diff --git a/internal/apply/apply_test.go b/internal/apply/apply_test.go
index fca922c..a099fd6 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply_test.go
@@ -351,14 +351,12 @@ func TestAnUnknownServiceStateIsRefusedNotGuessed(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // A boot-time one-shot a package ships, declared stopped and enabled at boot, is satisfied while
-// nothing of it runs: before its first boot run and after it (novox/hq issue 1126). The kernel
-// module's linux-modules-cleanup.service failed on ace with "was asked to be stopped and is
-// running" for a unit that had never run, and every apply after a reboot would have failed the
-// same way for one that had.
+// nothing of it runs, whatever its last run did (novox/hq issue 1126). The kernel module's
+// linux-modules-cleanup.service failed on ace with "was asked to be stopped and is running": an
+// inactive one-shot with ExecMainStatus=0 reads "running", and stopping it changes nothing.
 func TestABootOneShotDeclaredStoppedIsSatisfiedAtRest(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, c := range []struct{ name, started, status string }{
-		{"never ran", "0", "0"},
-		{"ran at boot", "5123456", "0"},
+	for _, c := range []struct{ name, status string }{
+		{"exited 0: never ran, ran at boot, or unloaded", "0"},
 	} {
 		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			var asked []string
@@ -367,7 +365,7 @@ func TestABootOneShotDeclaredStoppedIsSatisfiedAtRest(t *testing.T) {
 				switch args[0] {
 				case "show":
 					return "LoadState=loaded\nActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\n" +
-						"ExecMainStatus=" + c.status + "\nExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic=" + c.started + "\n", nil
+						"ExecMainStatus=" + c.status + "\n", nil
 				case "is-enabled":
 					return "enabled\n", nil
 				}
diff --git a/internal/system/arch.go b/internal/system/arch.go
index 6126d2f..2b53faf 100644
--- a/internal/system/arch.go
+++ b/internal/system/arch.go
@@ -217,16 +217,12 @@ func (arch) ServiceState(ctx context.Context, run Runner, unit string) (string,
 	//
 	// So for that shape, what "running" means is "it ran, and it worked".
 	//
-	// **And one that never ran is not one that worked** (novox/hq issue 1126). systemd says
-	// ExecMainStatus=0 for a unit that has not run since the manager loaded it exactly as for one
-	// that succeeded; only its start timestamp, 0, separates them. Read as "running", a package's
-	// boot-time one-shot declared stopped could never be satisfied — stopping an inactive unit
-	// changes nothing, and the read back said running again — and one declared running was never
-	// started. A timestamp the manager did not say keeps the reading it had before.
+	// It cannot be told from one that never ran: systemd says ExecMainStatus=0 and a start timestamp
+	// of 0 for a one-shot that never ran, and also for one that ran and was unloaded because nothing
+	// referenced it, then loaded again. So a one-shot declared running that must be seen to have run
+	// lingers (RemainAfterExit) or is enabled at boot; one declared stopped is judged at rest by the
+	// apply (ServiceAtRest, novox/hq issue 1126).
 	if u.oneShotAtRest() {
-		if u.started == "0" {
-			return "stopped", nil
-		}
 		if u.exited == "0" || u.exited == "" {
 			return "running", nil
 		}
@@ -259,7 +255,7 @@ func (arch) ServiceAtRest(ctx context.Context, run Runner, unit string) (bool, e
 
 // shownUnit is what `systemctl show` says of a unit, as far as its state is read.
 type shownUnit struct {
-	load, active, kind, remains, exited, started string
+	load, active, kind, remains, exited string
 }
 
 // oneShotAtRest is a one-shot that does not linger and is not running now.
@@ -273,8 +269,7 @@ func (u shownUnit) oneShotAtRest() bool {
 func showUnit(ctx context.Context, run Runner, unit string) (shownUnit, error) {
 	out, asked := run(ctx, "systemctl", "show",
 		"--property=LoadState", "--property=ActiveState", "--property=Type",
-		"--property=RemainAfterExit", "--property=ExecMainStatus",
-		"--property=ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic", "--", unit)
+		"--property=RemainAfterExit", "--property=ExecMainStatus", "--", unit)
 	var u shownUnit
 	for _, line := range strings.Split(out, "\n") {
 		key, value, found := strings.Cut(strings.TrimSpace(line), "=")
@@ -292,8 +287,6 @@ func showUnit(ctx context.Context, run Runner, unit string) (shownUnit, error) {
 			u.remains = value
 		case "ExecMainStatus":
 			u.exited = value
-		case "ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic":
-			u.started = value
 		}
 	}
 	if u.load == "" {
diff --git a/internal/system/arch_test.go b/internal/system/arch_test.go
index 5e57236..637396d 100644
--- a/internal/system/arch_test.go
+++ b/internal/system/arch_test.go
@@ -14,28 +14,19 @@ import (
 // **One that failed is still stopped**, or the host would report success for work that did not
 // happen — the opposite mistake and the worse one.
 //
-// **One that never ran is stopped** (novox/hq issue 1126, the kernel's boot-time cleanup on ace):
-// systemd says ExecMainStatus=0 for a unit that never ran exactly as for one that succeeded, and
-// only its start timestamp separates them. Read as "running", a package's one-shot declared
-// running was never started, and one declared stopped could never be.
-//
-// **At rest** is whether a one-shot that does not linger has nothing running now: a declaration
+// **At rest** (novox/hq issue 1126, the kernel's boot-time cleanup on ace) is whether a one-shot that does not linger has nothing running now: a declaration
 // that it be stopped is then satisfied, whatever it last did, because there is nothing to stop.
 func TestAOneShotIsReadByWhatItDid(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, c := range []struct {
 		name, show, want string
 		atRest           bool
 	}{
-		{"finished", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n" +
-			"ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic=5123456\n", "running", true},
-		{"finished, no timestamp read", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\n" +
-			"ExecMainStatus=0\n", "running", true},
-		{"failed", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=1\n" +
-			"ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic=5123456\n", "stopped", true},
-		{"never ran", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n" +
-			"ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic=0\n", "stopped", true},
-		{"running now", "ActiveState=activating\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n" +
-			"ExecMainStartTimestampMonotonic=5123456\n", "running", false},
+		{"finished", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n",
+			"running", true},
+		{"failed", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=1\n",
+			"stopped", true},
+		{"running now", "ActiveState=activating\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n",
+			"running", false},
 		{"lingers", "ActiveState=active\nType=oneshot\nRemainAfterExit=yes\nExecMainStatus=0\n",
 			"running", false},
 		{"a daemon, stopped", "ActiveState=inactive\nType=simple\nRemainAfterExit=no\nExecMainStatus=0\n",