diff --git a/test/catalog-mode-full.test.ts b/test/catalog-mode-full.test.ts
index 009db33ee..c964f35ab 100644
--- a/test/catalog-mode-full.test.ts
+++ b/test/catalog-mode-full.test.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ describe('--catalog-mode=full opt-out behavior (smoke)', () => {
   test('--catalog-mode=full produces multi-line description in frontmatter', () => {
     // Save the trim'd state so we can restore it.
     const trimmedShip = fs.readFileSync(SHIP_SKILL, 'utf-8');
-    expect(trimmedShip).toMatch(/^description: Ship workflow:[^\n]*\(gstack\)\n/m);
+    // #1778: the trimmed ship description has an interior colon ("Ship workflow:")
+    // and is now YAML-quoted — tolerate the optional surrounding quotes.
+    expect(trimmedShip).toMatch(/^description: "?Ship workflow:[^\n]*\(gstack\)"?\n/m);
 
     try {
       // Run with --catalog-mode=full. Mutates working tree.
@@ -100,7 +102,8 @@ describe('--catalog-mode=full opt-out behavior (smoke)', () => {
       }
       // Sanity-check the restored state matches what we saw at the start.
       const restoredShip = fs.readFileSync(SHIP_SKILL, 'utf-8');
-      expect(restoredShip).toMatch(/^description: Ship workflow:[^\n]*\(gstack\)\n/m);
+      // #1778: restored trim state has the YAML-quoted (interior-colon) description.
+      expect(restoredShip).toMatch(/^description: "?Ship workflow:[^\n]*\(gstack\)"?\n/m);
     }
   }, 180_000);
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/golden/claude-ship-SKILL.md b/test/fixtures/golden/claude-ship-SKILL.md
index 12e4c7799..c175f67d4 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/golden/claude-ship-SKILL.md
+++ b/test/fixtures/golden/claude-ship-SKILL.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name: ship
 preamble-tier: 4
 version: 1.0.0
-description: Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION, update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. (gstack)
+description: "Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION, update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. (gstack)"
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
   - Read