diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a856002b..ea861d09 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,13 +8,11 @@ modules/messenger/cmd/messenger/messenger
 modules/mesh-watcher/cmd/mesh-watcher/mesh-watcher
 modules/claude-code/cmd/claude-code/claude-code
 modules/dnsmasq/cmd/dnsmasq-tools/dnsmasq-tools
-modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/mesh-delivery
 # ...and the same built from the module's root (go build ./cmd/<name>), which names it after the module.
 modules/messenger/messenger
 modules/claude-code/claude-code
 modules/mesh-watcher/mesh-watcher
 modules/dnsmasq/dnsmasq
-modules/mesh-delivery/mesh-delivery
 modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/mesh-issues
 modules/mounts/cmd/mounts/mounts
 modules/mesh-knowledge/cmd/mesh-knowledge/mesh-knowledge
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/README.md b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/README.md
index 23bcd87a..4f8b9de3 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/README.md
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/README.md
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ ends as covered or delivered when a later merge covers it.
 
 ## Taking the seat over from today's module
 
-The gate claims the seat `mesh-delivery` beside the module `mesh-delivery`, which the catalogue still holds, unchanged. The
-controller refuses a merge that removes a module that is assigned, so today's module stays in the catalogue until it is
-unassigned, and goes by a handover of verbs after the merge, never by hand on a machine (novox/hq ADR 0449 §4, ADR 0450 §6):
+The gate claims the seat `mesh-delivery` and took it over from the module `mesh-delivery`, which the catalogue no longer holds.
+The controller refuses a merge that removes a module that is assigned, so today's module stayed in the catalogue until it was
+unassigned, and went by a handover of verbs after the merge, never by hand on a machine (novox/hq ADR 0449 §4, ADR 0450 §6, ADR 0454):
 
 1. assign `mesh-delivery-gate` to the machine that holds the seat (`mesh-controller.assign`);
 2. check that `mesh-controller.seats` still names `mesh-delivery`, held by the running module;
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ unassigned, and goes by a handover of verbs after the merge, never by hand on a
 Until then the gate is silent: it takes no event, writes no key, asks nothing and answers no verb but `delivery_status`, which
 says why (`holds-the-seat`, `seat-waits`).
 
-After the handover, the removal of `modules/mesh-delivery` follows as a pull request of its own, merged by the gate; the catalogue
-then has one claimant of the seat. Until then the catalogue holds exactly these two, and the names of the old module that
-the handover needs, and no others: the three buckets the gate carries
-over, and the event the issue tracker and the tool runner hear until the module is forgotten (`catalogue_test.go`).
+The removal of `modules/mesh-delivery` followed the handover as a pull request of its own, merged by the gate (ADR 0454); the
+catalogue has one claimant of the seat, and no manifest but the gate's and the issue tracker's names the old module but the names
+the handover needed: the three buckets the gate carries over, and the event the issue tracker and the tool runner hear
+(`catalogue_test.go`).
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/catalogue_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/catalogue_test.go
index 75dff68d..2db35451 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/catalogue_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/catalogue_test.go
@@ -9,24 +9,20 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
-// **The gate and today's module are the two claimants of the seat in the catalogue** (novox/hq ADR 0437 §1, ADR 0449 §4, issue
-// 1351; how it is checked). R3e keeps `modules/mesh-delivery` unchanged: the controller refuses a merge that removes a module
-// still assigned, and today's module is assigned until the handover, which follows the merge. Its removal is a pull request of
-// its own after the handover, which makes the claimants exactly one. Until then exactly these two claim the seat `mesh-delivery`
-// and no third does (the seat's pass counts only assigned claimants, mesh-controller internal/catalogue/seat_pass.go
-// SeatsToPassOn, so the unassigned one does not block it). And no manifest but the gate's and mesh-issues' names today's module
-// in what it reads or hears, but through the seat's name (`mesh-delivery` as a seat or a repository, `seat:mesh-delivery.<verb>`)
-// and the names below, which stay until today's module is forgotten: the three buckets the gate carries over (ADR 0450 §6) and
-// the event the trackers hear (issue 1350). Today's module itself is left out: it is unchanged.
+// **The gate is the only claimant of the seat `mesh-delivery` in the catalogue** (novox/hq ADR 0437 §1, ADR 0449 §4, ADR 0454,
+// issue 1351; how it is checked). Today's module `modules/mesh-delivery` was removed by a pull request of its own after the
+// handover, so the claimants are exactly one. And no manifest but the gate's and mesh-issues' names the old module in what it
+// reads or hears, but through the seat's name (`mesh-delivery` as a seat or a repository, `seat:mesh-delivery.<verb>`) and the
+// names below: the three buckets the gate carries over (ADR 0450 §6) and the event the trackers hear (issue 1350).
 var oldModuleNames = map[string][]string{
 	"mesh-delivery-gate": {"mesh-delivery.deliveries", "mesh-delivery.groups", "mesh-delivery.pulls"},
 	"mesh-issues":        {"mesh-delivery.transition"},
 }
 
-// seatClaimants are the modules that claim the seat: the gate, and today's module until its removal.
-var seatClaimants = []string{"mesh-delivery", "mesh-delivery-gate"}
+// seatClaimants are the modules that claim the seat: the gate alone.
+var seatClaimants = []string{"mesh-delivery-gate"}
 
-func TestTheCatalogueHoldsTheGateAndTodaysModuleAsTheOnlyClaimantsOfTheSeat(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheCatalogueHoldsTheGateAsTheOnlyClaimantOfTheSeat(t *testing.T) {
 	modules := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..")
 	dirs, err := os.ReadDir(modules)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -54,9 +50,6 @@ func TestTheCatalogueHoldsTheGateAndTodaysModuleAsTheOnlyClaimantsOfTheSeat(t *t
 				claimants = append(claimants, manifest.Module)
 			}
 		}
-		if dir.Name() == "mesh-delivery" {
-			continue // today's module, unchanged: it names itself
-		}
 		var generic any
 		_ = json.Unmarshal(raw, &generic)
 		var walk func(v any)
@@ -80,7 +73,7 @@ func TestTheCatalogueHoldsTheGateAndTodaysModuleAsTheOnlyClaimantsOfTheSeat(t *t
 	}
 	slices.Sort(claimants)
 	if !slices.Equal(claimants, seatClaimants) {
-		t.Errorf("the seat mesh-delivery is claimed by %v; wanted exactly %v (the removal of today's module makes it one)", claimants, seatClaimants)
+		t.Errorf("the seat mesh-delivery is claimed by %v; wanted exactly %v (today's module is removed)", claimants, seatClaimants)
 	}
 	if read < 20 {
 		t.Fatalf("only %d manifests were read: the catalogue is not where the test looks", read)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
index 0b362672..3cb2bae9 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/check.go
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ var LinkKinds = []string{LinkDuplicates, LinkRelatesTo, LinkDependsOn, LinkPullR
 var (
 	pullRequest = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]{0,99}#[1-9][0-9]{0,6}$`)
 	decision    = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9]{4}$`)
-	// deliveryID mirrors mesh-delivery's `IDOf` (modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/model.go): the forge's
+	// deliveryID mirrors the delivery gate's `IDOf` (modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/model.go): the forge's
 	// repository as owner/name, lower-cased, `@` and at most twelve characters of its commit. The pattern this
 	// replaced took neither the slash nor the `@`, so no delivery could be linked (novox/hq issue 475).
 	deliveryID  = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]{0,99}/[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]{0,99}@[0-9a-f]{1,12}$`)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/manifest_test.go b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/manifest_test.go
index f7ff9da7..0fce7040 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/manifest_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-issues/cmd/mesh-issues/manifest_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -171,7 +172,13 @@ func TestTheSettingsStartTheCounterAndRegisterTheOwners(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 	modules := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..")
+	// retired are modules the catalogue no longer holds that stay registered, because issues are located in them
+	// (novox/hq ADR 0454, issue 1351: today's delivery module, removed after the gate took the seat).
+	retired := []string{"mesh-catalog modules/mesh-delivery"}
 	for _, o := range s.Owners {
+		if slices.Contains(retired, o) {
+			continue
+		}
 		if name, ok := strings.CutPrefix(o, "mesh-catalog modules/"); ok {
 			if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(modules, name, "module.json")); err != nil {
 				t.Errorf("the owner %q names a module the catalogue does not hold", o)