diff --git a/src/ida/IdaDoctor.test.ts b/src/ida/IdaDoctor.test.ts
index 7e919a463d..0851bbe5f7 100644
--- a/src/ida/IdaDoctor.test.ts
+++ b/src/ida/IdaDoctor.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { mkdtemp, readdir, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readdir, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, expect, it } from "vitest";
@@ -16,28 +16,32 @@ afterEach(async () => {
   for (const root of roots.splice(0))
     await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
 });
-it("uses the allocation normalization for readiness without creating entries", async () => {
-  const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "rea-ida-workspace-parent-"));
-  roots.push(root);
-  const path = join(root, "registration.json");
-  const rawRoot = `${root}/missing/..`;
-  await writeFile(
-    path,
-    JSON.stringify({
-      command: "python",
-      mode: "headless",
-      workspaceRoot: rawRoot,
-    }),
-  );
-  const before = await readdir(root);
-  const inspection = await inspectIdaRegistration(path, resourceScope);
-  const after = await readdir(root);
-  expect(inspection.available).toBe(true);
-  expect(
-    inspection.checks.find(({ name }) => name === "private_workspace")?.detail,
-  ).toContain(rawRoot);
-  expect(after).toEqual(before);
-});
+it.each([true, false])(
+  "uses allocation filesystem resolution without creating entries (traversed directory exists=%s)",
+  async (exists) => {
+    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "rea-ida-workspace-parent-"));
+    roots.push(root);
+    const path = join(root, "registration.json");
+    await mkdir(join(root, "existing"));
+    const rawRoot = exists ? `${root}/existing/..` : `${root}/missing/..`;
+    await writeFile(
+      path,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        command: "python",
+        mode: "headless",
+        workspaceRoot: rawRoot,
+      }),
+    );
+    const before = await readdir(root);
+    const inspection = await inspectIdaRegistration(path, resourceScope);
+    const after = await readdir(root);
+    expect(inspection.available).toBe(exists);
+    expect(
+      inspection.checks.find(({ name }) => name === "private_workspace")?.detail,
+    ).toContain(rawRoot);
+    expect(after).toEqual(before);
+  },
+);
 
 it("marks an unusable system temporary parent unavailable when workspaceRoot is omitted", async () => {
   if (process.platform === "win32") return;
diff --git a/tests/boundary/cli/idaDoctorRegistration.test.ts b/tests/boundary/cli/idaDoctorRegistration.test.ts
index dc3389a337..c8521a869f 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/cli/idaDoctorRegistration.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/cli/idaDoctorRegistration.test.ts
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ cliTest.skipIf(process.platform !== "darwin").for([true, false])(
     const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-ida-doctor-parent-");
     const parent = join(root, "parent");
     await mkdir(parent);
-    // Keep the caller's unnormalized spelling; allocation normalizes it too.
+    // Keep the caller's spelling while every traversed component exists.
     const workspaceRoot = usable
-      ? `${parent}/missing/../.`
+      ? `${parent}/./`
       : join(parent, "absent");
     const registration = join(root, "registration.json");
     await writeFile(