diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a1e9dc0c..a916e69a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
   without changing the centrally managed review-agent credential contract.
 
 ### Security
+- Require the exact `TLSConfiguration` type before TLS context creation. A
+  subclass can no longer override `create_ssl_context()` to replace the reviewed
+  immutable policy with a context that disables hostname or certificate
+  verification; private trust, mTLS, and explicit TLS 1.2 compatibility remain
+  available through the documented declarative fields.
 - Canonicalize the public manifest writer's optional `forbidden_root` before any
   output-parent creation or output-path access. Missing, non-directory,
   symlinked, unresolvable, or otherwise noncanonical roots now fail with one
diff --git a/docs/research/tls-configuration.md b/docs/research/tls-configuration.md
index 7ee06bf1..e9cd100c 100644
--- a/docs/research/tls-configuration.md
+++ b/docs/research/tls-configuration.md
@@ -50,6 +50,16 @@ trusted integration point for deferred secret retrieval. Every transport owns
 the fresh context that results, eliminating post-validation caller mutation as
 an authority channel.
 
+The public context helper accepts only the exact `TLSConfiguration` type before
+it invokes `create_ssl_context()`. Subclassing this security value object is not
+an extension mechanism: a subclass could otherwise replace
+`create_ssl_context()` with caller-controlled dispatch and return a context that
+disables hostname verification or certificate verification while still passing
+an `isinstance` check. Rejecting subclasses before that method is invoked keeps
+the reviewed configuration fields, not polymorphic code, authoritative for TLS
+policy. This is a pre-1.0 secure-default tightening and does not claim to sandbox
+arbitrary trusted Python executing inside the embedding process.
+
 ## Trust-store semantics
 
 The default preserves EgressWeave's existing HTTPX trust behavior while
@@ -103,6 +113,11 @@ default. An existing endpoint that cannot yet negotiate TLS 1.3 can opt into
 `minimum_version=ssl.TLSVersion.TLSv1_2`; this is an explicit compatibility
 exception that should be inventoried and removed after the peer is upgraded.
 
+Applications that previously subclassed `TLSConfiguration` must migrate to an
+exact instance using the documented declarative fields. Private trust roots,
+mutual-TLS identities, deferred private-key passwords, and the explicit TLS 1.2
+compatibility floor remain supported without subclassing.
+
 The configuration is threaded through both public builders and both
 already-validated pinned-client builders. It changes only TLS trust and client
 identity; exact authority, DNS pinning, proxy isolation, request framing and
@@ -114,6 +129,9 @@ independently enforced.
 Aviram, N. (2026). *Deprecating obsolete key exchange methods in TLS 1.2 and
 DTLS 1.2* (RFC 10015). RFC Editor. https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc10015.html
 
+MITRE Corporation. (2026). *CWE-295: Improper certificate validation* (CWE
+Version 4.20). https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/295.html
+
 OpenSSL Project Authors. (2026). *openssl-ciphers*. OpenSSL 3.0 documentation.
 https://docs.openssl.org/3.0/man1/openssl-ciphers/
 
diff --git a/src/egressweave/tls.py b/src/egressweave/tls.py
index 556de828..e242b37c 100644
--- a/src/egressweave/tls.py
+++ b/src/egressweave/tls.py
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ def create_egress_ssl_context(
     """Create the default HTTPX context or a fresh configured enterprise context."""
     if configuration is None:
         return _create_httpx_ssl_context(verify=True, trust_env=False)
-    if not isinstance(configuration, TLSConfiguration):
+    if type(configuration) is not TLSConfiguration:
         raise TypeError("tls_configuration must be TLSConfiguration or None")
     return configuration.create_ssl_context()
 
diff --git a/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type.py b/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3daa619f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""Exact-type security contracts for enterprise TLS configuration."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ssl
+
+import pytest
+
+from egressweave.tls import TLSConfiguration, create_egress_ssl_context
+
+
+class _VerificationDisablingTLSConfiguration(TLSConfiguration):
+    """Return an insecure context if subclass-controlled dispatch is allowed."""
+
+    def create_ssl_context(self) -> ssl.SSLContext:
+        """Build a context that deliberately violates the EgressWeave TLS contract."""
+        context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
+        context.check_hostname = False
+        context.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
+        return context
+
+
+def test_context_helper_rejects_tls_configuration_subclasses_before_dispatch() -> None:
+    """Reject polymorphic configuration before subclass code can replace TLS policy."""
+    configuration = _VerificationDisablingTLSConfiguration()
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="TLSConfiguration or None"):
+        create_egress_ssl_context(configuration)
diff --git a/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type_documentation.py b/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type_documentation.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6d2f01d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_tls_configuration_exact_type_documentation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""Documentation contracts for the exact TLS configuration type boundary."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPOSITORY_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+TLS_GUIDE = REPOSITORY_ROOT / "docs" / "research" / "tls-configuration.md"
+CHANGELOG = REPOSITORY_ROOT / "CHANGELOG.md"
+
+
+def _normalized(path: Path) -> str:
+    """Return repository documentation with insignificant whitespace collapsed."""
+    return " ".join(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").split())
+
+
+def test_tls_guide_requires_exact_configuration_type_before_dispatch() -> None:
+    """Explain why subclass dispatch cannot replace the reviewed TLS policy."""
+    guide = _normalized(TLS_GUIDE)
+
+    assert "exact `TLSConfiguration` type" in guide
+    assert "subclass" in guide
+    assert "before" in guide and "create_ssl_context" in guide
+    assert "hostname verification" in guide
+    assert "certificate verification" in guide
+
+
+def test_changelog_records_exact_tls_configuration_type_boundary() -> None:
+    """Keep the pre-1.0 TLS policy-integrity tightening visible to integrators."""
+    changelog = _normalized(CHANGELOG)
+
+    assert "exact `TLSConfiguration` type" in changelog
+    assert "subclass" in changelog