diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/src/ui_layout.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/src/ui_layout.rs
index 1034b3a3..f7d2c790 100644
--- a/crates/sylpheed-formats/src/ui_layout.rs
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/src/ui_layout.rs
@@ -569,14 +569,29 @@ pub fn compose(
         if (el.animated && !opts.include_animated) || (el.focused && !opts.include_focus) {
             continue;
         }
-        // `kind = 0x4` elements are the repeated instances of a template — the
-        // motion-trail ghosts a wordmark leaves while it flies in. They are NOT
-        // on screen at rest: the title's draw capture shows exactly ONE quad at
-        // each wordmark's position, though the bundle declares three instances
-        // of each, and their keyframe groups end at alpha 0. Drawing them at
-        // their resting keyframe is what put three oversized copies of
-        // PROJECT SYLPHEED across the composite.
-        if el.kind & 0x4 != 0 {
+        // A `kind = 0x4` element is a repeated instance of a template. On the
+        // title screen those are motion-trail ghosts and are NOT on screen at
+        // rest — the draw capture shows exactly ONE quad at each wordmark's
+        // position though the bundle declares three instances of each, and
+        // drawing them put three oversized PROJECT SYLPHEED copies across the
+        // composite.
+        //
+        // But `0x4` alone does not mean "ghost". 174 elements on the disc are
+        // `0x4` with **no** non-`0x4` element of the same sprite — e.g.
+        // `GP_READY_ROOM` pak entry 75, 56 elements and every one of them `0x4`
+        // (`pbb_destroyer` ×5, `pb_w_line` ×5, …), a list of real icons that a
+        // blanket skip would erase. Measured afterwards, and worth stating
+        // plainly: **none** of those 174 is in a bundle `is_build` accepts, so
+        // today they never reach this function and a blanket skip would have
+        // been harmless in practice. The condition below is therefore a
+        // precaution, not a bug fix — it keeps the rule to the case the capture
+        // actually covers, an instance whose template is also present.
+        if el.kind & 0x4 != 0
+            && build
+                .elements
+                .iter()
+                .any(|o| o.kind & 0x4 == 0 && o.name == el.name)
+        {
             continue;
         }
         let Some(kf) = el.rest() else { continue };
diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/tests/ui_paint_order_disc.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/tests/ui_paint_order_disc.rs
index 129663a3..c2d573c0 100644
--- a/crates/sylpheed-formats/tests/ui_paint_order_disc.rs
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/tests/ui_paint_order_disc.rs
@@ -275,3 +275,61 @@ fn title_composites_in_the_measured_order_without_ghosts() {
     }
     assert!(found, "the 24-element GP_TITLE build was not found");
 }
+
+/// The ghost skip is inert everywhere except where the capture licenses it.
+///
+/// `0x4` means "repeated instance of a template", and on the title those are
+/// motion-trail ghosts the game does not show at rest. Skipping every `0x4`
+/// element for that reason would be over-broad: 174 elements on the disc are
+/// `0x4` with no non-`0x4` element of the same sprite (`GP_READY_ROOM` pak entry
+/// 75 is 56 elements, all of them `0x4` — a list of real icons).
+///
+/// This pins the measurement that makes the narrow rule safe: **no bundle the
+/// compositor accepts contains such an element**, so the skip only ever drops a
+/// ghost whose template is right there beside it. If that ever stops being true,
+/// this fails and the rule needs re-deriving rather than quietly erasing a
+/// screen.
+#[test]
+fn no_composable_build_has_an_instance_without_its_template() {
+    skip_without_disc!(root);
+    let mut paks: Vec<std::path::PathBuf> = std::fs::read_dir(root.join("dat"))
+        .expect("dat/")
+        .flatten()
+        .map(|e| e.path())
+        .filter(|p| p.extension().and_then(|s| s.to_str()) == Some("pak"))
+        .collect();
+    paks.sort();
+    let mut orphans = Vec::new();
+    let mut builds_seen = 0usize;
+    // one pak at a time: holding every build on the disc at once OOM-kills the
+    // test process when it runs alongside the others.
+    for p in &paks {
+        let name = p.file_name().unwrap().to_string_lossy().to_string();
+        for bundle in pak_builds(&root, &name) {
+            let Some(build) = ui_layout::parse_build(&bundle) else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            builds_seen += 1;
+            for el in &build.elements {
+                if el.kind & 0x4 == 0 {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if !build
+                    .elements
+                    .iter()
+                    .any(|o| o.kind & 0x4 == 0 && o.name == el.name)
+                {
+                    orphans.push(format!("{name}: {} (kind {:#x})", el.name, el.kind));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    assert!(builds_seen > 500, "expected the disc's builds, saw {builds_seen}");
+    assert!(
+        orphans.is_empty(),
+        "{} composable elements are kind=0x4 with no template present, so the \
+         ghost skip would erase real content: {:?}",
+        orphans.len(),
+        &orphans[..orphans.len().min(8)]
+    );
+}