diff --git a/runtime/src/main.c b/runtime/src/main.c
index a2bd783..ebeebeb 100644
--- a/runtime/src/main.c
+++ b/runtime/src/main.c
@@ -219,6 +219,31 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     VM.rt.db = &DB;
     DB.rt = &VM.rt; /* databasev2 2 (5c): the loop a borrow reads the WAL through */
     const char *data_dir = getenv("WO_DATA");
+    if (!data_dir || !data_dir[0]) {
+        /* databasev2 3: the loader used to refuse `resident: keys` outright;
+         * now it is accepted because UPDATE landed, but every row still
+         * lives in the log, not RAM — refuse the same way the loader's own
+         * durable:false+resident:keys refusal does, rather than let reads
+         * silently misbehave with no WAL to fold from. */
+        for (uint32_t i = 0; i < mod.class_cnt; i++) {
+            if (!(mod.classes[i].flags & WO_CLASSF_RESIDENT_KEYS)) continue;
+            const char *cname = "?";
+            int cnlen = 1;
+            uint32_t k = mod.classes[i].name;
+            if (k < mod.const_cnt && mod.consts[k].s) {
+                cname = mod.consts[k].s->data;
+                cnlen = (int)mod.consts[k].s->len;
+            }
+            fprintf(stderr,
+                    "wovm: `%.*s` is declared `resident: keys` — its rows live only "
+                    "in the write-ahead log, so it cannot run without WO_DATA.\n",
+                    cnlen, cname);
+            wo_db_destroy(&DB);
+            wo_vm_destroy(&VM);
+            wo_module_free(&mod);
+            return 2;
+        }
+    }
     if (data_dir && data_dir[0]) {
         char wal_path[512];
         snprintf(wal_path, sizeof wal_path, "%s/shard-0.wal", data_dir);
diff --git a/scripts/residency-accept.sh b/scripts/residency-accept.sh
index e8f90fb..c8e6d39 100755
--- a/scripts/residency-accept.sh
+++ b/scripts/residency-accept.sh
@@ -170,6 +170,30 @@ else
   bad "the doc example compiles" "see $LOG"
 fi
 
+# ---- 6. resident:keys refuses to run without WO_DATA -----------------------
+# CRITICAL 1: the loader stopped refusing durable:true + resident:keys once
+# UPDATE landed, and nothing replaced that refusal at runtime — a table
+# declared this way ran with no WAL to fold its rows from, misreporting
+# every read as "no such row" instead of naming the real problem.
+printf '@table(name: "items", index: [k], durable: true, resident: keys)\nclass Items { k: Text }\nfn main() -> Int { insert Items { k: "a" }; return 0; }\n' > "$WORK/reskeys.wo"
+if "$WOC" --emit "$WORK/reskeys.wo" -o "$WORK/reskeys.wob" 2>"$WORK/e"; then
+  out="$("$WOVM" "$WORK/reskeys.wob" 2>&1)"; rc=$?
+  [[ $rc -eq 2 ]] \
+    && ok "resident:keys without WO_DATA exits 2" \
+    || bad "resident:keys without WO_DATA exits 2" "exit=$rc"
+  grep -q 'Items' <<<"$out" \
+    && ok "resident:keys refusal names the offending class" \
+    || bad "resident:keys refusal names the class" "got: $out"
+  mkdir -p "$WORK/d6"
+  WO_DATA="$WORK/d6" "$WOVM" "$WORK/reskeys.wob" >/dev/null 2>&1
+  rc2=$?
+  [[ $rc2 -eq 0 ]] \
+    && ok "resident:keys WITH WO_DATA still runs" \
+    || bad "resident:keys with WO_DATA runs" "exit=$rc2"
+else
+  bad "resident:keys refusal fixture compiles" "$(head -1 "$WORK/e")"
+fi
+
 echo
 echo "residency-accept: $((pass + fail)) checks, $fail failures"
 [[ $fail -eq 0 ]] || exit 1