diff --git a/.gitea/scripts/review-check.sh b/.gitea/scripts/review-check.sh
index a63c983ee..86b78febd 100755
--- a/.gitea/scripts/review-check.sh
+++ b/.gitea/scripts/review-check.sh
@@ -296,7 +296,15 @@ fi
 #   403     → token owner is not in this team (Gitea 1.22.6 'Must be a team
 #             member' constraint — see follow-up issue for token-provisioning)
 #   404     → not a member
+# Track whether every candidate returned 403 (token owner not in team).
+# When this happens the root cause is a token-provisioning issue, not a
+# reviewer-eligibility issue — surface it clearly so ops don't waste time
+# verifying team roster (Bug C / RFC#324 follow-up).
+_ALL_CANDIDATES_403="yes"
+_CANDIDATE_COUNT=0
+
 for U in $CANDIDATES; do
+  _CANDIDATE_COUNT=$((_CANDIDATE_COUNT + 1))
   CODE=$(curl -sS -o "$TEAM_PROBE_TMP" -w '%{http_code}' \
     -K "$CURL_AUTH_FILE" "${API}/teams/${TEAM_ID}/members/${U}")
   debug "probe ${U} in team ${TEAM} (id=${TEAM_ID}) → HTTP ${CODE}"
@@ -317,14 +325,20 @@ for U in $CANDIDATES; do
       continue
       ;;
     404)
+      _ALL_CANDIDATES_403="no"
       debug "${U} not a member of ${TEAM}"
       ;;
     *)
+      _ALL_CANDIDATES_403="no"
       echo "::warning::team-probe for ${U} in ${TEAM} returned unexpected HTTP ${CODE}"
       cat "$TEAM_PROBE_TMP" >&2
       ;;
   esac
 done
 
-echo "::error::${TEAM}-review awaiting non-author APPROVE from ${TEAM} team (candidates: $(echo "$CANDIDATES" | tr '\n' ',' | sed 's/,$//') — none are in team)"
+if [ "$_ALL_CANDIDATES_403" = "yes" ] && [ "$_CANDIDATE_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "::error::${TEAM}-review FAILED — every candidate returned 403 (token owner is not a member of the ${TEAM} team). This is a TOKEN PROVISIONING issue, not a reviewer-eligibility issue. Add the token owner to the '${TEAM}' Gitea team (id=${TEAM_ID}) or use a token whose owner is already in that team."
+else
+  echo "::error::${TEAM}-review awaiting non-author APPROVE from ${TEAM} team (candidates: $(echo "$CANDIDATES" | tr '\n' ',' | sed 's/,$//') — none are in team)"
+fi
 exit 1
diff --git a/.gitea/scripts/sop-checklist.py b/.gitea/scripts/sop-checklist.py
index 40e3b81f6..a066a4578 100644
--- a/.gitea/scripts/sop-checklist.py
+++ b/.gitea/scripts/sop-checklist.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 # RFC#351 Step 2 of 6 (implementation MVP).
 #
 # Invoked by .gitea/workflows/sop-checklist.yml on:
-#   - pull_request_target: [opened, edited, synchronize, reopened]
-#   - issue_comment:       [created, edited, deleted]
+#   - pull_request_target: [opened, edited, synchronize, reopened, labeled, unlabeled]
+#   - issue_comment:       [created]  # edited/deleted omitted (Gitea 1.22.6 job-parsing quirk)
 #
 # Flow:
 #   1. Load .gitea/sop-checklist-config.yaml (from BASE ref — trusted).