diff --git a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
index 80dcc57..86cbdb9 100644
--- a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
+++ b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@
 |---|------|----------------|-------|---------------------------|
 | G1 | Audit Phase 3: fresh-agent grounding test | 3 clean-context probes score the 7-question set against this doc; holes map made | session | CLOSED 2026-07-18: 3 probes, 21/21 PASS, holes H1 (amended into G9) + H2 (no action) -- `docs/audit/phase3-grounding-test-20260718.md` |
 | G2 | Audit Phase 4: GA-R1..R7 structural rulings + the stage-status vocabulary A/B | ruling-type gate (GA-R6 rule 6): closes when every item carries a GA-R5 Status block | operator | CLOSED 2026-07-18: all seven GA-R + vocabulary (Option A + H1) RATIFIED, utterances quoted (`docs/audit/ga-rulings.md`, through commit `fe4f1c4` + this one) |
-| G3 | Audit Phase 5: repair sweep of GA-F01..F15 (incl. memory hygiene GA-F05..F08, skill sweep) | operator-gated fix batches, each commit naming its GA-F | operator + session | Batch 0 OPENED by operator 2026-07-19; item 0.1 landed (repo-lint L10 status-coupling, GA-R1/C1 -- this commit); 0.2-0.4 pending; FREEZE holds for all un-gated surfaces |
+| G3 | Audit Phase 5: repair sweep of GA-F01..F15 (incl. memory hygiene GA-F05..F08, skill sweep) | operator-gated fix batches, each commit naming its GA-F | operator + session | Batch 0 OPENED by operator 2026-07-19; items 0.1 (repo-lint L10, GA-R1/C1), 0.2 (SEC repoint, GA-R4/F3), 0.3 (counter hardening, GA-F15) landed; 0.4 pending; FREEZE holds for all un-gated surfaces |
 | G4 | The two D-130 verifications (charter-exempt, read-only/throwaway): (v7) v0.9.8 volume-replace-under-running-domain on a throwaway domain; (v8) lifecycle ignore_changes suppression of the forced replacement | run them, capture output | session | TO RUN (`docs/audit/env-snapshot-20260718.md:47-49`) |
 | G5 | D-130 mechanism ruling (seed-volume durable fix) | operator rules in Phase 5, quoting G4's captured output | operator | D-130 unassigned; next-free D confirmed 130 (`ledger-scan` run 2026-07-18; no `^## D-130` in design-decisions.md) |
 | G6 | State reconcile of autostart + seed WITHOUT bouncing guests | gated mechanism per the finding: `tofu import` (reads autostart back) or state surgery, or an operator-scheduled maintenance-window apply; `-refresh-only` is PROVEN a no-op | operator | Operator earlier selected reconcile-first (finding doc:136); superseded into audit sequencing by `2b718f5`; nothing reconciled yet |
@@ -292,8 +292,8 @@
    stage-status vocabulary A/B (GA-F10 operator note) -- each gated, one
    ruling per exchange.
 
-## 9. Additional defect found while authoring (recorded, NOT fixed --
-freeze)
+## 9. Additional defect found while authoring (FIXED in sweep Batch 0.3,
+2026-07-19 -- wrap-aware exclusion, GA-F15; history below)
 
 `ledger-scan.sh`'s mention-derived next-free counters (DOCFIX, BUNDLEFIX)
 are SELF-INFLATED by any doc that quotes a "next-free" value and lets the
@@ -308,8 +308,10 @@
 asserting DOCFIX was unaffected. Both audit surfaces were reworded
 token-free the same day and the counters re-verified at their true values
 (D=130, DOCFIX=197, BUNDLEFIX=052 -- see GA-F15). The D counter is
-header-authoritative and was never affected. Numbering discipline until
-the scanner is hardened in Phase 5: never write a hyphenated
+header-authoritative and was never affected. Batch 0.3 hardened the
+scanner: an excluded line now also suppresses the immediately following
+line (the wrap case); counters re-verified unchanged post-fix. The
+authoring discipline stands regardless: never write a hyphenated
 register-token quote of a next-free value into any doc; state the numbers
 token-free as this section does.
 
diff --git a/scripts/ledger-scan.sh b/scripts/ledger-scan.sh
index 557b09b..ca1b103 100644
--- a/scripts/ledger-scan.sh
+++ b/scripts/ledger-scan.sh
@@ -127,11 +127,23 @@
 # example in docs/runbooks prose; describe it in words instead (as this
 # comment now does), or the "reproduc*" exclusion below. Confirmed live:
 # DOCFIX-173's own changelog did exactly this and pushed next-free to 1005.
-nextfree_mentions() { # <regex> <label> -- highest MENTION excluding pointer/example lines
+#
+# HARDENED 2026-07-19 (GA-F15): the exclusion is WRAP-AWARE -- an excluded
+# line ("next-free" / "reproduc*") suppresses ITSELF and the IMMEDIATELY
+# FOLLOWING line, because a quoted next-free value whose hyphenated token
+# wraps onto the next line otherwise counts as a real assignment. Happened
+# twice live inside the 2026-07-18 audit (CURRENT-STATE.md section 9): a
+# wrapped env-snapshot line inflated BUNDLEFIX, and CURRENT-STATE's own
+# first draft inflated DOCFIX the same way. Window is ONE line, reset at
+# every file boundary (FNR==1), so exclusion cannot leak across files.
+nextfree_mentions() { # <regex> <label> -- highest MENTION, wrap-aware exclusion
   local pat="$1" label="$2" hi
-  hi="$(grep -rhE "$pat" "$REPO/docs" "$REPO/runbooks" 2>/dev/null \
-        | grep -viE 'next[- ]free' \
-        | grep -viE 'reproduc' \
+  hi="$(find "$REPO/docs" "$REPO/runbooks" -type f -print0 2>/dev/null \
+        | xargs -0 -r awk '
+            FNR==1 { prev=0 }
+            { excl = (tolower($0) ~ /next[- ]free/ || tolower($0) ~ /reproduc/)
+              if (!excl && !prev) print
+              prev = excl }' \
         | grep -oE "$pat" | grep -oE '[0-9]+' | sort -n | tail -1)"
   if [ -n "$hi" ]; then printf '  %s: highest=%s  next-free=%03d\n' "$label" "$hi" "$((10#$hi + 1))"
   else printf '  %s: none found\n' "$label"; fi
diff --git a/tests/ledger-scan/run-tests.sh b/tests/ledger-scan/run-tests.sh
index 6a37494..59aeec9 100644
--- a/tests/ledger-scan/run-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/ledger-scan/run-tests.sh
@@ -70,6 +70,18 @@
 grep -q 'DOCFIX: highest=101  next-free=102' <<<"$OUT3" && ok "DOCFIX counts past the 099 boundary" || no "DOCFIX counts past the 099 boundary"
 grep -q 'BUNDLEFIX: highest=100  next-free=101' <<<"$OUT3" && ok "BUNDLEFIX counts past the 099 boundary" || no "BUNDLEFIX counts past the 099 boundary"
 rm -f "$W/runbooks/refs2.md"
+# GA-F15 wrap-aware exclusion: a next-free/reproduc line suppresses itself AND
+# the immediately following line (wrapped quote), window exactly one line
+printf 'the current next-free\nDOCFIX-777 landed here after a wrap, with BUNDLEFIX-777\n' > "$W/docs/wrap-quote.md"
+printf 'Reproduced the counter bug:\nDOCFIX-888 was the example token\n' > "$W/docs/wrap-repro.md"
+OUT4="$(VR_REPO="$W" bash "$SCRIPT" 2>&1)"
+grep -q 'DOCFIX: highest=085  next-free=086' <<<"$OUT4" && ok "wrapped next-free quote excluded (GA-F15)" || no "wrapped next-free quote excluded (GA-F15)"
+grep -q 'BUNDLEFIX: highest=009  next-free=010' <<<"$OUT4" && ok "wrapped BUNDLEFIX quote excluded (GA-F15)" || no "wrapped BUNDLEFIX quote excluded (GA-F15)"
+rm -f "$W/docs/wrap-quote.md" "$W/docs/wrap-repro.md"
+printf 'next-free words up here\n\nDOCFIX-091 assigned two lines below\n' > "$W/docs/wrap-window.md"
+OUT5="$(VR_REPO="$W" bash "$SCRIPT" 2>&1)"
+grep -q 'DOCFIX: highest=091  next-free=092' <<<"$OUT5" && ok "exclusion window is ONE line (two-below counts)" || no "exclusion window is ONE line (two-below counts)"
+rm -f "$W/docs/wrap-window.md"
 # missing ledger notice
 OUT2="$(VR_REPO="$W" bash "$SCRIPT" 2>&1)"; grep -q 'NO docs/session-ledger.md' <<<"$OUT2" && ok "flags missing session-ledger" || no "flags missing session-ledger"
 # with a ledger present, notice changes