diff --git a/test/integration/mesh.test.ts b/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
index 32d35bd..a836877 100644
--- a/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
+++ b/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
@@ -1787,6 +1787,15 @@ test("the real modules resolve together, and compose a declaration a host accept
     `only ${containers.length} containers; mailu alone is nine`);
   for (const c of containers) {
     for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(c.env ?? {})) {
+      // **An absolute path is a reference to a secret, not a secret**, and naming one is the
+      // whole design: the mesh delivers a credential as a file and a module says where.
+      //
+      // Excluded because `/` is in the base64 alphabet, so any path of 24 characters or more
+      // matched — `MESH_BROKER_FILE=/var/lib/mesh/builder/broker` was reported as a credential
+      // the broker would see. A check that fires on the right shape for the wrong reason is
+      // worse than none: it is the one that gets suppressed, and then it is not there when it
+      // is right.
+      if (String(value).startsWith("/")) continue;
       assert.doesNotMatch(String(value), /^[A-Za-z0-9+/]{24,}={0,2}$/,
         `${c.name} carries something secret-shaped in env.${key}, which the broker would see`);
     }