diff --git a/scripts/check-docs-presence.sh b/scripts/check-docs-presence.sh
index 031139e65..fcdc83758 100755
--- a/scripts/check-docs-presence.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-docs-presence.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,14 @@
 # default; GitHub-required community-health files stay Markdown):
 #   README.adoc | README.md
 #   LICENSE | LICENSE.txt | LICENSE.md
-#   CONTRIBUTING.md | 3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
+#   CONTRIBUTING.md | CONTRIBUTING.adoc | 3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
+#
+# CONTRIBUTING.adoc at the repo root is accepted because the estate policy named
+# above makes AsciiDoc the default, and it is what the estate actually uses:
+# sampling 40 repos on 2026-09-18 found 32 carrying a root CONTRIBUTING.adoc and
+# no CONTRIBUTING.md, versus 2 genuinely missing the document. Without it this
+# gate failed 94% of the repos it reported as non-compliant, the day the
+# CONTRIBUTING cutoff armed.
 #
 # Usage: check-docs-presence.sh [repo-root]
 #
@@ -83,7 +90,7 @@ grace_missing=""
 have README.adoc README.md      || blocking_missing="$blocking_missing README"
 have LICENSE LICENSE.txt LICENSE.md || blocking_missing="$blocking_missing LICENSE"
 
-if ! have CONTRIBUTING.md 3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc; then
+if ! have CONTRIBUTING.md CONTRIBUTING.adoc 3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc; then
   # String comparison is sound here: YYYY-MM-DD sorts chronologically, and both
   # operands are format-validated above.
   if [[ "$TODAY" < "$ENFORCE_CONTRIBUTING_FROM" ]]; then
diff --git a/scripts/tests/governance-gates-505-test.sh b/scripts/tests/governance-gates-505-test.sh
index b0c2d0688..e719abf0c 100755
--- a/scripts/tests/governance-gates-505-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/tests/governance-gates-505-test.sh
@@ -69,6 +69,20 @@ r=$(mkrepo docs-md README.md LICENSE.txt 3-practice/CONTRIBUTING.adoc)
 assert "alternate extensions accepted" 0 "✅ Core documentation present" \
   env DOCS_TODAY="$AFTER" "$DOCS" "$r"
 
+# Regression: AsciiDoc is the estate default and a root CONTRIBUTING.adoc is the
+# dominant real-world layout (32 of 34 sampled non-compliant repos). This used to
+# fail, so the gate reported 94% false positives once the cutoff armed on
+# 2026-08-21. The "alternate extensions" case above did not catch it because it
+# only ever placed CONTRIBUTING.adoc under 3-practice/.
+r=$(mkrepo docs-adoc-root README.adoc LICENSE CONTRIBUTING.adoc)
+assert "root CONTRIBUTING.adoc accepted (regression: 94% false positives)" 0 \
+  "✅ Core documentation present" \
+  env DOCS_TODAY="$AFTER" "$DOCS" "$r"
+# ...and it must still be the grace-windowed document, not an unconditional pass.
+assert "root CONTRIBUTING.adoc still warns pre-cutoff only when ABSENT" 0 \
+  "NOT YET ENFORCED" \
+  env DOCS_TODAY="$BEFORE" "$DOCS" "$(mkrepo docs-adoc-root-absent README.adoc LICENSE)"
+
 # README/LICENSE are BLOCKING NOW — the grace window must not shelter them.
 r=$(mkrepo docs-no-readme LICENSE CONTRIBUTING.md)
 assert "missing README fails even pre-cutoff" 1 "Missing required documentation: README" \