diff --git a/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 4e078a1..ae00a4f 100644
--- a/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "scribe",
   "description": "Scribe system-of-record for Claude Code: MCP tools over your notes/tasks/projects/rules, a session-start push channel that surfaces your always-on rules + active-project context, process-skills (writing-plans, systematic-debugging, verification, brainstorming, reusing-code), and your saved Scribe Processes auto-surfaced as skills (/scribe:sync). Replaces superpowers + file-memory with one app-backed plugin.",
-  "version": "2026.09.01.2252",
+  "version": "2026.09.02.0415",
   "author": {
     "name": "Bryan Van Deusen"
   },
diff --git a/scripts/check_plugin.py b/scripts/check_plugin.py
index 150e72c..9066a7a 100755
--- a/scripts/check_plugin.py
+++ b/scripts/check_plugin.py
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ def check_version_is_minted(base: str = "origin/main") -> None:
         # Do NOT pass silently — a check that quietly no-ops is how this class
         # of bug survives in the first place.
         fail(
-            f"cannot resolve {base}, so the version-bump check could not run. "
+            f"cannot resolve {base}, so the minted-version check could not run. "
             f"Fetch it first — `git fetch --depth=1 origin main:refs/remotes/"
             f"origin/main` is enough, since this diffs two trees and needs no "
             f"common ancestor — or pass --no-version deliberately."
diff --git a/scripts/mint_plugin_version.py b/scripts/mint_plugin_version.py
index 2d45d77..c37df47 100644
--- a/scripts/mint_plugin_version.py
+++ b/scripts/mint_plugin_version.py
@@ -64,9 +64,19 @@ VERSION_LINE_RE = re.compile(r'^(\s*"version"\s*:\s*")([^"]*)(".*)$', re.M)
 
 
 def mint(now: datetime | None = None) -> str:
-    """The version for this moment. UTC, always — a local-time mint would make
-    the value depend on who ran it."""
-    return (now or datetime.now(timezone.utc)).strftime(VERSION_FORMAT)
+    """The version for this moment. UTC, always.
+
+    The conversion is not decoration: `strftime` renders whatever offset the
+    datetime carries, so without it two people minting the same instant in
+    different zones produce different strings — and the string IS the
+    artifact's identity. A naive datetime is read as UTC rather than as the
+    machine's zone, because that is this function's stated contract and
+    guessing the host's offset is how the bug comes back by another route.
+    """
+    moment = now or datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    if moment.tzinfo is None:
+        moment = moment.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    return moment.astimezone(timezone.utc).strftime(VERSION_FORMAT)
 
 
 def rewrite(text: str, version: str) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin_version_mint.py b/tests/test_plugin_version_mint.py
index 8943e5f..4b2d33c 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugin_version_mint.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugin_version_mint.py
@@ -250,13 +250,21 @@ def test_a_version_that_moved_with_no_content_change_is_NOT_a_failure(monkeypatc
 
 def test_a_failed_diff_FAILS_rather_than_passing_quietly(monkeypatch):
     """A check that cannot run must not report the same thing as a check that
-    passed — #2663's lesson, and the reason this whole file's siblings exist."""
-    monkeypatch.setattr(check_plugin, "_git", lambda *a: (128, "fatal"))
+    passed — #2663's lesson, and the reason this file's siblings exist.
+
+    `rev-parse` is stubbed to SUCCEED so only the diff fails. Failing every git
+    call would trip the base-branch guard first and this would pass while
+    proving nothing about the diff arm.
+    """
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        check_plugin, "_git",
+        lambda *a: (128, "fatal: bad object") if a[0] == "diff" else (0, ""),
+    )
     monkeypatch.setattr(check_plugin, "manifest_version",
                         lambda ref=None: "2026.09.01.2252")
     check_plugin.check_version_is_minted("origin/main")
     assert len(check_plugin.failures) == 1
-    assert "could not run" in check_plugin.failures[0]
+    assert "git diff" in check_plugin.failures[0]
 
 
 # ── The real manifest ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────