diff --git a/tools/run-canary-native-safe.sh b/tools/run-canary-native-safe.sh
index ab9b7cdb..5ed5ea59 100755
--- a/tools/run-canary-native-safe.sh
+++ b/tools/run-canary-native-safe.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,18 @@ export ALSA_CONFIG_PATH="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/asound-nu
 # Paths derive from where this script sits — see the note in run-canary-safe.sh.
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 WORKSPACE="$(cd "$HERE/../.." && pwd)"
-BIN_DEFAULT="$WORKSPACE/xenia-canary-native/build/bin/Linux/Release/xenia_canary"
+# 🔴 THE INSTRUMENTED BINARY IS THE `Checked` ONE, and it is the only config this
+# build tree can produce: `ninja -n bin/Linux/Release/xenia_canary` lists ZERO
+# steps, so Release is not a target here and its binary still dates from
+# 2026-08-28, before the audit_61 probe existed. Pointing at Release therefore
+# runs an oracle with no probe and no way to refresh it.
+#
+# The old default named `xenia-canary-native/`, a directory that does not exist
+# on this workspace at all -- the checkout is `xenia-canary/`.
+#
+# `Checked` is optimised WITH assertions, which is what you want from a
+# behavioural reference: a bad state stops loudly instead of being sampled.
+BIN_DEFAULT="$WORKSPACE/xenia-canary/build/bin/Linux/Checked/xenia_canary"
 BIN_EXE="${CANARY_BIN:-$BIN_DEFAULT}"
 ISO="${SYLPHEED_ISO:-$WORKSPACE/Project Sylpheed - Arc of Deception (USA, Europe) (En,Ja).iso}"
 [ -f "$ISO" ] || { echo "ABORT: no ISO at '$ISO' — set \$SYLPHEED_ISO"; exit 4; }
diff --git a/tools/run-canary-native.sh b/tools/run-canary-native.sh
index 19db4705..7d207e9c 100755
--- a/tools/run-canary-native.sh
+++ b/tools/run-canary-native.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,18 @@ set -u
 # Paths derive from where this script sits — see the note in run-canary-safe.sh.
 HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 WORKSPACE="$(cd "$HERE/../.." && pwd)"
-BIN_DEFAULT="$WORKSPACE/xenia-canary-native/build/bin/Linux/Release/xenia_canary"
+# 🔴 THE INSTRUMENTED BINARY IS THE `Checked` ONE, and it is the only config this
+# build tree can produce: `ninja -n bin/Linux/Release/xenia_canary` lists ZERO
+# steps, so Release is not a target here and its binary still dates from
+# 2026-08-28, before the audit_61 probe existed. Pointing at Release therefore
+# runs an oracle with no probe and no way to refresh it.
+#
+# The old default named `xenia-canary-native/`, a directory that does not exist
+# on this workspace at all -- the checkout is `xenia-canary/`.
+#
+# `Checked` is optimised WITH assertions, which is what you want from a
+# behavioural reference: a bad state stops loudly instead of being sampled.
+BIN_DEFAULT="$WORKSPACE/xenia-canary/build/bin/Linux/Checked/xenia_canary"
 BIN_EXE="${CANARY_BIN:-$BIN_DEFAULT}"
 ISO="${SYLPHEED_ISO:-$WORKSPACE/Project Sylpheed - Arc of Deception (USA, Europe) (En,Ja).iso}"
 [ -f "$ISO" ] || { echo "ABORT: no ISO at '$ISO' — set \$SYLPHEED_ISO"; exit 4; }
diff --git a/tools/run-canary-safe.sh b/tools/run-canary-safe.sh
index 108ee28e..5d7d62b3 100755
--- a/tools/run-canary-safe.sh
+++ b/tools/run-canary-safe.sh
@@ -57,7 +57,22 @@ rm -f xenia.log
 
 # Binary is overridable (default keeps the historical _i2d snapshot); extra
 # cvars pass through via CANARY_EXTRA_ARGS (space-separated, values w/o spaces).
+# ⚠️ THIS WINE BUILD HAS NO INSTRUMENTATION AND CANNOT BE REFRESHED HERE.
+# Measured 2026-09-20: `xenia_canary_i2d.exe` does not exist at all, and the
+# `xenia_canary.exe` that does (2026-06-19) has ZERO hits for both
+# `audit_61_branch_probe_pcs` and `RE-INPUT`/`RE-DRAW`. Rebuilding it needs the
+# clang-cl + xwin cross toolchain on the `cross-build-wine` branch.
+#
+# 🔴 FOR PROBE RUNS USE `run-canary-native-safe.sh` INSTEAD -- same hard Vulkan
+# gate, same headless behaviour, and it runs the Checked native binary, which
+# carries audit_61 and the RE-INPUT/RE-DRAW logging.
 BIN_EXE="${CANARY_BIN:-xenia_canary_i2d.exe}"
+if [ ! -f "$BIN/$BIN_EXE" ]; then
+  echo "ABORT: no Wine binary at $BIN/$BIN_EXE" >&2
+  echo "  This build is stale and uninstrumented; use run-canary-native-safe.sh" >&2
+  echo "  for anything needing audit_61 or the RE-* logging." >&2
+  exit 4
+fi
 args=(--log_level=3 --mute=true)
 [ -n "$PROBES" ] && args+=("--audit_61_branch_probe_pcs=$PROBES")
 if [ -n "${CANARY_EXTRA_ARGS:-}" ]; then