diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron/updater/checkout-source.test.ts b/apps/desktop/electron/updater/checkout-source.test.ts
index 618a2fa1dd..1c06f6b11a 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron/updater/checkout-source.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron/updater/checkout-source.test.ts
@@ -272,22 +272,6 @@ it('carries each install channel from Python publication checks into the source
       draft: false,
       prerelease: false
     })
-    // The 'main' subscription is a source-branch channel record under the R2 protocol.
-    responses.set(
-      '/releases/channels/main.json',
-      JSON.stringify({
-        schema: 1,
-        name: 'main',
-        repository: 'NousResearch/hermes-agent',
-        policy: 'source-branch',
-        state: 'active',
-        revision: 1,
-        nextSequence: 1,
-        identity: null,
-        head: null,
-        delivery: { kind: 'source-branch', branch: 'main' }
-      })
-    )
     git(['tag', 'v99.0.0'])
     git(['worktree', 'add', '-b', 'feature/gui', root])
     git(['remote', 'add', 'origin', origin])
@@ -490,9 +474,9 @@ if not getattr(urllib.request, '_hermes_loopback', False):
     fs.rmSync(markerPath(home), { force: true })
     fs.rmSync(scriptDirectory, { recursive: true, force: true })
     expect(await strategy.apply()).toMatchObject({ manual: true, command: 'hermes update --branch feature/gui' })
-    // apply() forces a fresh check; under the R2 protocol that re-resolution
-    // touches exactly the channel record — no GitHub or artifact chatter.
-    expect(requests.slice(count)).toEqual(['/releases/channels/main.json', '/releases/channels/main.json'])
+    // main IS the git branch: re-resolving it reads no channel record and makes no
+    // GitHub or artifact request, so a WAF that 403s the record can't stop the update.
+    expect(requests.slice(count)).toEqual([])
   } finally {
     vi.restoreAllMocks()
     vi.unstubAllEnvs()