diff --git a/careful/bin/check-careful.sh b/careful/bin/check-careful.sh
index 22bf8b922..b7dea7961 100755
--- a/careful/bin/check-careful.sh
+++ b/careful/bin/check-careful.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,38 @@ if [ -z "$CMD" ]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
+# Split command on shell operators and filter out text-only segments.
+# Segments that start with git commit, echo, cat, or printf produce text output,
+# not destructive actions — skip their content to avoid false positives.
+FILTERED_CMD=""
+IFS_SAVE="$IFS"
+IFS="$(printf '\n\t')"
+for segment in $(printf '%s' "$CMD" | sed 's/&&/\n/g; s/||/\n/g; s/;/ /g'); do
+  trimmed=$(printf '%s' "$segment" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')
+  # Skip segments that are purely text-output commands (their args may mention
+  # dangerous patterns without actually executing them)
+  case "$trimmed" in
+    git\ commit\ -m\ *|git\ commit\ --message\ *|echo\ *|printf\ *|cat\ <*)
+      continue
+      ;;
+    *)
+      if [ -n "$FILTERED_CMD" ]; then
+        FILTERED_CMD="$FILTERED_CMD && "
+      fi
+      FILTERED_CMD="${FILTERED_CMD}${trimmed}"
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+IFS="$IFS_SAVE"
+
+# Use filtered command for pattern checks; if all segments were filtered out, allow
+if [ -z "$FILTERED_CMD" ]; then
+  echo '{}'
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+CMD="$FILTERED_CMD"
+
 # Normalize: lowercase for case-insensitive SQL matching
 CMD_LOWER=$(printf '%s' "$CMD" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
 
diff --git a/test/hook-scripts.test.ts b/test/hook-scripts.test.ts
index db2e7629f..b762fa0e1 100644
--- a/test/hook-scripts.test.ts
+++ b/test/hook-scripts.test.ts
@@ -226,6 +226,66 @@ describe('check-careful.sh', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  // --- False positive prevention: patterns in text-output command arguments ---
+
+  describe('false positive prevention: text-output command segments', () => {
+    test('git commit -m with "rm -rf" in message allows', () => {
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('git commit -m "fix: remove old cache files with rm -rf ~/.cache"'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    test('git commit --message with DROP TABLE in message allows', () => {
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('git commit --message "chore: drop old analytics tables DROP TABLE events"'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    test('echo with dangerous pattern in argument allows', () => {
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('echo "About to run: rm -rf /tmp/stale-cache"'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    test('printf with dangerous pattern in format string allows', () => {
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('printf "Deleting with: rm -rf %s\\n" "/tmp/old-build"'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    test('chained command where git commit -m is filtered but rm follows allows the rm warning', () => {
+      // git commit -m gets filtered, but the `rm -rf /tmp/data` after && should still warn
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('git commit -m "cleanup rm -rf /tmp/data" && rm -rf /tmp/data'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBe('ask');
+      expect(output.message).toContain('recursive delete');
+    });
+
+    test('cat with dangerous pattern in filename allows', () => {
+      const { exitCode, output } = runHook(
+        CAREFUL_SCRIPT,
+        carefulInput('cat /tmp/notes-about-rm-rf-commands.txt'),
+      );
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(output.permissionDecision).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+  });
+
   // --- Edge cases ---
 
   describe('edge cases', () => {