diff --git a/internal/apply/hold.go b/internal/apply/hold.go
index 74ca6c7..818ecc4 100644
--- a/internal/apply/hold.go
+++ b/internal/apply/hold.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func lookBefore(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, d *declaration.Declarati
 				switch {
 				case src == "":
 				case strings.HasPrefix(src, "/"):
-					if present(src) && !recordedPath(known, src) {
+					if !systemPath(src) && present(src) && !recordedPath(known, src) {
 						seen["path:"+src] = true
 					}
 				default:
@@ -146,6 +146,26 @@ func recordedPath(known store.State, path string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// systemPath is whether a bind-mount source is the machine's own plumbing — the runtime's socket,
+// the kernel's filesystems, the devices, the clock — which every machine has and no predecessor's
+// data lives in. Mounting it shares nothing that was found.
+func systemPath(src string) bool {
+	clean := filepath.Clean(src)
+	for _, exact := range []string{"/etc/localtime", "/etc/timezone", "/etc/hosts", "/etc/resolv.conf",
+		"/etc/machine-id", "/etc/passwd", "/etc/group"} {
+		if clean == exact {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	for _, under := range []string{"/run", "/var/run", "/sys", "/proc", "/dev", "/usr/share/zoneinfo",
+		"/etc/ssl", "/etc/ca-certificates", "/etc/pki", "/lib/modules", "/usr/lib/modules"} {
+		if clean == under || strings.HasPrefix(clean, under+"/") {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // mountSource is what a volume mapping mounts: a path on the machine, or a named volume. Empty for
 // an anonymous volume, which mounts nothing that could already be there.
 func mountSource(mapping string) string {
diff --git a/internal/apply/hold_test.go b/internal/apply/hold_test.go
index 66148e5..a6c65b0 100644
--- a/internal/apply/hold_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/hold_test.go
@@ -754,3 +754,20 @@ func TestAUserFoundOnTheMachineKeepsItsShellAndGroups(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMountingTheMachinesOwnPlumbingIsNotFoundData(t *testing.T) {
+	// The runtime's socket, the kernel's filesystems and the clock are on every machine; a
+	// container mounting them shares nothing a predecessor kept (novox/hq ADR 0103).
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	m := &machine{containers: map[string]*fakeContainer{}}
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, adopted(t, untaken("hello-web.server"),
+		`{"id":"hello-web.server","type":"container","name":"hello-web","image":"`+pinned+`",
+		  "volumes":["/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock","/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro",
+		             "/proc/cpuinfo:/host/cpuinfo:ro","/dev/null:/data/null"]}`), store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, "hello-web.server"); o.Action != "created" {
+		t.Errorf("a container mounting only system paths was not created: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if len(state.Held) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("held: %+v", state.Held)
+	}
+}