entries look like /api
   // Structural invariant: every allowlist entry must be an /api/ path, not a file path
   // or a prose snippet.  Live staleness is enforced at gate runtime by assertNoStale().
   const al = allowlist as Set<string>;
-  assert.ok(al.size > 0, "KNOWN_STALE_DOC_REFS should be non-empty");
+  // May be empty once all stale refs are fixed (v3.8.46); the invariant is structural —
+  // any present entry is an /api/ path — not a minimum count.
   for (const entry of al) {
     assert.match(entry, /^\/api\//, `every allowlist entry must start with /api/: ${entry}`);
   }