diff --git a/internal/herdr/adapter.go b/internal/herdr/adapter.go
index 7113d62..199f790 100644
--- a/internal/herdr/adapter.go
+++ b/internal/herdr/adapter.go
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ const handoffPrompt = `Orchestra is about to rotate this task. Write ONLY the fo
 NEXT: the single next action (one line, at most 200 characters).
 WHY: why that is next (one line, at most 200 characters).
 REMAINING: outstanding items, one line each, at most 200 characters each. If none: NONE.
-DEAD ENDS: approaches tried that failed — "tried X → failed because Y", one per line. If none: NONE.
+DEAD ENDS: approaches tried that failed — "tried X → failed because Y", one per line ("->" is also accepted). If none: NONE.
 OPEN Q: unresolved decisions, one line each. If none: NONE.
 LEARNED: constraints discovered that are NOT in TASK.md, one line each. If none: NONE.
 
@@ -500,15 +500,23 @@ func parseHandoffAnswer(answer string) (handoffAnswer, error) {
 		return out, fmt.Errorf("DEAD ENDS: %w", err)
 	}
 	for _, item := range deadEnds {
+		// Accept the ASCII arrow as well as the typographic one. Run 9 lost a
+		// lease to this: the agent wrote "->", the content was exactly right,
+		// and the refused handoff failed the release rather than the turn.
+		// A separator is not the thing being validated.
 		parts := strings.SplitN(item, "→", 2)
+		if len(parts) != 2 {
+			parts = strings.SplitN(item, "->", 2)
+		}
 		if len(parts) != 2 {
 			return out, fmt.Errorf("DEAD ENDS: want 'tried X → failed because Y'")
 		}
-		if !strings.HasPrefix(parts[0], "tried ") || !strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(parts[1]), "failed because ") {
+		left, right := strings.TrimSpace(parts[0]), strings.TrimSpace(parts[1])
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(left, "tried ") || !strings.HasPrefix(right, "failed because ") {
 			return out, fmt.Errorf("DEAD ENDS: want 'tried X → failed because Y'")
 		}
-		tried := strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(parts[0], "tried "))
-		why := strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(parts[1], "failed because "))
+		tried := strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(left, "tried "))
+		why := strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(right, "failed because "))
 		if tried == "" || why == "" {
 			return out, fmt.Errorf("DEAD ENDS: want 'tried X → failed because Y'")
 		}
diff --git a/internal/herdr/adapter_test.go b/internal/herdr/adapter_test.go
index 63d9d4e..b850dab 100644
--- a/internal/herdr/adapter_test.go
+++ b/internal/herdr/adapter_test.go
@@ -365,3 +365,31 @@ func TestLastObservedCommandSkipsOrchestrasOwnHandoffWrite(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// Run 9 lost a lease because the agent wrote "->" instead of "→". The content
+// was exactly right, the handoff was refused, and a refused handoff fails the
+// release rather than the turn.
+func TestDeadEndAcceptsEitherArrowAndStripsThePrefixes(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, arrow := range []string{"→", "->"} {
+		a, err := parseHandoffAnswer(`NEXT: inspect the failing integration test
+WHY: isolate the regression before changing production code
+REMAINING: fix the assertion after identifying the cause
+DEAD ENDS: tried finding ids "F1".."F8" ` + arrow + ` failed because the schema requires lowercase
+OPEN Q: whether the remote worker has the updated fixture
+LEARNED: the fixture requires a committed scratch branch
+`)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("arrow %q: %v", arrow, err)
+		}
+		if len(a.DeadEnds) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("arrow %q: parsed %d dead ends", arrow, len(a.DeadEnds))
+		}
+		d := a.DeadEnds[0]
+		if d.Tried != `finding ids "F1".."F8"` {
+			t.Errorf("arrow %q: tried = %q", arrow, d.Tried)
+		}
+		if d.WhyFailed != "the schema requires lowercase" {
+			t.Errorf("arrow %q: why_failed = %q", arrow, d.WhyFailed)
+		}
+	}
+}