@@ -342,6 +342,28 @@ test('a text wait returns a native owner hit without capturing a snapshot', asyn
   expect(harness.captureSnapshot).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
 
+test('native text failure cannot hide a canonical capture failure', async () => {
+  const harness = waitRuntimeHarness({ findText: available });
+  harness.findText.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('native observation failed'));
+  harness.captureSnapshot.mockRejectedValueOnce(
+    new AppError('COMMAND_FAILED', 'canonical capture failed', {
+      reason: 'capture_failed',
+    }),
+  );
+
+  const { response } = await runWait(['text', 'Ready'], harness);
+
+  expect(response.ok).toBe(false);
+  if (response.ok) return;
+  expect(response.error).toMatchObject({
+    code: 'COMMAND_FAILED',
+    message: 'canonical capture failed',
+    details: { reason: 'capture_failed' },
+  });
+  expect(harness.findText).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  expect(harness.captureSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+});
+
 test('a selector wait binds the capture use once and polls through the bound operation', async () => {
   const harness = waitRuntimeHarness();
 
 
@@ -125,30 +125,6 @@ test('runtime wait surfaces a canonical capture failure after a native text miss
   assert.equal(captureSnapshot.mock.calls.length, 1);
 });
 
-test('runtime wait surfaces a canonical capture failure after native text reading throws', async () => {
-  const captureSnapshot = vi.fn(async (): Promise<BackendSnapshotResult> => {
-    throw new AppError('COMMAND_FAILED', 'canonical capture failed', {
-      reason: 'capture_failed',
-    });
-  });
-  const findText = vi.fn(async () => {
-    throw new Error('native observation failed');
-  });
-  const device = textWaitDevice({ captureSnapshot, findText });
-
-  await assert.rejects(
-    device.selectors.wait({
-      session: 'default',
-      target: { kind: 'text', text: 'Ready', timeoutMs: 10_000 },
-    }),
-    (error: AppError) =>
-      error.message === 'canonical capture failed' && error.details?.reason === 'capture_failed',
-  );
-
-  assert.equal(findText.mock.calls.length, 1);
-  assert.equal(captureSnapshot.mock.calls.length, 1);
-});
-
 test('a native text hit does not make an older captured tree fresh for the next read', async () => {
   const snapshots = [
     makeSnapshotState([{ index: 0, type: 'StaticText', label: 'Home' }]),
 
@@ -40,12 +40,8 @@ async function observeText<Runtime extends SelectorWaitRuntime>(
   text: string,
 ): Promise<boolean> {
   if (runtime.backend.findText) {
-    try {
-      const native = await runtime.backend.findText(backendContext(runtime, options), text);
-      if (native.found) return true;
-    } catch (error) {
-      if (options.signal?.aborted || runtime.signal?.aborted) throw error;
-    }
+    const native = await runtime.backend.findText(backendContext(runtime, options), text);
+    if (native.found) return true;
   }
   return await snapshotContainsText(operations, runtime, options, text);
 }