diff --git a/hooks/scripts/pre-bash-destructive.mjs b/hooks/scripts/pre-bash-destructive.mjs
index 5abb619..0510a78 100644
--- a/hooks/scripts/pre-bash-destructive.mjs
+++ b/hooks/scripts/pre-bash-destructive.mjs
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ import { getPolicyValue } from '../../scanners/lib/policy-loader.mjs';
 const BLOCK_RULES = [
   {
     name: 'Filesystem root destruction (rm -rf /)',
-    pattern: /\brm\s+(?:-[a-zA-Z]*f[a-zA-Z]*\s+|--force\s+)*-[a-zA-Z]*r[a-zA-Z]*\s+(?:\/|~|\$HOME)\b/,
+    // The target alternation must NOT end in a shared `\b`: a trailing word-boundary
+    // cannot hold after `/` or `~` at end-of-command, so the bare `rm -rf /` and
+    // `rm -rf ~` forms this rule is named for would fall through. `\b` belongs only on
+    // `$HOME`, which ends in a word character (so `$HOMEDIR` is not swallowed).
+    pattern: /\brm\s+(?:-[a-zA-Z]*f[a-zA-Z]*\s+|--force\s+)*-[a-zA-Z]*r[a-zA-Z]*\s+(?:\/|~|\$HOME\b)/,
     description:
       '`rm -rf /`, `rm -rf ~`, and `rm -rf $HOME` would destroy the entire filesystem ' +
       'or home directory. This command is unconditionally blocked.',
diff --git a/tests/hooks/pre-bash-destructive.test.mjs b/tests/hooks/pre-bash-destructive.test.mjs
index b0d26a3..37366d8 100644
--- a/tests/hooks/pre-bash-destructive.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/hooks/pre-bash-destructive.test.mjs
@@ -17,9 +17,24 @@ function bashPayload(command) {
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 describe('pre-bash-destructive — BLOCK cases', () => {
-  // NOTE: The block pattern requires separate flag groups (e.g. -f -r, not -rf combined).
-  // `rm -rf /` with merged flags is caught only by the WARN rule, not the BLOCK rule.
-  // Commands with split flags and a word-boundary target are reliably blocked.
+  // Regression: the root-destruction rule previously ended in a `\b` assertion, which
+  // cannot hold after a non-word target character. `rm -rf /` and `rm -rf ~` — the two
+  // most literal forms the rule is named for — therefore fell through to WARN only.
+  // The bare-target cases below are the regression guard; do not relax them.
+
+  for (const cmd of ['rm -rf /', 'rm -rf ~', 'rm -rf /*', 'rm -fr /', 'sudo rm -rf /', 'rm -rf ~/']) {
+    it(`blocks ${cmd} (bare root/home target)`, async () => {
+      const result = await runHook(SCRIPT, bashPayload(cmd));
+      assert.equal(result.code, 2, `expected BLOCK (exit 2) for: ${cmd}`);
+      assert.match(result.stderr, /BLOCKED/);
+      assert.match(result.stderr, /Filesystem root destruction/);
+    });
+  }
+
+  it('does not block rm -rf $HOMEDIR (different variable, not $HOME)', async () => {
+    const result = await runHook(SCRIPT, bashPayload('rm -rf $HOMEDIR/cache'));
+    assert.notEqual(result.code, 2);
+  });
 
   it('blocks rm -f -r /home (split flags targeting root-level directory)', async () => {
     const result = await runHook(SCRIPT, bashPayload('rm -f -r /home'));