diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 025d503f6..4ffac2bfb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -344,6 +344,8 @@ ac-vst/vst3sdk/
 # + the root alias (notepat.com.amxd above) but don't bloat the repo
 # with per-build binaries.
 system/public/m4l/notepat.com/*.amxd
+# deploy.fish writes this post-pull on lith — not a dev artifact.
+system/public/.commit-ref
 
 # Emacs performance logs (keep directory, ignore log files)
 .emacs-logs/*.log
diff --git a/ac-m4l/build-notepat.mjs b/ac-m4l/build-notepat.mjs
index a6b9b1ff6..2f30ae193 100644
--- a/ac-m4l/build-notepat.mjs
+++ b/ac-m4l/build-notepat.mjs
@@ -48,13 +48,15 @@ function gitHash() {
 }
 
 function gitDirty() {
+  // Only tracked-file modifications count as "dirty" for versioning —
+  // stray untracked files on the server (like deploy.fish's
+  // system/public/.commit-ref) shouldn't make every deploy's version
+  // look like a dev build.
   try {
-    const out = execSync("git status --porcelain", { cwd: REPO_ROOT })
-      .toString()
-      .trim();
-    return out.length > 0;
-  } catch {
+    execSync("git diff --quiet HEAD --", { cwd: REPO_ROOT, stdio: "pipe" });
     return false;
+  } catch {
+    return true;
   }
 }