diff --git a/.changeset/humble-wasps-rally.md b/.changeset/humble-wasps-rally.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c46cceef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/humble-wasps-rally.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: Fixed
+pr: 4877
+---
+**verify plan-structure stops warning that a logical-OR fallback swallows a failure** — the R4 scan read "||" as a pipe, so the standard "git cat-file -e <sha> || echo missing" ghost-control idiom was flagged as a swallowed failure when "||" is exactly the construct handling it; single pipes (including zsh "|&") still warn. (#4774)
diff --git a/src/verify.cts b/src/verify.cts
index dd9ce2329..c512b9edf 100644
--- a/src/verify.cts
+++ b/src/verify.cts
@@ -922,8 +922,15 @@ function scanQuantitativeCriteria(content: string): { errors: string[]; warnings
       // Not a markdown table: the negated-pipe class matches a SHELL pipeline
       // stage boundary (git before the next `|`), the same shape the
       // #429/#968 scanners use; there is no table row to parse.
+      // #4774: the lookahead keeps `||` — a logical OR, the construct that
+      // HANDLES the failure (e.g. the `git cat-file -e <sha> || echo missing`
+      // ghost-control idiom, reachable here when prose apostrophes leave the
+      // segment's quote state unclosed) — quiet, while `|` and `|&` (a real
+      // pipeline stage, stderr-merged or not) still warn. Accepted trade-off:
+      // a QUOTED `||` literal ahead of a real pipe (``git grep 'a||b' f | wc -l``)
+      // also goes quiet — the lookahead cannot reach past the doubled pipe.
       // allow-adhoc-markdown: shell pipeline stage boundary, not a table cell (#4024)
-      if (/\bgit\s+[a-z][^\n|]*\|/.test(seg)) {
+      if (/\bgit\s+[a-z][^\n|]*\|(?!\|)/.test(seg)) {
         record(
           warnings,
           'R4',
diff --git a/tests/verify.test.cjs b/tests/verify.test.cjs
index 091f24f25..222be1915 100644
--- a/tests/verify.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/verify.test.cjs
@@ -5199,6 +5199,109 @@ describe('#4024: scanQuantitativeCriteria — pure unit tests', () => {
       `R4 is warn-only, got errors: ${JSON.stringify(result.errors)}`);
   });
 
+  // #4774 — `||` is a logical OR: the construct REACTS to a non-zero exit, so
+  // warning that the failure is "swallowed" inverts the semantics and fires on
+  // the git cat-file -e <sha> || echo missing ghost-control idiom. The R4
+  // regex must require the pipe NOT to be doubled.
+  //
+  // Reachability (adversarial review): splitShellSegments already splits at
+  // UNQUOTED ||, so the plain form never reaches R4 — the false positive
+  // reaches it when prose leaves the segment's quote state unclosed (an
+  // apostrophe: "doesn't"). These tests use that shape, which is genuinely
+  // red under the old regex.
+  test('#4774 R4: a logical-OR fallback is a handled failure, not a swallowed one (apostrophe-confused prose)', () => {
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - Doesn't assume tags: `git cat-file -e $sha || echo missing` exits 0 (ghost control: a bogus hash must print \"missing\").",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      !result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `|| must not read as a pipeline stage boundary, got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: a bare logical-OR fallback stays quiet in apostrophe prose (issue row 1)', () => {
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - Doesn't assume history: `git log --oneline || echo none` prints at least the header line.",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      !result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: logical-OR into a block stays quiet (issue row 8)', () => {
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - Doesn't assume a clean tree: `git status --porcelain || { echo dirty; exit 1; }` must not print \"dirty\".",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      !result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: real single-pipe pipelines still warn (issue rows 3/4)', () => {
+    // One criterion per test: the scanner dedupes findings BY MESSAGE, so two
+    // R4-worthy lines report a single warning — per-line is the suite's idiom.
+    for (const line of [
+      '  - `git rev-parse HEAD | cut -c1-10` is 10 chars long.',
+      '  - `git diff --name-only | wc -l` is 0.',
+    ]) {
+      const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(makeCriteriaPlan(line, ''));
+      assert.ok(
+        result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+        `single-pipe stage must still warn, got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+      );
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: a pipeline boundary before the OR still warns (issue row 6)', () => {
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - Doesn't assume tags: `git log --oneline | head -5 || echo none` prints 5 lines.",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `git|head is a real non-final stage, got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: a |& stderr-merge is a real pipeline and still warns (issue row 7)', () => {
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - Doesn't assume tags: `git grep -l \"pattern\" |& wc -l` is 0.",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `|& merges stderr into the pipeline — git is still non-final, got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4774 R4: a quoted || ahead of a real pipe goes quiet — pinned accepted trade-off', () => {
+    // Adversarial review Finding 3: the lookahead cannot reach past a doubled
+    // pipe, so a QUOTED '||' literal inside a grep pattern ahead of a real
+    // pipeline boundary is no longer flagged. This is a deliberate, disclosed
+    // trade-off (warn-only, narrow class, and the quoted form is exactly the
+    // case where "||" is most likely to be DATA, not control). Pinned here so
+    // a future grammar change makes the trade-off decision consciously.
+    const content = makeCriteriaPlan(
+      "  - `git grep 'a||b' f | wc -l` is 0.",
+      '',
+    );
+    const result = scanQuantitativeCriteria(content);
+    assert.ok(
+      !result.warnings.some(w => w.includes('[plan-criteria R4]')),
+      `pinned trade-off: quoted || ahead of a real pipe is quiet; got: ${JSON.stringify(result.warnings)}`,
+    );
+  });
+
   // Row 10 — phase 443 row 24: BSD wc pads, grep -x 0 never matches
   test('#4024 R5: wc output compared by grep -x string equality is an error', () => {
     const content = makeCriteriaPlan(