diff --git a/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/compose_integration_test.go b/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/compose_integration_test.go
index 3d36d7bae..489fd027a 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/compose_integration_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/compose_integration_test.go
@@ -172,7 +172,10 @@ func TestAComposeAskIsBuiltOnceAndAnsweredOnTheBus(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 				copyHostTree(t, hostTree, tree)
 				if len(beside) > 0 { // the group's other repositories, laid beside the node-engine's tree as one workspace
-					work := "go 1.26.0\n\nuse (\n\t" + tree + "\n\t" + strings.Join(beside, "\n\t") + "\n)\n"
+					work, err := workspaceOf(append([]string{tree}, beside...))
+					if err != nil {
+						return nil, err
+					}
 					if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(m.Work, ws, "go.work"), []byte(work), 0o600); err != nil {
 						return nil, err
 					}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/workspace_test.go b/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/workspace_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91f71b700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/mesh-build-go/cmd/mesh-build-go/workspace_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// zeroVersion is the version a mesh package is required at in every go.mod of the mesh (ADR 0573 §2, §4).
+const zeroVersion = "v0.0.0-00010101000000-000000000000"
+
+// workspaceOf is the go.work of the modules in dirs, as a test lays the group's repositories beside a tree: each used, and
+// each also replaced at the zero version by its own directory. Go (from 1.27) looks the zero version of a required
+// module up even where the module is a member of the workspace, once a build loads the module graph (any import outside
+// the workspace); a versioned replace is the one form it takes without a lookup, and an unversioned one is refused for a
+// member of the workspace (issue 1921: the composer's build fetched mesh-contracts from the network).
+func workspaceOf(dirs []string) (string, error) {
+	var use, replace strings.Builder
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, d := range dirs {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(d, "go.mod"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		path := ""
+		for _, line := range strings.Split(string(raw), "\n") {
+			if f := strings.Fields(line); len(f) == 2 && f[0] == "module" {
+				path = strings.Trim(f[1], `"`)
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if path == "" {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("%s/go.mod names no module", d)
+		}
+		if seen[path] {
+			continue // the same module laid twice: go refuses a workspace that uses it twice
+		}
+		seen[path] = true
+		fmt.Fprintf(&use, "\t%s\n", d)
+		fmt.Fprintf(&replace, "replace %s %s => %s\n", path, zeroVersion, d)
+	}
+	return "go 1.26.0\n\nuse (\n" + use.String() + ")\n\n" + replace.String(), nil
+}
+
+// Issue 1921 (the fourth group try): a workspace whose members require each other at the zero version loads its module
+// graph with no lookup, so with nothing fetched (GOPROXY=off), as a composer built beside the group's heads does.
+func TestAWorkspaceOfTheGroupResolvesTheZeroVersionWithNoLookup(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	mod := func(name, body string) string {
+		dir := filepath.Join(root, name)
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o700); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "go.mod"), []byte(body), 0o600); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return dir
+	}
+	a := mod("a", "module git.novox.be/novox/mesh-host\n\ngo 1.26.0\n\nrequire git.novox.be/novox/mesh-contracts/go/x "+zeroVersion+"\n")
+	b := mod("b", "module git.novox.be/novox/mesh-contracts/go/x\n\ngo 1.26.0\n")
+	work, err := workspaceOf([]string{a, b, b})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(root, "go.work"), []byte(work), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("go", "list", "-m", "all")
+	cmd.Dir = a
+	cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "GOWORK="+filepath.Join(root, "go.work"), "GOPROXY=off", "GOFLAGS=", "GOTOOLCHAIN=local")
+	if out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil || !strings.Contains(string(out), "git.novox.be/novox/mesh-contracts/go/x") {
+		t.Fatalf("the workspace's module graph does not load with nothing fetched: %v\n%s\n%s", err, out, work)
+	}
+}