diff --git a/npu/pack_import.cpp b/npu/pack_import.cpp
index ad46af92a..c0cfb3dce 100644
--- a/npu/pack_import.cpp
+++ b/npu/pack_import.cpp
@@ -1650,7 +1650,17 @@ FconstGeom locate_fconst_with_header(const std::string& tok, const std::string&
     // engine#1831: only when the vote did NOT record the block's headers. When it did, its list is the measurement
     // (`plan()` reads 2-header vs 4-header from `hdr.size()`, and `post_attn_hdr()` is `hdr.back()`), and rewriting it
     // to one entry turned every Qwen3 4-header 1.9 block into a 2-header one whose "post-attention" header was k_norm's.
-    if (!g.hdr.empty()) return g;
+    if (!g.hdr.empty()) {
+        /* engine#1985: the vote's list is a measurement, but it is not the only witness. A pack that declares per-head q/k
+         * gains cannot have a 2-header block, so a one-header vote on such a pack is the #1831 defect coming back through
+         * the vote instead of through the residue step -- measured: Qwen3-1.7B read as 2-header, qk_norm true -> false, 280
+         * refused projections, where main imported it with 0 the day before. Refuse naming both rather than pick. */
+        if (const std::string why = header_witness_refusal(int(g.hdr.size()), dims.use_qk_norm); !why.empty()) {
+            g.why = why;
+            g.stride = 0;
+        }
+        return g;
+    }
     const std::vector<int64_t> pos = eps_header_positions(tok, size_t(1) << 30, dims.eps_bits);
     // The scan window is the first GiB (about 8 blocks at h3584), so a real section boundary repeats ~8 times against
     // 1-2 for a payload coincidence; 3 separates them (requiring `layers/2` was too strict and dropped the real one).
@@ -2779,6 +2789,13 @@ QkGainOffsets qk_gain_offsets(int64_t gap_start, int64_t head_dim, int64_t gap_b
     return o;
 }
 
+std::string header_witness_refusal(int vote_hdrs, bool declared_qk) {
+    if (!declared_qk || vote_hdrs != 1) return std::string();
+    return "the epsilon-anchor vote recorded ONE in-block header, and this pack declares use_qk_norm, whose per-head q/k "
+           "gains live in the two sections a 2-header block does not have (engine#1985). The two witnesses disagree and "
+           "neither is being preferred";
+}
+
 std::string qk_norm_refusal(bool declared, bool found) {
     if (declared && !found)
         return "this pack declares use_qk_norm and its per-head q/k gains are not where the block layout says "
diff --git a/npu/pack_import.h b/npu/pack_import.h
index dcd0aa86a..cf875f969 100644
--- a/npu/pack_import.h
+++ b/npu/pack_import.h
@@ -96,6 +96,19 @@ struct QkGainOffsets {
 QkGainOffsets qk_gain_offsets(int64_t gap_start, int64_t head_dim, int64_t gap_bytes);
 std::string qk_norm_refusal(bool declared, bool found);
 
+// Why a pack's two layout witnesses cannot be reconciled, or "" when they can (engine#1985).
+//
+// `vote_hdrs` is the number of in-block headers the epsilon-anchor vote recorded (0 when it could not win); `declared_qk`
+// is config.json's `use_qk_norm`. A pack that states per-head q/k gains keeps them in the two sections between q/k/v and
+// o_proj, which a 2-header block does not have -- so a ONE-header vote on such a pack is self-contradictory, and engine#1985
+// is what trusting it costs: `Qwen3-1.7B` read as a 2-header block, `qk_norm` flipped true -> false, and every attention
+// projection was refused (280 gaps) where yesterday's main imported the same pack with 0.
+//
+// Neither witness wins: the vote measured where anchors repeat, and the declaration states what the block must contain.
+// The reader refuses and names both, because picking either one silently is the defect. Exposed so the three cases can be
+// pinned without a 2.6 GB pack.
+std::string header_witness_refusal(int vote_hdrs, bool declared_qk);
+
 // A hybrid pack's embedding table lives in its own graph (`embedding.onnx` + `.data`, gathered with
 // GatherBlockQuantized). Returns [V, H] f32 row-major, empty when the pack has no such component, with `why` naming the
 // reason. Exposed so the dequantisation can be tested against known codes and scales instead of only on a 3 GB pack.
diff --git a/tests/npu_pack_import_test.cpp b/tests/npu_pack_import_test.cpp
index 1a91f2cf9..3971eca9c 100644
--- a/tests/npu_pack_import_test.cpp
+++ b/tests/npu_pack_import_test.cpp
@@ -4267,7 +4267,31 @@ void test_qk_gain_offsets() {
     check(n4.k_norm == 0 && n4.q_norm == 0, "qk gains: the byte count alone is not enough, head_dim has to agree");
 }
 
+/* engine#1985: a REGRESSION, not a new bug -- `Qwen3-1.7B` imported with 0 gaps on yesterday's main and refused with 280
+ * on today's, because #1838's early return trusted an epsilon-anchor vote that had recorded ONE in-block header on a block
+ * that has three. The tell in the report is `qk_norm: true -> false`: a pack that declares per-head q/k gains keeps them in
+ * the two sections a 2-header block does not have, so the two witnesses disagree and neither may be preferred silently.
+ *
+ * The arms below pin the refusal and, just as importantly, the three cases it must NOT fire on: a vote that found three
+ * headers (a correct 4-header pack), a genuine 2-header pack that declares nothing, and no vote at all (0), which is the
+ * residue step's case and not a disagreement. */
+void test_header_witness_refusal() {
+    const std::string a = pi::header_witness_refusal(1, true);
+    check(!a.empty(), "header witness: a one-header vote on a pack declaring use_qk_norm is refused");
+    check(a.find("engine#1985") != std::string::npos, "header witness: the refusal carries its issue");
+    check(a.find("use_qk_norm") != std::string::npos, "header witness: it names the declaration it contradicts");
+    check(a.find("ONE in-block header") != std::string::npos, "header witness: and what the vote measured");
+    check(a.find("neither is being preferred") != std::string::npos,
+          "header witness: and that no witness is being chosen, which is the point");
+    check(pi::header_witness_refusal(3, true).empty(), "header witness: a three-header vote is consistent with the declaration");
+    check(pi::header_witness_refusal(1, false).empty(), "header witness: a 2-header pack that declares nothing is fine");
+    check(pi::header_witness_refusal(0, true).empty(),
+          "header witness: NO vote is not a disagreement (the residue step decides it)");
+    std::printf("  header witness: 8 arms (one-header vote vs declaration refuses; 3/1-without-declaration/0 allowed)\n");
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
+    test_header_witness_refusal();
     test_encode_tile_code_range();
     test_qk_norm_refusal();
     test_qk_gain_offsets();