diff --git a/scripts/verify-no-secrets.sh b/scripts/verify-no-secrets.sh
index 13e0c74..459666e 100755
--- a/scripts/verify-no-secrets.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify-no-secrets.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 set -uo pipefail
 
-REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+# Resolve the repository root via git, not via BASH_SOURCE: when this script is
+# invoked through the .git/hooks/pre-commit symlink, dirname(BASH_SOURCE)/..
+# resolves to .git/ rather than the work tree.
+REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)" || {
+  echo "verify-no-secrets: not inside a git work tree" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
 cd "$REPO_ROOT" || exit 1
 
 MODE="${1:-staged}"
@@ -40,14 +46,21 @@ fail() {
 }
 
 # --- Rule 1: filenames that must never be committed ------------------------
-FORBIDDEN_NAMES='(^|/)(models\.json|auth\.json|trust\.json|models-store\.json)$|(^|/)\.env$|\.env\.[^/]*$|(^|/)id_(ed25519|rsa)|\.(pem|p12)$|\.rendered(\..*)?$|(^|/)secrets/(?!.*\.(example|template)$)'
+FORBIDDEN_NAMES='(^|/)(models\.json|auth\.json|trust\.json|models-store\.json)$|(^|/)\.env$|\.env\.[^/]*$|(^|/)id_(ed25519|rsa)|\.(pem|p12)$|\.rendered(\..*)?$'
+# Inside secrets/ only documentation and placeholder scaffolding may be tracked.
+SECRETS_ALLOWED='(^|/)secrets/(\.gitkeep|README\.md|.*\.(example|template))$'
 for f in "${FILES[@]}"; do
-  # .env.example / .env.template are allowed
+  # Templates and examples are the intended way to track credential-shaped files.
   case "$f" in
     *.env.example|*.env.template|*.example|*.template) continue ;;
   esac
   if printf '%s' "$f" | grep -qP "$FORBIDDEN_NAMES"; then
     fail "$f" "filename is on the never-commit list"
+    continue
+  fi
+  if printf '%s' "$f" | grep -qP '(^|/)secrets/' \
+     && ! printf '%s' "$f" | grep -qP "$SECRETS_ALLOWED"; then
+    fail "$f" "files under secrets/ may only be .gitkeep, README.md, *.example or *.template"
   fi
 done