diff --git a/docs/esp-image.md b/docs/esp-image.md
index e4c3912f72..d24500b2d0 100644
--- a/docs/esp-image.md
+++ b/docs/esp-image.md
@@ -243,10 +243,11 @@ It needs a Clang with the RISC-V target, `ld.lld` and a Python that can run
 `REA_XTENSA_ESP32_GCC` adds an ESP32 (Xtensa) app built with Espressif's
 `xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc`. Without it the report marks that image as skipped.
 
-The lane ran on macOS arm64 with Node 24.22.1, esptool and espsecure 4.12.0,
-Homebrew Clang and LLD 21.1.8, and `xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc` 14.2.0
-(crosstool-NG esp-14.2.0_20251107). All checks passed for all 13 images. The
-complete run, including the builds and every esptool call, took 13.2 s
-elapsed, 11.1 s user CPU and 1.6 s system CPU, with a 257 MiB peak resident
-set, under `/usr/bin/time -l` with warm caches. esptool v5.6.0, the version
-this reader's layout facts cite, has not been run in the lane.
+The lane ran on macOS arm64 with Node 24.22.1, Homebrew Clang and LLD 21.1.8,
+and `xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc` 14.2.0 (crosstool-NG esp-14.2.0_20251107), once
+with esptool and espsecure v5.6.0 and once with 4.12.0. All checks passed for
+all 13 images in both runs. With v5.6.0 the complete run, including the builds
+and every esptool call, took 12.9 s elapsed, 11.2 s user CPU and 1.6 s system
+CPU under `/usr/bin/time -l` with warm caches. The largest single process
+peaked at a 254 MiB resident set; the combined peak of all processes was not
+measured.
diff --git a/scripts/verify/firmware/esp-image-tools.mjs b/scripts/verify/firmware/esp-image-tools.mjs
index 0a180c4eb6..7ed5cb4672 100644
--- a/scripts/verify/firmware/esp-image-tools.mjs
+++ b/scripts/verify/firmware/esp-image-tools.mjs
@@ -155,9 +155,20 @@ export const inspect = async (file) => {
   };
 };
 
+const oracleDescriptorKind = (oracle) => {
+  if (oracle.project !== undefined) return "app";
+  if (oracle.bootloaderVersion !== undefined) return "bootloader";
+  return null;
+};
+
 const assertDescriptorAgrees = (name, oracle, descriptor) => {
+  // Both directions, so a descriptor esptool does not print fails the lane.
+  assert.equal(
+    descriptor?.kind ?? null,
+    oracleDescriptorKind(oracle),
+    `${name} descriptor`,
+  );
   if (oracle.project !== undefined) {
-    assert.equal(descriptor.kind, "app", `${name} descriptor`);
     assert.equal(descriptor.project_name, oracle.project, name);
     assert.equal(descriptor.version, oracle.appVersion, name);
     assert.equal(descriptor.app_elf_sha256, oracle.elfSha256, name);
@@ -170,7 +181,6 @@ const assertDescriptorAgrees = (name, oracle, descriptor) => {
     );
   }
   if (oracle.bootloaderVersion !== undefined) {
-    assert.equal(descriptor.kind, "bootloader", `${name} descriptor`);
     assert.equal(String(descriptor.version), oracle.bootloaderVersion, name);
     assert.equal(descriptor.idf_ver, oracle.idfVer, name);
     assert.equal(descriptor.date_time, oracle.compileTime, name);