diff --git a/scripts/hooks/gateguard-heredoc.js b/scripts/hooks/gateguard-heredoc.js
index d29b58fe9..31e41b29b 100644
--- a/scripts/hooks/gateguard-heredoc.js
+++ b/scripts/hooks/gateguard-heredoc.js
@@ -134,11 +134,12 @@ function hasLineContinuation(line) {
 function normalizeUnquotedHeredocLines(lines, stripTabs = false) {
   const logical = lines
     .map((line, index) => {
-      if (index === lines.length - 1) return line;
-      return hasLineContinuation(line) ? line.slice(0, -1) : `${line}\n`;
+      const normalized = stripTabs ? line.replace(/^\t+/, '') : line;
+      if (index === lines.length - 1) return normalized;
+      return hasLineContinuation(normalized) ? normalized.slice(0, -1) : `${normalized}\n`;
     })
     .join('');
-  return stripTabs ? logical.replace(/^\t+/, '') : logical;
+  return logical;
 }
 
 /** @returns {{ text: string, nextIndex: number }} */
diff --git a/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js b/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
index 5023dac5c..54a19c0e0 100644
--- a/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
+++ b/tests/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.test.js
@@ -1783,10 +1783,10 @@ function runTests() {
   else failed++;
 
   if (
-    test('denies split options after tab-stripped heredoc line continuation', () => {
-      expectDestructiveDeny(
+    test('allows a joined command when tab stripping removes the option separator', () => {
+      expectAllow(
         ['cat <<-EOF', '\t$(rm\\', '\t-rf /tmp/expanded-target)', 'EOF'].join('\n'),
-        'split option in tab-stripped unquoted heredoc substitution'
+        'tab stripping joins rm and -rf into a harmless command name'
       );
     })
   )
@@ -1794,10 +1794,10 @@ function runTests() {
   else failed++;
 
   if (
-    test('preserves internal tabs after tab-stripped heredoc continuations', () => {
-      expectAllow(
+    test('denies split command names after tab-stripped heredoc continuations', () => {
+      expectDestructiveDeny(
         ['cat <<-EOF', '\t$(r\\', '\tm -rf /tmp/expanded-target)', 'EOF'].join('\n'),
-        'internal tab after tab-stripped heredoc continuation'
+        'split command name in tab-stripped unquoted heredoc substitution'
       );
     })
   )