diff --git a/scripts/probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh b/scripts/probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
index 8f4c9c5458..d0b8b71f38 100755
--- a/scripts/probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
+++ b/scripts/probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
@@ -360,11 +360,24 @@ printf 'probe: on node %s the unsigned ref matches rule %s and the signed contro
 image_list="$("${talosctl_bin}" -n "${node}" image list --namespace "${ns}" 2>/dev/null)" ||
   fail_inconclusive "could not list images on node ${node} — cannot establish that the probe refs are absent"
 
+# Substring match on purpose: `image list` renders a ref plus its digest and
+# size, so an exact line match would miss it.
+#
+# The text goes in through a here-string, NEVER a pipe. `grep -q` stops reading
+# at its first match. GitHub Actions ignores SIGPIPE, so a piped `printf` still
+# writing a large list then fails with "write error: Broken pipe", and under
+# `pipefail` that failure becomes the pipeline's status: a MATCH is reported as
+# NO match. On the cache guard that let a ref the node already held through as
+# absent. Measured in scripts/tests: restoring the pipe turns the cached-ref
+# INCONCLUSIVE into a FAIL.
+list_contains() {
+  grep -qF -- "$2" <<<"$1"
+}
+
 ref_is_cached() {
-  # Substring match on purpose: `image list` renders a ref plus its digest and
-  # size, so an exact line match would miss it. The consequence of a false
-  # positive here is a fail-closed INCONCLUSIVE, never a false PASS.
-  printf '%s' "${image_list}" | grep -qF -- "$1"
+  # The consequence of a false positive here is a fail-closed INCONCLUSIVE,
+  # never a false PASS.
+  list_contains "${image_list}" "$1"
 }
 
 for ref in "${unsigned_image}" "${signed_image}"; do
@@ -414,9 +427,18 @@ cleanup() {
     return "${rc}"
   fi
 
+  local remaining
   for ref in ${pulled_refs[@]+"${pulled_refs[@]}"}; do
     if "${talosctl_bin}" -n "${node}" image remove --namespace "${ns}" "${ref}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
       printf 'probe: cleaned up %s\n' "${ref}" >&2
+      continue
+    fi
+    # A refused pull stores nothing, so removal fails because there is nothing
+    # to remove. Only a fresh listing that succeeds and no longer shows the ref
+    # counts as absent; anything else keeps the manual-cleanup warning.
+    if remaining="$("${talosctl_bin}" -n "${node}" image list --namespace "${ns}" 2>/dev/null)" &&
+      ! list_contains "${remaining}" "${ref}"; then
+      printf 'probe: %s not present on node %s, nothing to clean up\n' "${ref}" "${node}" >&2
     else
       printf 'probe: WARNING could not remove %s from node %s — remove it by hand\n' "${ref}" "${node}" >&2
     fi
@@ -450,10 +472,11 @@ trap cleanup EXIT
 # allowlist does not recognise yields INCONCLUSIVE — the safe direction for a
 # probe whose job is never to report an unfounded PASS.
 is_verification_refusal() {
-  if printf '%s' "$1" | grep -qiE 'x509|certificate|tls:'; then
+  # Here-strings, not pipes, for the reason given at list_contains.
+  if grep -qiE 'x509|certificate|tls:' <<<"$1"; then
     return 1
   fi
-  printf '%s' "$1" | grep -qiE 'image verification|signature verification|no valid signature|no matching signature|not signed|unsigned image|cosign|sigstore'
+  grep -qiE 'image verification|signature verification|no valid signature|no matching signature|not signed|unsigned image|cosign|sigstore' <<<"$1"
 }
 
 # Pull errors routinely REPEAT the ref, and the recommended negative-control name
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test-probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh b/scripts/tests/test-probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
index b046683cd8..765836bb2d 100755
--- a/scripts/tests/test-probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
+++ b/scripts/tests/test-probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ case "${verb}" in
     fi
     case "${sub}" in
       list)
+        # Once a removal has been attempted, a case can stage what the node
+        # holds afterwards, so cleanup's re-check sees a different store from
+        # the cache guard's first read.
+        if [[ -e "${fixtures}/removed.txt" ]]; then
+          [[ -e "${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove_fails" ]] && exit 1
+          if [[ -e "${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove.txt" ]]; then
+            cat "${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove.txt"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+        fi
         [[ -e "${fixtures}/imagelist_fails" ]] && exit 1
         if [[ -e "${fixtures}/imagelist.txt" ]]; then
           cat "${fixtures}/imagelist.txt"
@@ -136,6 +146,7 @@ case "${verb}" in
       remove)
         ref="${1:-}"
         printf '%s\n' "${ref}" >>"${fixtures}/removed.txt"
+        [[ -e "${fixtures}/remove_fails" ]] && exit 1
         exit 0
         ;;
     esac
@@ -691,4 +702,84 @@ run_probe
 [[ ! -e "${fixtures}/removed.txt" ]] || fail 'probe removed an image despite never pulling one'
 check 'a failure before any pull removes nothing'
 
+# A refused pull stores nothing, so removing that ref fails simply because it is
+# not there. That must not tell the operator to clean a production node by hand:
+# a warning on every passing run hides the run where removal genuinely failed.
+reset_fixtures
+stage_pull "${unsigned}" 1 'image verification failed: no valid signature found'
+stage_pull "${signed}" 0 ''
+: >"${fixtures}/remove_fails"
+: >"${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove.txt"
+run_probe
+[[ ${probe_rc} -eq 0 ]] || fail "a refused, absent ref should still PASS, got ${probe_rc}: ${probe_out}"
+refute_text "${probe_out}" 'WARNING could not remove' 'refused, absent ref'
+require_text "${probe_out}" 'not present' 'refused, absent ref'
+check 'a refused ref that was never stored is reported not present, without a manual-cleanup warning'
+
+# The control for the case above: the same failed removal while the node still
+# holds the ref IS a real cleanup failure, and still warns. The verdict is
+# unchanged either way.
+reset_fixtures
+stage_pull "${unsigned}" 1 'image verification failed: no valid signature found'
+stage_pull "${signed}" 0 ''
+: >"${fixtures}/remove_fails"
+printf '%s sha256:%s 1.0 MB\n' "${unsigned}" "${unsigned_hex}" >"${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove.txt"
+run_probe
+[[ ${probe_rc} -eq 0 ]] || fail "a failed cleanup must not change the PASS verdict, got ${probe_rc}: ${probe_out}"
+require_text "${probe_out}" 'WARNING could not remove' 'present ref whose removal fails'
+check 'a ref still present after a failed removal warns, and the verdict is unchanged'
+
+# If the node cannot be listed after a failed removal, absence is unproven, so
+# the warning stays.
+reset_fixtures
+stage_pull "${unsigned}" 1 'image verification failed: no valid signature found'
+stage_pull "${signed}" 0 ''
+: >"${fixtures}/remove_fails"
+: >"${fixtures}/imagelist_after_remove_fails"
+run_probe
+[[ ${probe_rc} -eq 0 ]] || fail "an unlistable node must not change the PASS verdict, got ${probe_rc}: ${probe_out}"
+require_text "${probe_out}" 'WARNING could not remove' 'unlistable node after failed removal'
+refute_text "${probe_out}" 'not present' 'unlistable node after failed removal'
+check 'a failed removal on a node that cannot be re-listed still warns'
+
+# --- A large image list under the runner's signal disposition ----------------
+# GitHub Actions runs steps with SIGPIPE ignored, so a writer whose reader exits
+# early gets EPIPE instead of dying silently. A presence check that pipes a large
+# image list into `grep -q` then logs "write error: Broken pipe" as soon as grep
+# matches, and under `pipefail` the writer's failure becomes the pipeline's
+# status: the match is reported as NO match. The cache guard then passes a ref
+# the node already holds, which is exactly the false result it exists to
+# prevent. Reproduce the runner's disposition and a list larger than a pipe
+# buffer, with the ref on the first line.
+run_probe_sigpipe_ignored() {
+  local out rc=0
+  set +e
+  out="$(
+    trap '' PIPE
+    "${script}" --confirm --node "${node}" \
+      --unsigned-image "${unsigned}" --signed-image "${signed}" "$@" 2>&1
+  )"
+  rc=$?
+  set -e
+  probe_out="${out}"
+  probe_rc="${rc}"
+}
+
+large_image_list() {
+  local i
+  printf '%s sha256:%s 1.0 MB\n' "$1" "${unsigned_hex}"
+  for ((i = 0; i < 3000; i++)); do
+    printf 'ghcr.io/example/filler-%05d:v1 sha256:%s 1.0 MB\n' "${i}" "${unsigned_hex}"
+  done
+}
+
+reset_fixtures
+large_image_list "${unsigned}" >"${fixtures}/imagelist.txt"
+run_probe_sigpipe_ignored
+[[ ${probe_rc} -eq 3 ]] || fail "a cached ref in a large list should exit 3, got ${probe_rc}: ${probe_out}"
+refute_text "${probe_out}" 'both refs confirmed absent' 'large image list with an early match'
+refute_text "${probe_out}" 'Broken pipe' 'large image list with an early match'
+refute_text "${probe_out}" 'write error' 'large image list with an early match'
+check 'a large image list with an early match produces no broken-pipe write error'
+
 printf '\nAll %d case(s) passed: probe-image-signature-enforcement.sh behaviour is pinned.\n' "${cases_run}"