diff --git a/compiler/src/CODE-LOGIC.md b/compiler/src/CODE-LOGIC.md
index 2cfc085..21b5877 100644
--- a/compiler/src/CODE-LOGIC.md
+++ b/compiler/src/CODE-LOGIC.md
@@ -140,8 +140,12 @@ so a Text-typed SINGLE-SEGMENT interpolation of a place
 register through a `let`/assignment boundary uncopied — the binding aliased
 the row's field and its overwrite freed it (release-build crash the arena
 hid from ASan). It now asks `is_borrowed_value_t && not is_container_read`,
-exactly `drop_fresh_text`'s place test. Pinned by
-`tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field`.
+exactly `drop_fresh_text`'s place test. The RETURN boundary had the same
+hole (`return "${p.content}"` handed the caller the part's own string —
+the multipart slice's arena corruption, two requests removed from the
+crash): emit_return's place test now sees through `Interp` the same way,
+while bare Ident/Field/Index behavior there is unchanged. Both flavors
+pinned by `tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field`.
 
 Two rules the measurements imposed, both easy to get backwards:
 
diff --git a/compiler/src/emit.ml b/compiler/src/emit.ml
index 58971d8..4a28fac 100644
--- a/compiler/src/emit.ml
+++ b/compiler/src/emit.ml
@@ -3756,7 +3756,16 @@ and emit_return (p : pctx) (f : fstate) (v : views) (s : Ast.stmt) (opt : Ast.ex
        `return lv` inside `for lv in [...]` is WO-E304 and the workload's own
        level classifier cannot be written at all. *)
     let t =
-      let is_place = match e.Ast.kind with Ast.Ident _ | Ast.Field _ | Ast.Index _ -> true | _ -> false in
+      (* an interpolation is seen through exactly as copy_place_text sees
+         it: `return "${p.content}"` (p a loop borrow) handed the caller the
+         part's own string — the caller's drop then freed it under the
+         container, the multipart-400 arena corruption *)
+      let is_place =
+        match e.Ast.kind with
+        | Ast.Ident _ | Ast.Field _ | Ast.Index _ -> true
+        | Ast.Interp _ -> is_borrowed_value_t p f e && not (is_container_read e)
+        | _ -> false
+      in
       let is_text = match ty_of_expr p f e with Some ty -> field_kind p ty = 3 | None -> false in
       if is_place && is_text then begin
         let w = alloc_temps p f e.pos 1 in
diff --git a/tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field/fixture.wo b/tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field/fixture.wo
index 33779ef..d7635ca 100644
--- a/tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field/fixture.wo
+++ b/tests/corpus/run/interp-borrowed-field/fixture.wo
@@ -16,6 +16,15 @@ class Tab {
     }
     return out;
   }
+
+  -- the RETURN flavor: an interpolation of a borrowed field handed straight
+  -- to the caller must be the caller's own copy, not the row's string
+  fn first() -> Text {
+    for r in self.rows {
+      return "${r.method}";
+    }
+    return "";
+  }
 }
 
 fn main() -> Int {
@@ -26,6 +35,8 @@ fn main() -> Int {
   while i < 50 {
     let s = t.scan();
     if s != "GET, POST" { print("bad: ${s} at ${i}"); return 1; }
+    let h = t.first();
+    if h != "GET" { print("bad first: ${h} at ${i}"); return 1; }
     i = i + 1;
   }
   print("ok");