diff --git a/plugins/source-control/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/source-control/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 9116c1397..fb864f39b 100644
--- a/plugins/source-control/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/source-control/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "source-control",
-  "version": "0.53.0",
+  "version": "0.53.1",
   "description": "Git and GitHub delivery workflow: /commit (Conventional Commits + Co-Authored-By trailer via safe heredoc mechanics), /pull-request (prep, create, CI monitoring, review-comment triage, merge, CI-log fetch), /babysit-prs (self-pacing fleet loop \u2014 safe by default; opt-in worker/autopilot tiers add gate-checked merge and thread resolution behind a deterministic Python engine), /babysit-loop (the loop-lane merge lane: a standing or drain loop that invokes babysit-prs per cycle, configured through repo-scoped babysit_loop_* keys on the layered source-control.md seam, with merge authority human-only until the target repo's tracked config adopts the lane, a gate-proven C2-mechanical baseline once adopted, and standing merge-rung raises binding from the team-tracked layer only \u2014 with one named exception, where an invocation line explicitly typing both the autopilot tier keyword and the dedicated raise argument --merge c3-this-run widens that single invocation's merge authority up to C3 behind a fresh independent frontier-tier resolver, while C4-structural and C5-untrusted-provenance stay unconditionally human-merge), /worktree (create, status, cleanup, audit for parallel-session isolation), /setup (check the effective commit-subject / PR-title convention merged across its config layers and the babysit-prs config, or apply \u2014 interview the repo and write the convention config to a chosen layer), and /resolve-conflicts (intent-first merge/rebase conflict resolution with a semantic-conflict sweep \u2014 never --abort). The commit-subject / PR-title convention is configurable via a source-control.md config written by a re-runnable setup skill, layered across a ~/.claude user-global file, the tracked team file, and a gitignored .claude/source-control.local.md personal overlay merged per key; Conventional Commits is the default when no convention is declared.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Melodic Software",
diff --git a/plugins/source-control/CHANGELOG.md b/plugins/source-control/CHANGELOG.md
index 469cf1e93..4095928ce 100644
--- a/plugins/source-control/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/plugins/source-control/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,22 @@
 All notable changes to the `source-control` plugin are documented here. Format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); this plugin uses semantic versioning.
 
+## [0.53.1]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **The paused-merge case pins both halves of the in-progress reason, and the landed+in-progress
+  fixture's comment corrects the cherry-pick rationale (#2257).** 0.51.16 rewrote the in-progress
+  reason to "…(staged result recomputable from base, sequencer position) dies with the directory",
+  but the suite asserted only "recomputable" — the clause carried over from the old wording — so
+  the #2257 half (the transient state is LOST with the directory, close to the opposite claim)
+  could regress silently; a second assertion now pins it. The fixture comment also claimed a
+  cherry-pick "would reuse the same object", which is wrong on two counts: cherry-pick mints a new
+  commit, and with this fixture's ordering (`unrelated on main` lands before the twin) a
+  cherry-pick would not have parent == HEAD at the branch tip and would carry `unrelated.txt` in the
+  tree — different parent, tree, and SHA even within the same second. The twin-with-different-subject
+  sequence below is deliberate; do not replace it with a cherry-pick.
+
 ## [0.53.0]
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/plugins/source-control/scripts/landed-work.test.sh b/plugins/source-control/scripts/landed-work.test.sh
index cdc7263a4..1c451f3b0 100755
--- a/plugins/source-control/scripts/landed-work.test.sh
+++ b/plugins/source-control/scripts/landed-work.test.sh
@@ -454,6 +454,11 @@ assert_eq "the conflicted files are counted apart from the staged tree" \
   "1" "$(col "$R" $C_CONFLICTED)"
 assert_contains "the reason says the staged tree is recomputable" \
   "$(col "$R" $C_REASON)" "recomputable"
+# Pins the #2257 half of the reason as well: "recomputable" alone survived the
+# rewrite that added it, so only this clause proves the reason still says the
+# transient state is LOST with the directory — close to the opposite claim.
+assert_contains "the reason says the operation's transient state dies with the directory" \
+  "$(col "$R" $C_REASON)" "dies with the directory"
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # A truncated pass fails loudly
@@ -543,8 +548,12 @@ git -C "$WT_BISECT" bisect reset >/dev/null 2>&1
 # as safe-to-remove, and removal mid-operation kills the operation's transient
 # state even when every commit is durable. Fixture holds both signals at once —
 # the branch's one commit matches the base by patch-id via a different SHA on
-# origin/main (not a cherry-pick, which would reuse the same object and leave
-# unpushed=0), then a merge is left open with --no-commit (MERGE_HEAD present).
+# origin/main, then a merge is left open with --no-commit (MERGE_HEAD present).
+# The twin is committed with a different subject on main (never cherry-picked):
+# unrelated lands on main before the twin, so a cherry-pick would not have
+# parent == HEAD at the branch tip and would carry unrelated.txt in the tree —
+# different parent, tree, and SHA even within the same second. The sequence
+# below is deliberate; do not replace the twin with a cherry-pick.
 W="$(mkfixture)"
 WT_OP="$TEST_TMPDIR/wt-inprog-landed"
 git -C "$W" worktree add -q -b feat-inprog "$WT_OP" main >/dev/null 2>&1