diff --git a/scripts/test-verify-workspace-install-docs.sh b/scripts/test-verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
index c1546d1b..92e96cd0 100755
--- a/scripts/test-verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
@@ -245,6 +245,27 @@ switch (mutation) {
   case "nginx-additional-bypass":
     changed = original.replace("    location / {", "    location /bypass {\n        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;\n    }\n\n    location / {");
     break;
+  case "nginx-comment-only-auth":
+    changed = original.replace("    location / {", `    location /comment-only-auth {
+        # auth_request /_authenticate;
+        # auth_request_set $thoth_principal_issuer $upstream_http_x_thoth_principal_issuer;
+        # auth_request_set $thoth_principal_subject $upstream_http_x_thoth_principal_subject;
+        # auth_request_set $thoth_principal_display_name $upstream_http_x_thoth_principal_display_name;
+        # auth_request_set $thoth_is_admin $upstream_http_x_thoth_is_admin;
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Principal-Issuer "";
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Principal-Subject "";
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Principal-Display-Name "";
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Is-Admin "";
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Trusted-Principal-Issuer $thoth_principal_issuer;
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Trusted-Principal-Subject $thoth_principal_subject;
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Trusted-Principal-Display-Name $thoth_principal_display_name;
+        # proxy_set_header X-Thoth-Trusted-Is-Admin $thoth_is_admin;
+        proxy_set_header X-Comment-Literal "quoted#value"; # preserve the quoted hash
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080; # active frontend path
+    }
+
+    location / {`);
+    break;
   case "caddy-no-auth":
     changed = original.replace("forward_auth auth-gateway:4180 {", "# forward authentication omitted");
     break;
@@ -412,6 +433,10 @@ expect_guide_rejected \
   "Nginx additional frontend bypass location" verify_reverse_proxy_nginx_guide \
   "$root/docs/install/reverse-proxy-nginx.md" docs/install/reverse-proxy-nginx.md nginx-additional-bypass \
   "Nginx frontend upstream location bypasses complete authentication contract"
+expect_guide_rejected \
+  "Nginx frontend auth directives only in comments" verify_reverse_proxy_nginx_guide \
+  "$root/docs/install/reverse-proxy-nginx.md" docs/install/reverse-proxy-nginx.md nginx-comment-only-auth \
+  "Nginx frontend upstream location bypasses complete authentication contract"
 expect_guide_rejected \
   "Caddy identity without authentication" verify_reverse_proxy_caddy_guide \
   "$root/docs/install/reverse-proxy-caddy.md" docs/install/reverse-proxy-caddy.md caddy-no-auth \
diff --git a/scripts/verify-workspace-install-docs.sh b/scripts/verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
index e38576aa..35435519 100755
--- a/scripts/verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify-workspace-install-docs.sh
@@ -639,6 +639,48 @@ verify_reverse_proxy_nginx_guide() {
 const fs = require("fs");
 const source = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2], "utf8");
 const block = [...source.matchAll(/```nginx\n([\s\S]*?)```/g)].map((match) => match[1]).join("\n");
+function stripNginxComments(text) {
+  let effective = "";
+  let quote = null;
+  let escaped = false;
+  let comment = false;
+  for (const character of text) {
+    if (comment) {
+      if (character === "\n") {
+        effective += character;
+        comment = false;
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (escaped) {
+      effective += character;
+      escaped = false;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (character === "\\") {
+      effective += character;
+      escaped = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (quote !== null) {
+      effective += character;
+      if (character === quote) quote = null;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (character === '"' || character === "'") {
+      effective += character;
+      quote = character;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (character === "#") {
+      comment = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+    effective += character;
+  }
+  return effective;
+}
+const effectiveBlock = stripNginxComments(block);
 const tokens = [
   "listen 443 ssl;", "ssl_certificate ", "ssl_certificate_key ",
   "location = /_authenticate {", "internal;", "proxy_pass http://auth-gateway:4180/verify;",
@@ -646,13 +688,13 @@ const tokens = [
   "proxy_http_version 1.1;", "proxy_buffering off;", "proxy_cache off;",
   "proxy_read_timeout 3600s;",
 ];
-if (/127\.0\.0\.1:8787|\bcore:8787\b/.test(block) || !block.includes("http://127.0.0.1:8080")) {
+if (/127\.0\.0\.1:8787|\bcore:8787\b/.test(effectiveBlock) || !effectiveBlock.includes("http://127.0.0.1:8080")) {
   throw new Error("Nginx proxy must forward only to frontend on 127.0.0.1:8080");
 }
 for (const token of tokens) {
-  if (!block.includes(token)) throw new Error(`Nginx proxy lacks structural token: ${token}`);
+  if (!effectiveBlock.includes(token)) throw new Error(`Nginx proxy lacks structural token: ${token}`);
 }
-if (/proxy_set_header\s+X-Thoth-Trusted-[^;]+\$http_/i.test(block)) {
+if (/proxy_set_header\s+X-Thoth-Trusted-[^;]+\$http_/i.test(effectiveBlock)) {
   throw new Error("Nginx proxy trusts a client-supplied identity header");
 }
 const identities = [
@@ -681,7 +723,7 @@ function nginxLocations(text) {
   }
   return locations;
 }
-const locations = nginxLocations(block);
+const locations = nginxLocations(effectiveBlock);
 const authLocations = locations.filter((location) => location.selector === "= /_authenticate");
 if (authLocations.length !== 1) {
   throw new Error("Nginx proxy must define exactly one authentication location");