diff --git a/src/e2e_pipeline.py b/src/e2e_pipeline.py
index 6322aee..096388f 100644
--- a/src/e2e_pipeline.py
+++ b/src/e2e_pipeline.py
@@ -412,7 +412,13 @@ def _test_script_verify_fn(node_artifact_types, script_artifact_type="test_scrip
     def verify_fn(node, output):
         if node_artifact_types.get(node["node_id"]) != script_artifact_type:
             return True, None
-        return check_script_compiles(output["content"])
+        ok, detail = check_script_compiles(output["content"])
+        # work_graph_orchestrate._verify_and_maybe_regenerate does
+        # "; ".join(feedback or []), i.e. it expects a list of messages (the
+        # PRD-consistency verify_fn's `issues` shape) -- check_script_compiles
+        # returns a single string, which `join` would otherwise iterate
+        # character-by-character into a garbled reflect-prompt.
+        return ok, ([detail] if detail else None)
     return verify_fn
 
 
diff --git a/src/test_e2e_pipeline.py b/src/test_e2e_pipeline.py
index bcee763..edd6177 100644
--- a/src/test_e2e_pipeline.py
+++ b/src/test_e2e_pipeline.py
@@ -272,6 +272,12 @@ class TestScriptVerifyFnTest(unittest.TestCase):
         verify_fn = e2e_pipeline._test_script_verify_fn(node_artifact_types)
         ok, detail = verify_fn({"node_id": "script"}, {"content": "this is narrative, not code, no way"})
         self.assertFalse(ok)
+        # regression: work_graph_orchestrate does "; ".join(feedback or []) on
+        # this return value -- a bare string would get joined character-by-
+        # character into a garbled reflect prompt (2026-08-06 self-hosting
+        # incident). Must be a list containing the message, not the message.
+        self.assertIsInstance(detail, list)
+        self.assertIn("py_compile", detail[0])
 
     def test_test_script_node_with_real_code_passes(self):
         node_artifact_types = {"script": "test_script"}