diff --git a/bin/gstack-update-check b/bin/gstack-update-check
index 2d6d8af44..3573c7878 100755
--- a/bin/gstack-update-check
+++ b/bin/gstack-update-check
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@
 #   GSTACK_STATE_DIR    — override ~/.gstack state directory
 set -euo pipefail
 
+# A crash must not read as "up to date" (#1974). With set -e, any unguarded
+# failure used to exit silently — and silence IS the up-to-date signal, so a
+# broken check was indistinguishable from a current install (observed live as
+# a 45-release silent-staleness incident). -E propagates the trap into
+# functions/subshells; exit 0 keeps callers' `|| true` from eating the line.
+set -E
+trap 'rc=$?; echo "CHECK_FAILED gstack-update-check crashed (line $LINENO, rc=$rc) — update status UNKNOWN, not up-to-date"; exit 0' ERR
+
 GSTACK_DIR="${GSTACK_DIR:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)}"
 STATE_DIR="${GSTACK_STATE_DIR:-$HOME/.gstack}"
 
diff --git a/test/update-check-crash-sentinel.test.ts b/test/update-check-crash-sentinel.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..73177423a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/update-check-crash-sentinel.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import { spawnSync } from 'child_process';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as os from 'os';
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+// #1974: gstack-update-check runs under set -e, and its "up to date" signal
+// is SILENCE — so any unguarded crash used to exit quietly and read as
+// up-to-date (a real 45-release silent-staleness incident). The ERR trap must
+// convert a crash into a visible CHECK_FAILED line, and the healthy path must
+// stay silent.
+
+const ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, '..');
+const SCRIPT = path.join(ROOT, 'bin', 'gstack-update-check');
+
+function run(env: Record<string, string>) {
+  return spawnSync('bash', [SCRIPT], {
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+    env: { ...process.env, ...env },
+    timeout: 15000,
+  });
+}
+
+describe('gstack-update-check crash sentinel (#1974)', () => {
+  test('a mid-script crash emits CHECK_FAILED instead of silent up-to-date', () => {
+    const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gstack-upd-'));
+    try {
+      // STATE_DIR pointing at a FILE makes the state mkdir fail — an
+      // unguarded failure representative of any mid-script crash.
+      const asFile = path.join(dir, 'statefile');
+      fs.writeFileSync(asFile, '');
+      const r = run({ GSTACK_STATE_DIR: asFile, GSTACK_REMOTE_URL: 'file:///dev/null' });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(0);
+      expect(r.stdout).toContain('CHECK_FAILED');
+      expect(r.stdout).toContain('UNKNOWN');
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('healthy up-to-date path stays silent (no sentinel noise)', () => {
+    const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gstack-upd-'));
+    try {
+      const r = run({ GSTACK_STATE_DIR: path.join(dir, 'state'), GSTACK_REMOTE_URL: 'file:///dev/null' });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(0);
+      expect(r.stdout).not.toContain('CHECK_FAILED');
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});