diff --git a/docs/matching-cookbook.md b/docs/matching-cookbook.md
index b66c255a5..bb2e110e3 100644
--- a/docs/matching-cookbook.md
+++ b/docs/matching-cookbook.md
@@ -17976,3 +17976,9 @@ more. `pregate_check`'s CONFLICTING-EXTERN scan should have caught the `D_800727
 of them and did not: its declaration regex is single-line, and the offending declaration was a
 multi-line `extern struct { ... } *D_x;`. **A pre-gate check that sees 90% of declarations converts a
 one-rebuild-per-conflict loop into a single pass — that is where the leverage is, not in the drafting.**
+**Shipped the same session**: `pregate_check` now scans brace-bodied externs (`extern struct { ... }
+*D_x;`) with the normalized body as part of the signature, so two identical struct declarations stay
+silent while a struct-vs-`void *` clash FAILs. Negative-controlled four ways — and one of those
+controls caught a trap worth its own line: **a synthetic test using a fake symbol name (`D_x`) reported
+CLEAN for a conflict the tool does detect**, because `sym_of` only recognizes real project symbol
+spellings. A negative control must use names the system would accept, or it tests nothing.
diff --git a/tools/pregate_check.py b/tools/pregate_check.py
index a8b90aaa6..a1dba1e34 100644
--- a/tools/pregate_check.py
+++ b/tools/pregate_check.py
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ def _depth_map(masked):
     return out
 
 
+STRUCT_EXTERN = re.compile(
+    r'^[ \t]*extern\s+(?:const\s+|volatile\s+)*(struct|union)\s*\{([^{}]*)\}\s*(\**)\s*(\w+)\s*(?:\[[^\]]*\])?\s*;',
+    re.M | re.S)
+
+
 def _norm_sig(sig):
     """`void f()` and `void f(void)` are not a conflict worth blocking a rebuild over: C89 calls
     the first an unspecified parameter list, and gcc-2.7.2 accepts the pair. Normalize both to
@@ -155,6 +160,18 @@ def check_text(path, text):
 
     # 4. one symbol declared two incompatible ways anywhere in the final text
     decls = {}
+    # BRACE-BODIED EXTERNS FIRST (P31 S53). gm.DECL is single-line, so a draft declaring
+    #     extern struct { u8 pad[0x34]; s32 (*field_0x34)(s32); } *D_80072780;
+    # was invisible to this check while a sibling declared the same symbol `void *` — the clash
+    # surfaced only as a compile error, one rebuild later (§183.5). Bodies are flat here (no nested
+    # braces), and the normalized body is part of the signature so two IDENTICAL struct declarations
+    # do not read as a conflict.
+    for m in STRUCT_EXTERN.finditer(masked):
+        if depth[m.start()]:
+            continue
+        body = ' '.join(m.group(2).split())
+        sig = (f'{m.group(1)}{{{body}}}{m.group(3)}', '')
+        decls.setdefault(m.group(4), (m.start(), sig))
     for m in gm.DECL.finditer(text):
         if depth[m.start()]:            # block-scope decl: private to its function
             continue