diff --git a/.github/workflows/queue-build.yml b/.github/workflows/queue-build.yml
index 12919098..60b98b5a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/queue-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/queue-build.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ jobs:
           # Build concurrency and group size are both one in main's ruleset.
           [[ "$QUEUE_REF" =~ ^refs/heads/gh-readonly-queue/main/pr-([0-9]+)- ]] || { echo "::error::unexpected merge group ref" >&2; exit 1; }
           head_ref=$(gh api "repos/$REPO/pulls/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" --jq .head.ref)
-          ./quest-base/bin/quest --root "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" check --base "$BASE" --branch "$head_ref"
+          # The base's skills would reject a PR that adds, removes, or changes a skill's stub. The PR's
+          # own binary checks the stubs against the PR's skills in `just check` below, in this same job.
+          ./quest-base/bin/quest --root "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" check --no-stubs --base "$BASE" --branch "$head_ref"
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: nix develop --command just install
       - name: Check
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 33904db8..197faa53 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -280,6 +280,13 @@ detached, so pass the head branch:
 The check is a floor, not a review: any edit to the quest passes, so reviewers
 still judge whether a rewrite matches what remains.
 
+`quest check` also compares the repository's skill stubs with the skills its
+binary carries, and reports a missing, outdated, or retired one. A job that
+checks a PR with a binary built from the base passes `--no-stubs`, since that
+binary's skills would reject a PR that changes a stub; the PR's own binary
+checks them in its own `quest check`. This repository's merge queue and the
+`quest-merge` skill's preflight do so.
+
 A link into a submodule that is not checked out, as in a fresh worktree or
 `actions/checkout` by default, resolves at the commit its gitlink pins when a
 local git directory holds that commit, such as the main worktree's. Otherwise
diff --git a/assets/skills/merge.md b/assets/skills/merge.md
index 3814327c..ee573231 100644
--- a/assets/skills/merge.md
+++ b/assets/skills/merge.md
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ Otherwise, the changes since the reviewed head need no new review only when they
 The repository's review policy decides whose record counts and may require more, such as a maintainer's review.
 Where it says nothing, only a record on a PR whose author has write access counts: anyone else writes their own PR body, so their head needs a local review that rewrites the record.
 
-Before queueing, check the head with a `quest` the PR cannot modify: fetch the PR's base branch and its exact head, check the head out apart from your own checkout, such as in a detached worktree under `.tmp/`, and from a directory outside it run `quest --root <head-checkout> check --base <remote>/<base> --branch <head-branch>`.
-The head's files are untrusted, and a stale local base can skip the check.
+Before queueing, check the head with a `quest` the PR cannot modify: fetch the PR's base branch and its exact head, check the head out apart from your own checkout, such as in a detached worktree under `.tmp/`, and from a directory outside it run `quest --root <head-checkout> check --no-stubs --base <remote>/<base> --branch <head-branch>`.
+The head's files are untrusted, and a stale local base can skip the check; `--no-stubs` is there because the PR's own checks verify its stubs.
 A finding means the PR leaves its quest inaccurate: it needs `/quest-iterate`.
 
 Queue the head with `quest merge <pr> --land <full 40-character head SHA>`, adding `--squash` or `--rebase` when the repository's root instructions name that method for the PR's base.
diff --git a/src/cli/main.ts b/src/cli/main.ts
index 90cfef1f..0024edbd 100644
--- a/src/cli/main.ts
+++ b/src/cli/main.ts
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ export function main(argv: string[], out: Output): number | Promise<number> {
 				"base with <ref>, the working tree must delete or edit it; a PR that finishes the quest deletes it, and " +
 				"one that leaves work rewrites it to what remains. Any other branch adds no finding. Fetch <ref> " +
 				"first: a stale base can predate the quest and skip it.\n\n" +
+				"A repository's own check also compares its skill stubs with the skills this binary carries, and " +
+				"reports a missing, outdated, or retired one. --no-stubs skips that, for a binary built from a base " +
+				"that checks a PR whose stubs follow the PR's own skills.\n\n" +
 				"With --fix, first drop every Required, Related, or Closes entry that links to a quest deleted in " +
 				"the history of HEAD, and of MERGE_HEAD during a merge, that the working tree lacks, as quest rm " +
 				"does, such as the quests a merged base finished, and every epic's Required entry naming a quest in " +
@@ -183,11 +186,12 @@ export function main(argv: string[], out: Output): number | Promise<number> {
 		)
 		.option("--base <ref>", "Also check the quest branch's diff from its merge base with this ref")
 		.option("--branch <name>", "The PR's head branch, when it differs from the current branch (needs --base)")
+		.option("--no-stubs", "Skip the comparison of the repository's skill stubs with this binary's skills")
 		.option(
 			"--fix",
 			"First drop list links to quests the history deleted and epics' links to their own quests, and promote misleveled section headings",
 		)
-		.action((options: { base?: string; branch?: string; fix?: boolean }) => {
+		.action((options: { base?: string; branch?: string; fix?: boolean; stubs: boolean }) => {
 			if (options.branch !== undefined && options.base === undefined) {
 				throw new UsageError("--branch requires --base");
 			}
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ export function main(argv: string[], out: Output): number | Promise<number> {
 			const findings = check(tree.docs, tree.exists);
 			if (options.base !== undefined) findings.push(...landed(root(), options.base, options.branch));
 			// A tree nested in another checkout, such as an example, has no stubs of its own.
-			const stubs = questRoot(resolve(root())) === resolve(root()) ? stubFindings(root()) : [];
+			const stubs = options.stubs && questRoot(resolve(root())) === resolve(root()) ? stubFindings(root()) : [];
 			if (findings.length === 0 && stubs.length === 0) {
 				const count = collect(root()).length;
 				print(theme ? theme.checked(count) : `quest: ${count} documents ok`);
diff --git a/test/init.test.ts b/test/init.test.ts
index 9b90fe96..021644f3 100644
--- a/test/init.test.ts
+++ b/test/init.test.ts
@@ -506,6 +506,13 @@ test("quest check reports stubs from a relative root", () => {
 	const missing = run(dir);
 	expect(missing.status).toBe(1);
 	expect(missing.stderr).toContain("is missing");
+	const skipped = spawnSync(
+		"bun",
+		["run", "--silent", "quest", "--root", relative(process.cwd(), dir), "check", "--no-stubs"],
+		{ encoding: "utf8" },
+	);
+	expect(skipped.status).toBe(0);
+	expect(skipped.stderr).toBe("");
 	init(dir);
 	expect(run(dir).status).toBe(0);
 });