diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/issue451_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/issue451_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..832c53b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/issue451_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// **An unanswered line says the state of the delivery it holds, as data** (novox/hq issue 451): for a delivery in
+// ready or rejected, whose check answered once, the controller advises a recheck rather than the build queue, and
+// it reads that state from the line, never from its words. A head with no delivery held says none.
+func TestAnUnansweredLineNamesTheStateOfItsDelivery(t *testing.T) {
+	at := time.Date(2026, 10, 11, 0, 43, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		gate string
+		want State
+	}{{"pass", Ready}, {"fail", Rejected}} {
+		w := newWorldOver(t, newMemStore(), newFakeController(), newFakeForge(), at)
+		id := heldIn(t, w, c.gate, c.want)
+		w.forge.open = openPullsOf(t, readyRepoCheckPending)
+		w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+		w.later(Bounds[Proposed].For + time.Minute)
+		w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+		lines := w.h.Stalled()
+		if len(lines) != 1 || lines[0].ID != id || lines[0].State != Unanswered || lines[0].Held != c.want {
+			t.Fatalf("a %s delivery's unanswered line does not say its state as data: %+v", c.want, lines)
+		}
+		raw, _ := json.Marshal(lines[0])
+		if !strings.Contains(string(raw), `"held":"`+string(c.want)+`"`) {
+			t.Fatalf("the line the controller reads carries no held state: %s", raw)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The same head with no delivery held here: unanswered, and no state to say.
+	w := newWorldOver(t, newMemStore(), newFakeController(), newFakeForge(), at)
+	w.forge.open = openPullsOf(t, readyRepoCheckPending)
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	w.later(Bounds[Proposed].For + time.Minute)
+	w.h.SeeOpenPulls()
+	lines := w.h.Stalled()
+	if len(lines) != 1 || lines[0].State != Unanswered || lines[0].Held != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("a head with no delivery held says a state: %+v", lines)
+	}
+	if raw, _ := json.Marshal(lines[0]); strings.Contains(string(raw), `"held"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("a line with no delivery held carries a held field: %s", raw)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/unchecked.go b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/unchecked.go
index 2d5069c1..0db11ed5 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/unchecked.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/unchecked.go
@@ -250,8 +250,8 @@ func (h *Holder) uncheckedLines(now time.Time) []StalledLine {
 			h2 = "none: its delivery is " + string(u.held) + ", a state the operator moves — the operator's"
 		}
 		out = append(out, StalledLine{ID: id, Number: u.pull.Number, State: state, For: now.Sub(u.first).Round(time.Second).String(),
-			Bound: u.bound().String(),
-			H2:    h2, Says: says, Waiting: waiting})
+			Bound: u.bound().String(), Held: u.held,
+			H2: h2, Says: says, Waiting: waiting})
 	}
 	return out
 }
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/verbs.go b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/verbs.go
index fa80497b..45b0903c 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/verbs.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery/cmd/mesh-delivery/verbs.go
@@ -199,10 +199,14 @@ type StalledLine struct {
 	// the operator's own zone, which it cannot do inside a finished sentence (novox/hq issue 443). Waiting stays
 	// beside them for a controller that does not read them yet.
 	Checks []WaitingCheck `json:"checks,omitempty"`
-	For    string         `json:"for"`
-	Bound  string         `json:"bound"`
-	H2     string         `json:"h2"`
-	Says   string         `json:"says"`
+	// Held is the state of the delivery a line of the state Unanswered is about, ready or rejected, when one is held
+	// here (novox/hq issues 441, 451): its check answered once, so the controller advises a recheck of it rather than
+	// the build queue, reading the state here and never from Says. Empty for a head with no delivery.
+	Held  State  `json:"held,omitempty"`
+	For   string `json:"for"`
+	Bound string `json:"bound"`
+	H2    string `json:"h2"`
+	Says  string `json:"says"`
 }
 
 // Stalled is the `stalled` verb: what the controller's self-check raises as `delivery.<id>.stalled`.