diff --git a/packages/util/retention/src/index.ts b/packages/util/retention/src/index.ts
index 91f6412691..f0f40ba7af 100644
--- a/packages/util/retention/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/util/retention/src/index.ts
@@ -388,23 +388,33 @@ export class TextRetainer {
   finish(): RetainedText {
     const prefixLen = Math.min(this.total, this.prefixCap)
     const suffixLen = Math.min(this.total - prefixLen, this.suffixCap)
-    const omitted = this.omittedAt(this.total)
-    const truncated = omitted > 0
 
     const prefix = concat(this.prefixChunks) // exactly prefixLen bytes (prefixHeld === prefixLen)
     const suffix = concat(this.suffixChunks).subarray(this.suffixHeld - suffixLen)
 
-    // With nothing omitted, prefix and suffix are ADJACENT slices of one stream
-    // (prefixLen + suffixLen === total), so the head|tail split is artificial: a
-    // codepoint may span it. Decode the contiguous whole as one buffer — trimming
-    // or decoding the halves separately here would corrupt a boundary-spanning
-    // codepoint though no content was actually dropped. Only a real omitted gap
-    // makes each side a true cut: trim each to a UTF-8 boundary and decode
-    // separately so a codepoint is never reconstructed across the gap.
-    const text = truncated
-      ? decoder.decode(trimTrailingPartialUtf8(prefix)) + decoder.decode(trimLeadingContinuationUtf8(suffix))
+    // With nothing omitted by budget, prefix and suffix are ADJACENT slices of
+    // one stream (prefixLen + suffixLen === total), so the head|tail split is
+    // artificial: a codepoint may span it. Decode the contiguous whole as one
+    // buffer — trimming or decoding the halves separately here would corrupt a
+    // boundary-spanning codepoint though no content was dropped. Only a real
+    // omitted gap makes each side a true cut: trim each to a UTF-8 boundary and
+    // decode separately so a codepoint is never reconstructed across the gap.
+    const budgetOmitted = this.omittedAt(this.total)
+    const [keptPrefix, keptSuffix] = budgetOmitted > 0
+      ? [trimTrailingPartialUtf8(prefix), trimLeadingContinuationUtf8(suffix)]
+      : [prefix, suffix]
+    const text = budgetOmitted > 0
+      ? decoder.decode(keptPrefix) + decoder.decode(keptSuffix)
       : decoder.decode(concat([prefix, suffix]))
 
+    // Report omission against the bytes ACTUALLY returned, not the pre-trim
+    // budget: a boundary trim drops partial-codepoint bytes too, so an exact
+    // count derived from the budget alone would overstate the retained text (and
+    // any "Omitted N bytes" notice built from it would be a lie). total_seen −
+    // retained stays a valid lower bound under `atLeast` (true total ≥ seen).
+    const omitted = this.total - keptPrefix.length - keptSuffix.length
+    const truncated = omitted > 0
+
     return {
       text,
       truncated,
diff --git a/packages/util/retention/tests/retention.spec.ts b/packages/util/retention/tests/retention.spec.ts
index fd512508be..ec424595cb 100644
--- a/packages/util/retention/tests/retention.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/util/retention/tests/retention.spec.ts
@@ -223,8 +223,10 @@ describe('TextRetainer — UTF-8 boundary handling', () => {
     const result = r.finish()
     expect(result.text).toBe('a') // partial '€' dropped, no U+FFFD
     expect(result.text).not.toContain('�')
-    // Omission counts BYTES not kept by retention: 5 total − 2 prefix = 3.
-    expect(result.omittedBytes).toEqual<Omitted>({ kind: 'exact', count: 3 })
+    // Omission counts bytes ACTUALLY absent from the returned text, including
+    // the partial 'E2' the boundary trim dropped: 5 total − 1 retained = 4
+    // (not the pre-trim budget of 3, which would overstate what was kept).
+    expect(result.omittedBytes).toEqual<Omitted>({ kind: 'exact', count: 4 })
   })
 
   it('trims a leading partial codepoint at the tail cut', () => {
@@ -236,6 +238,21 @@ describe('TextRetainer — UTF-8 boundary handling', () => {
     const result = r.finish()
     expect(result.text).toBe('b') // partial '€' at the front dropped
     expect(result.text).not.toContain('�')
+    // Honest count: 5 total − 1 retained ('b') = 4, including the trimmed AC.
+    expect(result.omittedBytes).toEqual<Omitted>({ kind: 'exact', count: 4 })
+  })
+
+  it('omitted count matches the bytes actually absent, across a headTail boundary trim', () => {
+    // Regression: the exact count must equal total − retained (post-trim), never
+    // the pre-trim budget. 'a€€b' is 8 bytes (61 E2828C… ×2 61? no: 61 E2 82 AC
+    // E2 82 AC 62). headBytes 2 keeps 'a'+partial-E2 → trims to 'a' (1 byte);
+    // tailBytes 2 keeps partial-AC+'b' → trims to 'b' (1 byte). Retained text is
+    // 2 bytes, so omitted must be 8 − 2 = 6 — not the budget's 8 − 2 − 2 = 4.
+    const r = new TextRetainer({ kind: 'headTail', headBytes: 2, tailBytes: 2 })
+    r.push('a€€b')
+    const result = r.finish()
+    const retainedBytes = new TextEncoder().encode(result.text).length
+    expect(result.omittedBytes).toEqual<Omitted>({ kind: 'exact', count: 8 - retainedBytes })
   })
 
   it('preserves a whole multibyte codepoint that fits exactly', () => {