diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/tests/reference_strings.rs b/crates/benilla-app/tests/reference_strings.rs
index f122e015..38b16487 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/tests/reference_strings.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/tests/reference_strings.rs
@@ -144,6 +144,13 @@ fn no_user_facing_sentence_is_written_in_rust_when_the_reference_ships_one() {
     let mut shipped: HashMap<String, Vec<String>> = HashMap::new();
     // The base tables and the locale patches: where `Localize()` redefines a key, its wording is
     // the one the player reads.
+    // Whether either `Localize()` file yielded anything, which is what proves the wrapper shape
+    // still parses. Asserted over the pair rather than per file: this realm's
+    // `GlueXML\GlueLocalization.lua` has its whole `Localize()` body commented out and tweaks
+    // frames instead, so demanding a sentence of *that* file failed the gate on a chain where
+    // nothing is wrong. `FrameXML\Localization.lua` carries the enGB overrides and still proves
+    // the shape.
+    let mut wrapped_yielded = false;
     for file in [
         "Interface\\FrameXML\\GlobalStrings.lua",
         "Interface\\FrameXML\\Localization.lua",
@@ -165,10 +172,19 @@ fn no_user_facing_sentence_is_written_in_rust_when_the_reference_ships_one() {
                 taken += 1;
             }
         }
-        // Every source must contribute: the `Localize()` files wrap their assignments in a
-        // function, a shape the base tables never have.
-        assert!(taken > 0, "{file} contributed no sentences");
+        // A base table can never be empty; a `Localize()` patch can be, and this chain's Glue one
+        // is.
+        if file.ends_with("Localization.lua") {
+            wrapped_yielded |= taken > 0;
+        } else {
+            assert!(taken > 0, "{file} contributed no sentences");
+        }
     }
+    assert!(
+        wrapped_yielded,
+        "neither Localize() file contributed a sentence — the wrapper shape stopped parsing, and \
+         a locale override is the wording the player actually reads"
+    );
 
     let mut sources = Vec::new();
     walk(Path::new("src"), &mut sources);