diff --git a/src/nostr/runtime.rs b/src/nostr/runtime.rs
index 7903c94f..557441b0 100644
--- a/src/nostr/runtime.rs
+++ b/src/nostr/runtime.rs
@@ -850,7 +850,6 @@ impl NostrRendezvous {
                         {
                             let _ = tx.send(SignalEnvelope {
                                 payload: answer,
-                                event_id: event.id,
                                 sender_npub: sender_npub.clone(),
                             });
                         }
@@ -1301,10 +1300,6 @@ impl NostrRendezvous {
             "traversal: initiator punch succeeded"
         );
 
-        let _ = self
-            .publish_delete(&relays, [offer_event.id, answer.event_id])
-            .await;
-
         self.failure_state
             .record_success(&peer_config.npub, now_ms());
 
@@ -1471,7 +1466,6 @@ impl NostrRendezvous {
             "traversal: answer sent"
         );
         if !accepted {
-            let _ = self.publish_delete(&relays, [answer_event.id]).await;
             return Ok(());
         }
 
@@ -1521,8 +1515,6 @@ impl NostrRendezvous {
                 );
             }
         }
-
-        let _ = self.publish_delete(&relays, [answer_event.id]).await;
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/src/nostr/signal.rs b/src/nostr/signal.rs
index 6b2306e5..3d3eddac 100644
--- a/src/nostr/signal.rs
+++ b/src/nostr/signal.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-use nostr::EventId;
 use nostr::nips::{nip44, nip59};
 use nostr::prelude::{
     Event, EventBuilder, JsonUtil, Kind, NostrSigner, PublicKey, Tag, Timestamp, UnsignedEvent,
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ pub(crate) const FRESHNESS_SKEW_TOLERANCE_MS: u64 = 60_000;
 
 pub(super) struct SignalEnvelope<T> {
     pub(super) payload: T,
-    pub(super) event_id: EventId,
     pub(super) sender_npub: String,
 }
 
diff --git a/testing/nat/scripts/nat-test.sh b/testing/nat/scripts/nat-test.sh
index aec7aa72..5e9c040e 100755
--- a/testing/nat/scripts/nat-test.sh
+++ b/testing/nat/scripts/nat-test.sh
@@ -448,6 +448,45 @@ ping_peer() {
     fi
 }
 
+# Fail if the relay holds any kind 5 deletion request.
+#
+# A node signs a deletion request with its routing key, so one naming a
+# traversal signal's wrap would tie that key to a signal sent under a one-time
+# key. Nodes delete only adverts they withdraw, and the lab's nodes advertise
+# throughout, so after a scenario the relay should hold none. strfry scan reads
+# the relay's own store and prints one event per line. A scan that cannot run
+# or print parseable events has observed nothing, so it fails the check too.
+assert_no_deletion_requests() {
+    local relay="$1" events="" report=""
+    if ! events="$(docker exec "$relay" strfry scan '{"kinds":[5]}' 2>/dev/null)"; then
+        echo "FAIL: could not scan $relay for deletion requests" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+    if ! report="$(python3 -c '
+import json, sys
+events = []
+for line in sys.stdin:
+    line = line.strip()
+    if line:
+        events.append(json.loads(line))
+for ev in events:
+    ids = [t[1] for t in ev.get("tags", []) if len(t) > 1 and t[0] == "e"]
+    print("  kind 5 by %s... naming %s" % (ev["pubkey"][:16], ", ".join(ids)))
+print(len(events))
+' <<<"$events")"; then
+        echo "FAIL: could not parse $relay's scan for deletion requests" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local count="${report##*$'\n'}"
+    if [ "$count" != "0" ]; then
+        echo "FAIL: $relay holds $count deletion request(s):" >&2
+        sed '$d' <<<"$report" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+    echo "  $relay holds no deletion requests"
+    return 0
+}
+
 # A relay that faulted while a scenario's assertions still passed is a finding
 # about the relay, not about the scenario, so it is reported and not made a
 # failure: the scenario proved what it set out to prove.
@@ -497,6 +536,10 @@ run_cone() {
         dump_cone_diagnostics
         return 1
     }
+    assert_no_deletion_requests "$RELAY_CONTAINER" || {
+        dump_cone_diagnostics
+        return 1
+    }
     note_relay_event
     cleanup
 }
@@ -543,6 +586,10 @@ run_symmetric() {
         dump_symmetric_diagnostics
         return 1
     }
+    assert_no_deletion_requests "$RELAY_CONTAINER" || {
+        dump_symmetric_diagnostics
+        return 1
+    }
     note_relay_event
     cleanup
 }
@@ -586,6 +633,10 @@ run_lan() {
         dump_lan_diagnostics
         return 1
     }
+    assert_no_deletion_requests "$RELAY_CONTAINER" || {
+        dump_lan_diagnostics
+        return 1
+    }
     note_relay_event
     # Skip the final teardown when the mesh-lab harness wraps this
     # script: it needs to docker-logs the containers before teardown,
diff --git a/testing/nat/scripts/nostr-relay-test.sh b/testing/nat/scripts/nostr-relay-test.sh
index 8cffbb2c..df6bdfff 100755
--- a/testing/nat/scripts/nostr-relay-test.sh
+++ b/testing/nat/scripts/nostr-relay-test.sh
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@ dump_diagnostics() {
 #
 # Which rejection they take is not what the event's gibberish `content`
 # suggests. `parse_overlay_advert_event` looks for the `protocol` tag
-# first (src/nostr/runtime.rs:1665-1671) and this event carries only `d`
+# first (src/nostr/runtime.rs:1657-1663) and this event carries only `d`
 # and `app`, so it fails with `missing required protocol tag` and never
-# reaches the `serde_json::from_str` at :1679. The content is therefore
+# reaches the `serde_json::from_str` at :1671. The content is therefore
 # belt and braces rather than the thing under test.
 #
 # Neither branch logs anything: see the coverage-gap note in run_test.
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ while int.from_bytes(secret, "big") == 0 or int.from_bytes(secret, "big") >= N:
 pubkey = xonly_pubkey(secret).hex()
 created_at = int(time.time())
 # Both of these must match the consumers' subscription filter, which is
-# kind + identifier and no author clause (src/nostr/runtime.rs:1042-1044).
+# kind + identifier and no author clause (src/nostr/runtime.rs:1041-1043).
 # The literals are ADVERT_KIND and ADVERT_IDENTIFIER in src/nostr/types.rs
 # and are duplicated here rather than derived, so changing either there
 # silently stops this event reaching the daemons while the relay goes on