diff --git a/test/helpers/golden_harness.dart b/test/helpers/golden_harness.dart
index 29a6454c..09c8afe2 100644
--- a/test/helpers/golden_harness.dart
+++ b/test/helpers/golden_harness.dart
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import 'dart:io' show Platform;
+
 import 'package:alchemist/alchemist.dart';
 
 /// Alchemist config shared across all golden tests.
@@ -6,10 +8,18 @@ import 'package:alchemist/alchemist.dart';
 /// CI goldens (Ahem font in `goldens/ci/`) are disabled because Skia's
 /// geometric anti-aliasing differs between macOS and Linux even with Ahem,
 /// producing sub-pixel diffs that fail cross-platform.
+///
+/// Platform goldens are also font/render-dependent ACROSS machines: a golden
+/// generated on one Linux box (the dev's Fedora) does not match a GitHub
+/// `ubuntu-latest` runner even though both are "linux" — different freetype /
+/// font packages render sub-pixel-differently. So platform goldens run only
+/// locally (dev-validated before merge) and are skipped on CI (detected via the
+/// `CI` env var GitHub Actions sets). Goldens are a local check, not a CI gate.
 AlchemistConfig clideGoldenConfig() {
-  return const AlchemistConfig(
+  final isCi = Platform.environment.containsKey('CI');
+  return AlchemistConfig(
     theme: null, // we're not using Material ThemeData
-    platformGoldensConfig: PlatformGoldensConfig(enabled: true),
-    ciGoldensConfig: CiGoldensConfig(enabled: false),
+    platformGoldensConfig: PlatformGoldensConfig(enabled: !isCi),
+    ciGoldensConfig: const CiGoldensConfig(enabled: false),
   );
 }
diff --git a/test/pty/windows_pty_test.dart b/test/pty/windows_pty_test.dart
index 34b17022..e3f4deaf 100644
--- a/test/pty/windows_pty_test.dart
+++ b/test/pty/windows_pty_test.dart
@@ -101,8 +101,12 @@ void main() {
     });
 
     test('non-existent executable surfaces a PtyException at spawn time', () {
-      // CreateProcessW fails with ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND (2) — same code
-      // POSIX ENOENT happens to use, but asserted independently here.
+      // CreateProcessW fails (the file doesn't exist). The GetLastError code
+      // (ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND, 2) is intentionally NOT asserted: Dart FFI does
+      // not reliably preserve GetLastError across the lookupFunction boundary —
+      // CI Windows observed errno 0 here — so only the PtyException and the
+      // failing op are dependable. (Same reason the errno-based broken-pipe
+      // check in write() is best-effort; see T-424.)
       expect(
         () => WindowsPty.start(
           executable: 'C:\\clide-no-such-binary-${DateTime.now().microsecondsSinceEpoch}.exe',
@@ -111,7 +115,7 @@ void main() {
           rows: 24,
           environment: {...Platform.environment},
         ),
-        throwsA(isA<PtyException>().having((e) => e.errno, 'errno', 2)),
+        throwsA(isA<PtyException>().having((e) => e.op, 'op', 'CreateProcessW')),
       );
     });
   });