diff --git a/hermes_cli/plugin_validate_desktop.py b/hermes_cli/plugin_validate_desktop.py
index 2ee8f9415e..b11d7c0c56 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/plugin_validate_desktop.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/plugin_validate_desktop.py
@@ -43,15 +43,21 @@ _COMMENT = re.compile(r"/\*.*?\*/|(?<![:\w])//[^\n]*", re.S)
 # still the payload of an ``innerHTML`` write and keeps firing. The lookbehind keeps division
 # (``a / b / c``) from reading as a literal. The pattern string handed straight to ``new RegExp(``
 # is the same sanitiser spelled for a dynamic flag (rss-reader split it into ``"<scr"+"ipt"`` to
-# dodge this rule) — only that first-argument literal is masked, not the flags or anything after.
+# dodge this rule) — but only where the constructor is USED as a matcher: the argument of a string
+# method (``html.replace(new RegExp("<script…", flags), '')``) or the receiver of ``.test``/``.exec``.
+# Anywhere else (``el.innerHTML = new RegExp("<script src=x></script>").source``) the constructor is
+# a string-builder and its literal keeps firing.
 _REGEX_LITERAL = re.compile(r"(?<![\w)\]])/(?:[^/\\\n\[]|\\.|\[(?:[^\]\\\n]|\\.)*\])+/[a-z]*")
-_REGEXP_CTOR_PATTERN = re.compile(r"\bnew\s+RegExp\(\s*(?:\"(?:[^\"\\\n]|\\.)*\"|'(?:[^'\\\n]|\\.)*')")
+_JS_STRING = r"(?:\"(?:[^\"\\\n]|\\.)*\"|'(?:[^'\\\n]|\\.)*')"
+_REGEXP_CTOR_MATCHER = re.compile(
+    r"\.(?:replace|replaceAll|split|match|matchAll|search)\(\s*new\s+RegExp\(\s*" + _JS_STRING
+    + r"|\bnew\s+RegExp\(\s*" + _JS_STRING + r"(?=[^()\n]*\)\s*\.\s*(?:test|exec)\()")
 _MARKUP_RULES = frozenset({"script injection"})
 
 
 def _mask_regex_literals(source: str) -> str:
     masked = _REGEX_LITERAL.sub(lambda m: " " * len(m.group(0)), source)
-    return _REGEXP_CTOR_PATTERN.sub(lambda m: " " * len(m.group(0)), masked)
+    return _REGEXP_CTOR_MATCHER.sub(lambda m: " " * len(m.group(0)), masked)
 
 
 def desktop_surface_findings(source: str) -> List[Tuple[str, int]]:
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugin_validate.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugin_validate.py
index 5e3aea7c03..672c39129a 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugin_validate.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugin_validate.py
@@ -294,15 +294,20 @@ class TestDesktopSurface:
             "const tag = document.createElement('script'); tag.src = 'https://evil.example/x.js'; document.head.append(tag)\n"
             "const dyn = html.replace(new RegExp(\"<script[\\\\s\\\\S]*?<\\\\/script>\", flags), '')\n"
             "el.innerHTML = new RegExp('x') && '<script>alert(1)</script>'\n"
+            "el.innerHTML = new RegExp(\"<script src=x></script>\").source\n"
+            "if (new RegExp(\"<script\\\\b\", 'i').test(html)) reject()\n"
         ))
         report = validate_plugin_dir(d)
         failed = {name: detail for name, ok, detail in report.checks if not ok}
         assert "desktop surface" in failed
         assert ":1)" not in failed["desktop surface"]
         assert ":5)" not in failed["desktop surface"]  # the same sanitiser via the RegExp constructor
+        assert ":8)" not in failed["desktop surface"]  # a RegExp that only TESTS markup
         assert "script injection (desktop/plugin.js:3)" in failed["desktop surface"]
         assert "script injection (desktop/plugin.js:4)" in failed["desktop surface"]
         assert "script injection (desktop/plugin.js:6)" in failed["desktop surface"]
+        # ``.source`` hands the pattern text back as a string: the constructor is the payload, not a sanitiser.
+        assert "script injection (desktop/plugin.js:7)" in failed["desktop surface"]
 
     def test_prototype_patch_and_chunk_import_fail(self, tmp_path):
         d = self._desktop_plugin(tmp_path, (
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md b/website/docs/user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md
index e9e8dc3ec2..d212a95aea 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md
@@ -88,9 +88,11 @@ The catalog is designed so you know exactly what you're installing:
   the obvious moves outside the plugin SDK (patching built-in prototypes,
   `eval`, importing anything other than `@hermes/plugin-sdk`/`react`,
   including remote scripts), and the app's loader refuses every non-SDK
-  import again at load time. The lint reads a `<script` regex — a literal or
-  the pattern string of `new RegExp(...)` — as the sanitiser it is, not as
-  injection; a `<script` string written into the DOM still fails. Treat the
+  import again at load time. The lint reads a `<script` regex — a literal, or
+  the pattern string of a `new RegExp(...)` passed straight to
+  `.replace()`/`.split()`/`.match()` or used as `.test()`/`.exec()` — as the
+  sanitiser it is, not as injection; a `<script` string written into the DOM,
+  including one built from `new RegExp(...).source`, still fails. Treat the
   lint as a review aid, not a
   guarantee; give Desktop halves the same scrutiny you'd give a Python half.
 - **Capability declarations.** Entries state up front which tools, hooks, and