diff --git a/cmd/orchestra-worker/main.go b/cmd/orchestra-worker/main.go
index 12a0ec4..8579e9a 100644
--- a/cmd/orchestra-worker/main.go
+++ b/cmd/orchestra-worker/main.go
@@ -578,6 +578,14 @@ func (w *worker) releaseReady(ctx context.Context) {
 				continue
 			}
 			outcome, err := w.submit(ctx, id, s, evidence)
+			if errors.Is(err, errReviewArtifact) {
+				// Only the reviewing agent can fix this, and it is still alive
+				// to be told. Dropping the done marker stops the five-second
+				// retry and makes the corrected file the thing that finishes.
+				w.recordError(fmt.Errorf("submit %s: %w", id, err))
+				w.answerRefusedReview(ctx, id, s, err)
+				continue
+			}
 			if err != nil {
 				w.recordError(fmt.Errorf("submit %s: %w", id, err))
 				log.Printf("submit %s: %v", id, err)
@@ -1026,6 +1034,29 @@ func (w *worker) finalize(ctx context.Context, id string, s herdr.Session) (comp
 // assert.
 const reviewFile = "review.json"
 
+// errReviewArtifact is a refusal only the reviewing agent can fix. It is
+// separated from every other submission failure because recording it in worker
+// health alone would leave a live session being retried every five seconds
+// with nothing telling it what is wrong — the silent-loop shape this codebase
+// keeps producing (F39, F42).
+var errReviewArtifact = errors.New("review artifact")
+
+// answerRefusedReview tells the reviewing session why its finish was refused
+// and clears the done marker so a corrected artifact is what finishes the
+// phase. The refusal survives a failed send: the marker is dropped either way,
+// and the agent writes it again when it has written the file.
+func (w *worker) answerRefusedReview(ctx context.Context, id string, s herdr.Session, cause error) {
+	text := "Orchestra refused your completion: " + cause.Error() +
+		"\n\nWrite .orchestra/" + reviewFile + " as {\"findings\": [...]}, an empty list if you found nothing, then write .orchestra/done again. Do not set a commit sha."
+	if err := w.sendPrompt(ctx, s, text); err != nil {
+		w.recordError(fmt.Errorf("deliver review refusal %s: %w", id, err))
+	}
+	if err := os.Remove(filepath.Join(s.Worktree, ".orchestra", "done")); err != nil {
+		w.recordError(fmt.Errorf("clear done marker %s: %w", id, err))
+	}
+	log.Printf("completion %s refused: %v", id, cause)
+}
+
 // submit seals the review and hands the result to the human through a pull
 // request. It is the only path from a reviewed change to TaskSubmitted; the
 // direct completion call remains for a project with no forge configured.
@@ -1036,14 +1067,14 @@ func (w *worker) submit(ctx context.Context, id string, s herdr.Session, e compl
 		// An absent review file is not a pass. Submission needs a sealed
 		// review, and inventing an empty one would launder "the reviewer wrote
 		// nothing" into "the reviewer found nothing".
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("review phase sealed no .orchestra/%s: %w", reviewFile, err)
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: the review phase sealed no .orchestra/%s: %v", errReviewArtifact, reviewFile, err)
 	}
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &result); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf(".orchestra/%s: %w", reviewFile, err)
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: .orchestra/%s is not valid JSON: %v", errReviewArtifact, reviewFile, err)
 	}
 	result.ResultSHA = e.ResultSHA
 	if err := result.Validate(); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf(".orchestra/%s: %w", reviewFile, err)
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: .orchestra/%s: %v", errReviewArtifact, reviewFile, err)
 	}
 	l := w.leases[id]
 	// The gate result is bound to the commit the gate ran against, which