diff --git a/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs b/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
index 8afabb04e..6220e29c1 100644
--- a/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
+++ b/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ for (const b of manifest.bundles || []) {
   if ((b.profiles || []).some((p) => p.isMap)) mapBundles.add(b.bundle)
 }
 const targets = []
+const mapless = []   // composites that nest no map: reported as N/A, never as unmeasured
 for (const b of manifest.bundles || []) {
   // TWO WAYS A COMPOSITE DECLARES ITSELF, and taking only the first under-covered this gate.
   // `composes` is written when a composite mounts children BY TAG; a composite that BAKES its
@@ -84,8 +85,24 @@ for (const b of manifest.bundles || []) {
   const byCompose = composes.some((c) => mapBundles.has(c))
   const profile = (b.profiles || []).find((p) => p.element && (byCompose || p.type === 'nested-elements-mfe'))
   if (!profile || !b.scriptUrl) continue
+  // ★ A COMPOSITE WITH NO MAP IS NOT A MAP-EMBED TARGET, and counting it as one buys a permanent
+  // UNMEASURED that reads like a gap. The `type` arm above is deliberately loose — country-posters-mfe
+  // BAKES its children, so `composes` names nothing — but loose enough to admit composites that nest no
+  // map at all: bp-big-picture composes a research HEADER and a people-groups GRID, and its built
+  // bundle contains zero occurrences of mapbox-gl or maplibre-gl. It can never draw a canvas, so
+  // "no canvas under a minimal config" was the honest answer to a question that should not have been
+  // asked of it. Decided on the BUILT artefact rather than the manifest, because whether a bundle
+  // ships an engine is a fact about what it compiled, not about what it declares.
+  if (!byCompose) {
+    let js = ''
+    try { js = readFileSync(resolve(ROOT, 'public', TREE_NAME, b.bundle, `${b.bundle}.js`), 'utf8') } catch (_) { js = '' }
+    if (js && !/mapbox-gl|maplibre-gl/.test(js)) { mapless.push(`${profile.element} (${b.bundle})`); continue }
+  }
   targets.push({ bundle: b.bundle, element: profile.element, profile: profile.profile, script: `${b.bundle}/${b.bundle}.js` })
 }
+if (mapless.length) {
+  console.log(`  · ${mapless.length} composite(s) nest NO map, so the knobs do not apply and they are not targets: ${mapless.join(', ')}`)
+}
 if (!targets.length) {
   console.log('COMPOSITE-EMBED-KNOBS: SKIP — the manifest declares no composite that nests a map.')
   process.exit(0)