diff --git a/src/artifacts/ArtifactSourceResolution.test.ts b/src/artifacts/ArtifactSourceResolution.test.ts
index 745705b4aa..7101a31382 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/ArtifactSourceResolution.test.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/ArtifactSourceResolution.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ import { assertArtifactFileSelectedSource } from "./ArtifactFileSource.js";
 import { assertArtifactSelectedSource } from "./ArtifactSelectedSource.js";
 import { readStableArtifact } from "./readStableArtifact.js";
 import { DirectoryArtifactReader } from "./DirectoryArtifactReader.js";
+import { createDesktopApplicationService } from "../composition/desktop.js";
+import { projectAnalysisError } from "../domain/analysisErrorProjection.js";
+import { desktopApplicationSchema } from "../domain/desktopApplication.js";
 
 it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
   "admits a caller-selected directory symlink without changing its target identity",
@@ -46,6 +49,54 @@ it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
   },
 );
 
+it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
+  "rejects desktop inspection when the selected spelling traverses a regular file",
+  async () => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory(
+      "rea-desktop-enotdir-intermediate-",
+    );
+    const app = join(root, "Demo.app");
+    await mkdir(app);
+    await writeFile(
+      join(app, "Info.plist"),
+      `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
+<plist version="1.0"><dict><key>CFBundleIdentifier</key><string>com.example.demo</string></dict></plist>`,
+    );
+    await writeFile(join(app, "marker.txt"), "marker\n");
+    await writeFile(join(root, "regular"), "regular file\n");
+    const service = createDesktopApplicationService();
+    try {
+      const invalid = await service.inspect({
+        path: `${root}/regular/../Demo.app`,
+        max_entries: 32,
+        max_probe_bytes: 4096,
+      });
+      expect(invalid.ok).toBe(false);
+      if (invalid.ok) throw new Error("expected ENOTDIR refusal");
+      expect(projectAnalysisError(invalid.error)).toMatchObject({
+        code: "target_unavailable",
+        category: "unavailable",
+      });
+      const valid = await service.inspect({
+        path: app,
+        max_entries: 32,
+        max_probe_bytes: 4096,
+      });
+      expect(valid.ok).toBe(true);
+      if (!valid.ok) throw valid.error;
+      expect(
+        desktopApplicationSchema
+          .parse(valid.value.normalized_result)
+          .files.map((file) => file.path)
+          .sort(),
+      ).toEqual(["Info.plist", "marker.txt"]);
+    } finally {
+      await service.close();
+    }
+  },
+);
+
 it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
   "reports a replaced ancestor symlink loop as a changed admitted source",
   async () => {