diff --git a/actions/deploy-artifact/run.sh b/actions/deploy-artifact/run.sh
index ccab3aa..e9d89db 100755
--- a/actions/deploy-artifact/run.sh
+++ b/actions/deploy-artifact/run.sh
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ require_digest_ref() {
 reject_secret_kind() {
   local dir="$1"
   local found_files
-  found_files=$(grep -rl 'kind: Secret' "$dir" 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ' || true)
+  found_files=$(grep -rlE '^kind:[[:space:]]*Secret[[:space:]]*$' "$dir" 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ' || true)
   if [[ -n "$found_files" ]]; then
     emit_gate_summary "deploy-artifact" "Deploy Artifact" "fail" \
       "forbidden-kind-secret" "none"
diff --git a/tests/test_deploy_platform_d.py b/tests/test_deploy_platform_d.py
index bd1543e..9337b74 100644
--- a/tests/test_deploy_platform_d.py
+++ b/tests/test_deploy_platform_d.py
@@ -514,7 +514,9 @@ def test_no_valid_envs_error(self) -> None:
 
     def test_reject_secret_kind(self) -> None:
         self.assertIn("E_FORBIDDEN_KIND", self.run_sh)
-        self.assertIn("kind: Secret", self.run_sh)
+        # Assert the anchored ERE pattern is used (not an unanchored substring),
+        # mirroring the deploy-preview fix from #62.
+        self.assertIn("^kind:[[:space:]]*Secret[[:space:]]*$", self.run_sh)
 
     def test_image_lock_missing_guard(self) -> None:
         self.assertIn("E_IMAGE_LOCK_MISSING", self.run_sh)
diff --git a/tests/test_scorecard.py b/tests/test_scorecard.py
index 6edfde0..8fe83a8 100644
--- a/tests/test_scorecard.py
+++ b/tests/test_scorecard.py
@@ -715,5 +715,117 @@ def test_render_failure_exits_via_e_render_failed(self) -> None:
             )
 
 
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# T-DA1: deploy-artifact reject_secret_kind — anchored grep guard
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+DEPLOY_ARTIFACT_RUN = ROOT / "actions/deploy-artifact/run.sh"
+
+
+def _run_reject_secret_kind(
+    dir_setup: str,
+) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
+    """
+    Source deploy-artifact/run.sh, create a temp dir with the given setup,
+    and call reject_secret_kind on it.  Returns the CompletedProcess.
+    """
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+        script = f"""
+set -euo pipefail
+cd {tmpdir!r}
+source {str(DEPLOY_ARTIFACT_RUN)!r}
+mkdir -p manifests
+{dir_setup}
+reject_secret_kind manifests
+"""
+        return subprocess.run(
+            ["bash", "-c", script],
+            check=False,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+            text=True,
+        )
+
+
+class RejectSecretKindTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """
+    T-DA1: Verify that reject_secret_kind in deploy-artifact/run.sh uses an
+    anchored pattern so SecretStore / ClusterSecretStore are not over-matched,
+    while a bare 'kind: Secret' still fails with the file named.
+    """
+
+    def test_secretstore_passes(self) -> None:
+        """kind: SecretStore must not trip the forbidden-kind guard."""
+        setup = (
+            "printf 'apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1\nkind: SecretStore\n' "
+            "> manifests/store.yaml"
+        )
+        result = _run_reject_secret_kind(setup)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            result.returncode,
+            0,
+            f"SecretStore must not be rejected (E_FORBIDDEN_KIND): {result.stderr}",
+        )
+        self.assertNotIn(
+            "E_FORBIDDEN_KIND",
+            result.stderr,
+            f"SecretStore must not trigger E_FORBIDDEN_KIND: {result.stderr}",
+        )
+
+    def test_clustersecretstore_passes(self) -> None:
+        """kind: ClusterSecretStore must not trip the forbidden-kind guard."""
+        setup = (
+            "printf 'apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1\nkind: ClusterSecretStore\n' "
+            "> manifests/cluster-store.yaml"
+        )
+        result = _run_reject_secret_kind(setup)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            result.returncode,
+            0,
+            f"ClusterSecretStore must not be rejected (E_FORBIDDEN_KIND): {result.stderr}",
+        )
+        self.assertNotIn(
+            "E_FORBIDDEN_KIND",
+            result.stderr,
+            f"ClusterSecretStore must not trigger E_FORBIDDEN_KIND: {result.stderr}",
+        )
+
+    def test_raw_secret_fails_and_names_file(self) -> None:
+        """kind: Secret must fail with E_FORBIDDEN_KIND and name the file."""
+        setup = (
+            "printf 'apiVersion: v1\nkind: Secret\nmetadata:\n  name: db-creds\n' "
+            "> manifests/db-secret.yaml"
+        )
+        result = _run_reject_secret_kind(setup)
+        self.assertNotEqual(
+            result.returncode,
+            0,
+            f"kind: Secret must be rejected (E_FORBIDDEN_KIND): {result.stderr}",
+        )
+        self.assertIn(
+            "E_FORBIDDEN_KIND",
+            result.stderr,
+            f"Rejection error must mention E_FORBIDDEN_KIND: {result.stderr}",
+        )
+        self.assertIn(
+            "db-secret.yaml",
+            result.stderr,
+            f"E_FORBIDDEN_KIND must name the offending file: {result.stderr}",
+        )
+
+    def test_anchored_pattern_in_run_sh(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Drift guard: the anchored regex must appear verbatim in
+        deploy-artifact/run.sh so this test cannot silently diverge.
+        """
+        text = DEPLOY_ARTIFACT_RUN.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        self.assertIn(
+            "^kind:[[:space:]]*Secret[[:space:]]*$",
+            text,
+            "deploy-artifact/run.sh must use anchored pattern ^kind:[[:space:]]*Secret[[:space:]]*$ in reject_secret_kind",
+        )
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()