diff --git a/core/artwork/thumbhash/reference_test.go b/core/artwork/thumbhash/reference_test.go
index b3d7453c3..a23b95526 100644
--- a/core/artwork/thumbhash/reference_test.go
+++ b/core/artwork/thumbhash/reference_test.go
@@ -53,14 +53,10 @@ func loadGoldens() map[string]string {
 }
 
 var _ = Describe("reference port", func() {
-	// solid.png and alpha.png are exactly uniform in color, so their true DCT AC term is 0 and the
-	// hash instead encodes float rounding noise from cos(), where Go and V8 disagree in the last bit.
-	floatUnstable := map[string]bool{"solid.png": true, "alpha.png": true}
-
 	It("reproduces every golden vector", func() {
 		for name, want := range loadGoldens() {
-			if floatUnstable[name] {
-				continue
+			if name == "solid.png" {
+				continue // see the dedicated header-only spec below
 			}
 			w, h, rgba := loadFixture(name)
 			got := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(referenceEncode(w, h, rgba))
@@ -68,6 +64,22 @@ var _ = Describe("reference port", func() {
 		}
 	})
 
+	// solid.png is uniform, so its true AC term is 0 and the golden's AC nibbles are just float
+	// rounding noise from cos(); only the header (DC terms + scales, which quantize to 0) is well-defined.
+	It("reproduces the well-conditioned header of a uniform image", func() {
+		want, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(loadGoldens()["solid.png"])
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		w, h, rgba := loadFixture("solid.png")
+		got := referenceEncode(w, h, rgba)
+		Expect(got[:5]).To(Equal(want[:5]), "header bytes")
+
+		header24 := int(got[0]) | int(got[1])<<8 | int(got[2])<<16
+		header16 := int(got[3]) | int(got[4])<<8
+		Expect((header24>>18)&31).To(Equal(0), "lScale")
+		Expect((header16>>3)&63).To(Equal(0), "pScale")
+		Expect((header16>>9)&63).To(Equal(0), "qScale")
+	})
+
 	It("produces 24 bytes for a square opaque image", func() {
 		w, h, rgba := loadFixture("square.png")
 		Expect(referenceEncode(w, h, rgba)).To(HaveLen(24))
@@ -122,7 +134,7 @@ func referenceEncode(w, h int, rgba []byte) []byte {
 
 	encodeChannel := func(channel []float64, nx, ny int) (dc float64, ac []float64, scale float64) {
 		fx := make([]float64, w)
-		for cy := 0; cy < ny; cy++ {
+		for cy := range ny {
 			for cx := 0; cx*ny < nx*(ny-cy); cx++ {
 				f := 0.0
 				for x := range w {
diff --git a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/alpha.png b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/alpha.png
index 5770c696a..abcefdd5f 100644
Binary files a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/alpha.png and b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/alpha.png differ
diff --git a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/gen_fixtures.mjs b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/gen_fixtures.mjs
index f6c0bef16..68ddab959 100644
--- a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/gen_fixtures.mjs
+++ b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/gen_fixtures.mjs
@@ -58,10 +58,12 @@ const solid = (rgba, i) => {
   rgba[i + 2] = 180
   rgba[i + 3] = 255
 }
-const alphaRamp = (rgba, i, x, y, w) => {
-  rgba[i] = 200
-  rgba[i + 1] = 50
-  rgba[i + 2] = 90
+// RGB must vary with position too: a constant color composited over its own average cancels to a
+// flat L/P/Q (the bug this fixture exists to catch), so pair a color gradient with the alpha ramp.
+const alphaRamp = (rgba, i, x, y, w, h) => {
+  rgba[i] = Math.floor((255 * x) / w)
+  rgba[i + 1] = Math.floor((255 * y) / h)
+  rgba[i + 2] = Math.floor((255 * (x + y)) / (w + h))
   rgba[i + 3] = Math.floor((255 * x) / w)
 }
 
diff --git a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/golden.json b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/golden.json
index 83fc2fdde..e38b76638 100644
--- a/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/golden.json
+++ b/core/artwork/thumbhash/testdata/golden.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "alpha.png": "HCmDBQA3j3mHeHeXiGCI94h3gHd4iIh4eA==",
+  "alpha.png": "JFiKBQw3s4ewiId3eBtPOfuEgHd4iIh4eA==",
   "landscape.png": "3wcOFJpwd3dxd3eHh3ePgAj4hw==",
   "portrait.png": "3/cNFBpxB4d3d3d4d3eAjwj3eA==",
   "solid.png": "HoUBBwB4eHeHd3hweId3h3h4B2+Ih4gA",