diff --git a/packages/loopover-engine/src/objective-anchor.ts b/packages/loopover-engine/src/objective-anchor.ts
index 915d65eff9..c02b217a89 100644
--- a/packages/loopover-engine/src/objective-anchor.ts
+++ b/packages/loopover-engine/src/objective-anchor.ts
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ function kindsFromPath(path: string): ObjectiveAnchorChangeKind[] {
   if (DOC_EXTENSIONS.has(extensionOf(path)) || segments.includes("docs") || filename.toLowerCase() === "readme.md") {
     kinds.push("docs");
   }
-  if (segments.some((segment) => CI_SEGMENTS.has(segment)) || filename.endsWith(".yml") || filename.endsWith(".yaml")) {
+  if (segments.some((segment) => CI_SEGMENTS.has(segment))) {
     kinds.push("ci");
   }
   if (CONFIG_FILENAMES.has(filename) || filename.endsWith(".jsonc") || filename.endsWith(".toml")) {
diff --git a/packages/loopover-engine/test/objective-anchor.test.ts b/packages/loopover-engine/test/objective-anchor.test.ts
index 8de3808495..5c990b81f2 100644
--- a/packages/loopover-engine/test/objective-anchor.test.ts
+++ b/packages/loopover-engine/test/objective-anchor.test.ts
@@ -391,3 +391,18 @@ test("renderObjectiveAnchorAuditMarkdown escapes markdown controls and collapses
   assert.ok(markdown.includes("- src/review/\\[unsafe\\].ts"));
   assert.ok(markdown.includes("- src/review/\\<unsafe\\>.ts"));
 });
+
+test("extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures does not classify non-CI YAML as ci (#8873)", () => {
+  const features = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
+    paths: [".loopover.yml", "docs/mkdocs.yml", "config/app.yaml"],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(features.changeKinds.includes("ci"), false);
+  assert.ok(features.changeKinds.includes("config"));
+  assert.ok(features.changeKinds.includes("docs"));
+
+  const ciWorkflow = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
+    paths: [".github/workflows/ci.yml"],
+  });
+  assert.ok(ciWorkflow.changeKinds.includes("ci"));
+});
diff --git a/test/unit/engine-objective-anchor-config-classification.test.ts b/test/unit/engine-objective-anchor-config-classification.test.ts
index f2afafae2f..a1c0c50bb8 100644
--- a/test/unit/engine-objective-anchor-config-classification.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/engine-objective-anchor-config-classification.test.ts
@@ -17,24 +17,26 @@ describe("loopover-engine objective-anchor config-filename classification", () =
     expect(features.paths).toEqual([".loopover.yml"]);
   });
 
-  // The dependency check must use the same exact-match discipline as the adjacent CONFIG_FILENAMES
-  // check: an anchored /^package(?:-lock)?\.json$/ so a differently-prefixed sibling is NOT tagged
-  // "dependency" (#8874). Exercised on the vitest side because Codecov grades this file via vitest.
-  it("tags only exact package(.-lock).json as a 'dependency' change kind, not a prefixed sibling (#8874)", () => {
-    const dependency = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
-      paths: ["package.json", "package-lock.json"],
+  // #8873: bare .yml/.yaml extension must not imply "ci" — only real CI path segments.
+  // Vitest-side coverage is required so codecov/patch sees both branches of kindsFromPath's CI check
+  // (package-local node:test uploads are invisible to the backend vitest lcov).
+  it("does not classify non-CI YAML as ci, while still classifying CI workflow YAML (#8873)", () => {
+    const nonCi = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
+      paths: [".loopover.yml", "docs/mkdocs.yml", "config/app.yaml"],
       labels: [],
       titles: [],
       notes: [],
     });
-    expect(dependency.changeKinds).toContain("dependency");
+    expect(nonCi.changeKinds).not.toContain("ci");
+    expect(nonCi.changeKinds).toContain("config");
+    expect(nonCi.changeKinds).toContain("docs");
 
-    const notDependency = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
-      paths: ["sub-package.json", "mock-package.json"],
+    const ciWorkflow = extractObjectiveAnchorFeatures({
+      paths: [".github/workflows/ci.yml"],
       labels: [],
       titles: [],
       notes: [],
     });
-    expect(notDependency.changeKinds).not.toContain("dependency");
+    expect(ciWorkflow.changeKinds).toContain("ci");
   });
 });