diff --git a/Docs/Proposals/2026-10-31-dos-me-criteria-ratings.sql b/Docs/Proposals/2026-10-31-dos-me-criteria-ratings.sql
index c783187c..a1731631 100644
--- a/Docs/Proposals/2026-10-31-dos-me-criteria-ratings.sql
+++ b/Docs/Proposals/2026-10-31-dos-me-criteria-ratings.sql
@@ -462,8 +462,13 @@ ALTER TABLE rate.reviews VALIDATE CONSTRAINT reviews_criteria_version_positive;
 ALTER TABLE rate.reviews VALIDATE CONSTRAINT reviews_value_score_range;
 ALTER TABLE rate.master_products VALIDATE CONSTRAINT master_products_rating_score_range;
 ALTER TABLE rate.master_products VALIDATE CONSTRAINT master_products_rating_weight_sum_nonneg;
+-- A master with a reviewed listing, or one the live refresh rated (an Item variant whose
+-- reviews sit on listings with no variant). The first test does not trust the cached
+-- authentic_review_count: a weight written straight to rate.reviews leaves it stale.
 SELECT rate.refresh_master_rating_extras(m.id)
 FROM rate.master_products m
-WHERE m.authentic_review_count > 0 OR m.user_rating_weighted > 0
+WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM rate.products p JOIN rate.reviews r ON r.product_id = p.id
+              WHERE p.cluster_id = m.id)
+   OR m.authentic_review_count > 0 OR m.user_rating_weighted > 0
 ORDER BY m.id;
 COMMIT;
diff --git a/scripts/test-criteria-ratings-proposal.mjs b/scripts/test-criteria-ratings-proposal.mjs
index 6288df75..f1beee70 100644
--- a/scripts/test-criteria-ratings-proposal.mjs
+++ b/scripts/test-criteria-ratings-proposal.mjs
@@ -121,7 +121,15 @@ try {
   const per256 = '3.650|1.00|{}';
 
   const applyAndCheckPerMaster = (when) => {
+    // A stale cache: the 256GB has a counted review but authentic_review_count 0 (a weight
+    // written straight to rate.reviews). The backfill still picks it by its reviewed listing.
+    sql(
+      `UPDATE rate.master_products SET authentic_review_count = 0, user_rating_weighted = 0
+       WHERE id = '${x256}'`
+    );
     sql(proposal);
+    assert.equal(row(x256), per256, `the backfill rates a master with a stale count ${when}`);
+    sql(`SELECT rate.refresh_master_product_rating('${x256}')`);
     sql(proposal);
     // A criteria review gets its exact star: the reviews trigger refreshes the master.
     asRole(