diff --git a/dependabot/merge.py b/dependabot/merge.py
index 1620a1d..ab64702 100644
--- a/dependabot/merge.py
+++ b/dependabot/merge.py
@@ -192,13 +192,25 @@ def checks_readable(gh, owner, kind):
     (ok, detail): True verified, False the permission is genuinely missing, and None when the
     account simply has no repository to probe -- which is not a permission failure and must not
     be reported as one.
+
+    The probe must prefer a PRIVATE repository, because `checks: read` is only enforced on one.
+    The same 2026-11-03 run proves it: `simtabi` examined one pull request and it passed, on the
+    public `simtabi/cli-kit-js`, with the very token that answered 403 for every private repo in
+    the other four orgs. A control that happens to pick a public repo therefore reports
+    "readable" while the gate is blind to every repository it actually works on -- the estate's
+    Dependabot pull requests sit overwhelmingly in private ones. Sorting private-first over a
+    wide-enough page closes that; where an account has only public repositories there is no
+    private blindness to detect and a public probe is complete for it.
     """
-    listing = f"{'orgs' if kind == 'org' else 'users'}/{owner}/repos?per_page=5&sort=pushed"
+    listing = f"{'orgs' if kind == 'org' else 'users'}/{owner}/repos?per_page=30&sort=pushed"
     try:
         repos = gh.api(listing) or []
     except Exception as exc:
         return False, f"cannot list repositories: {str(exc)[:200]}"
 
+    # False sorts before True, so private repositories come first.
+    repos = sorted(repos, key=lambda r: not r.get("private"))
+
     last = None
     for repo in repos:
         full, branch = repo.get("full_name"), repo.get("default_branch")
@@ -206,7 +218,8 @@ def checks_readable(gh, owner, kind):
             continue
         try:
             check_runs(gh, full, branch)
-            return True, f"verified on {full}@{branch}"
+            scope = "private" if repo.get("private") else "public"
+            return True, f"verified on {full}@{branch} ({scope})"
         except Exception as exc:
             detail = str(exc)[:200]
             # An empty repository answers 409 and proves nothing either way; keep looking.
@@ -284,7 +297,10 @@ def main(argv=None, gh=None):
         elif ok is None:
             text += f"\nNothing examined; no positive control available ({detail}).\n"
         else:
-            text += f"\nNothing examined; checks API confirmed readable ({detail}).\n"
+            caveat = "" if "(private)" in detail else (
+                " Only a public repository was available to probe, which does not exercise "
+                "`checks: read` — that is enforced on private repositories only.")
+            text += f"\nNothing examined; checks API confirmed readable ({detail}).{caveat}\n"
     elif errors and errors == len(examined):
         text += (f"\n**Every one of the {len(examined)} pull requests examined errored.** Treat this "
                  "as one gate failure rather than N unrelated ones — a systemic cause (a token "
diff --git a/dependabot/tests/test_merge.py b/dependabot/tests/test_merge.py
index 6a90df1..d1867bf 100644
--- a/dependabot/tests/test_merge.py
+++ b/dependabot/tests/test_merge.py
@@ -203,6 +203,40 @@ def api(self, path, paginate=False):
 
         self.assertEqual(merge.main(["--owner", "laranail"], gh=EmptyRepoGh(self.repos_route())), 0)
 
+    def test_control_prefers_a_private_repository(self):
+        """`checks: read` is enforced on private repos only, so probing a public one can
+        report 'readable' while the gate is blind to every repo it actually works on. That is
+        what happened on 2026-11-03: simtabi's single pull request passed on the public
+        cli-kit-js with the same token that 403'd on four orgs' private repos."""
+        routes = dict(self.EMPTY_SEARCH)
+        routes["orgs/laranail/repos"] = [
+            {"full_name": "laranail/pub", "default_branch": "main", "private": False},
+            {"full_name": "laranail/priv", "default_branch": "main", "private": True},
+        ]
+        # Only the PUBLIC repo is readable -- the private one 403s, as in the real run.
+        routes["repos/laranail/pub/commits/main/check-runs"] = [{"check_runs": []}]
+        gh = FakeGh(routes)
+        ok, detail = merge.checks_readable(gh, "laranail", "org")
+        self.assertIs(ok, False, "a public-only read must not pass as verification")
+        self.assertIn("laranail/priv", detail)
+
+    def test_control_names_the_visibility_it_verified(self):
+        routes = dict(self.EMPTY_SEARCH)
+        routes["orgs/laranail/repos"] = [{"full_name": "laranail/priv", "default_branch": "main", "private": True}]
+        routes["repos/laranail/priv/commits/main/check-runs"] = [{"check_runs": []}]
+        ok, detail = merge.checks_readable(FakeGh(routes), "laranail", "org")
+        self.assertIs(ok, True)
+        self.assertIn("(private)", detail)
+
+    def test_a_public_only_account_still_verifies(self):
+        # No private repository means no private blindness to detect; a public probe is complete.
+        routes = dict(self.EMPTY_SEARCH)
+        routes["orgs/laranail/repos"] = [{"full_name": "laranail/pub", "default_branch": "main", "private": False}]
+        routes["repos/laranail/pub/commits/main/check-runs"] = [{"check_runs": []}]
+        ok, detail = merge.checks_readable(FakeGh(routes), "laranail", "org")
+        self.assertIs(ok, True)
+        self.assertIn("(public)", detail)
+
     def test_control_reports_absence_not_just_presence(self):
         # The negative half: a control that can only ever say "readable" proves nothing.
         ok, detail = merge.checks_readable(FakeGh(self.repos_route()), "laranail", "org")