diff --git a/testing/deb-install/test.sh b/testing/deb-install/test.sh
index 92997b2..6a78827 100755
--- a/testing/deb-install/test.sh
+++ b/testing/deb-install/test.sh
@@ -490,4 +490,15 @@ echo "════════════════════════
 echo "Results: $PASS passed, $FAIL failed, $SKIP skipped"
 echo "═══════════════════════════════════════"
 
-[ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]
+# A skip must not read as a pass. Nothing calls skip() today, so SKIP is
+# always 0 and this changes no current outcome -- which is exactly why it is
+# worth adding now: the helper and the counter already existed and were
+# reported, so a later skip path would have printed "N skipped" next to a
+# zero exit and looked like coverage. Gate on it before that happens.
+if [ "$SKIP" -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "FAIL: $SKIP check(s) skipped; a skipped check is not a passed one." >&2
+    echo "      Either make the check run here, or remove it and record the" >&2
+    echo "      gap deliberately rather than skipping it at runtime." >&2
+fi
+
+[ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ] && [ "$SKIP" -eq 0 ]
diff --git a/testing/nat/scripts/stun-faults-test.sh b/testing/nat/scripts/stun-faults-test.sh
index ca51407..a9d5d22 100755
--- a/testing/nat/scripts/stun-faults-test.sh
+++ b/testing/nat/scripts/stun-faults-test.sh
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ preflight_assert_stun_active() {
     return 1
 }
 
+# Phases that did not run, with the reason. Surfaced in the final verdict:
+# the suite reports a pass per phase-level assertion, so a phase that never
+# ran otherwise leaves a clean "passed" standing for work not done.
+SKIPPED_PHASES=()
+
 run_test() {
     echo "=== stun-faults-test: setup ==="
     cleanup
@@ -293,6 +298,7 @@ run_test() {
         sleep 10
     else
         echo "  Phase 2 skipped (no tc netem available); proceeding to Phase 3"
+        SKIPPED_PHASES+=("2 (delay): tc netem unavailable")
     fi
 
     assert_process_alive || { dump_diagnostics; return 1; }
@@ -321,7 +327,23 @@ run_test() {
     }
 
     cleanup
-    echo "stun-faults-test passed"
+    if [ ${#SKIPPED_PHASES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "stun-faults-test passed (3/3 phases ran)"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    # A phase that did not run is not a phase that passed. Say so in the line
+    # a reader takes the verdict from, rather than leaving it in scrollback
+    # several hundred lines up where the skip was announced.
+    local ran=$(( 3 - ${#SKIPPED_PHASES[@]} ))
+    echo "stun-faults-test passed ($ran/3 phases ran, ${#SKIPPED_PHASES[@]} skipped)"
+    local phase
+    for phase in "${SKIPPED_PHASES[@]}"; do
+        echo "  SKIPPED phase $phase"
+    done
+    if [ "$ran" -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "stun-faults-test: every phase was skipped, so nothing was tested" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
 }
 
 main() {