diff --git a/bin/doctor b/bin/doctor
index 3043ad7..8c21ce7 100755
--- a/bin/doctor
+++ b/bin/doctor
@@ -327,6 +327,44 @@ if [ "$ONLINE" -eq 1 ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# --- toolchain: golangci-lint must be built with Go >= GOROOT ---------------
+# infra#375, second recurrence. golangci-lint embeds the go/types export-data
+# reader from the Go it was BUILT with. When GOROOT is newer, that reader
+# cannot decode the stdlib and the linter dies:
+#
+#   panic: file requires newer Go version go1.27 (application built with go1.26)
+#
+# An earlier form printed a typecheck error naming the user's own file, which
+# sends people to debug code that is fine. It cost time in two repos before
+# anyone recognised it as a host fault rather than a repo fault.
+#
+# It is invisible to CI -- the runner image has matching versions -- so it
+# breaks exactly the local `task check` that AGENT.md requires before a push,
+# and nothing else. That is why it belongs in doctor: the signal was missing,
+# not the fix.
+#
+# Fails open on anything unparseable. A host with no Go toolchain is a normal
+# host, not a broken one, and doctor runs in a SessionStart hook everywhere.
+ver_lt() {
+  # 0 when $1 < $2 on major.minor. Deliberately not sort -V: this is POSIX sh
+  # that also runs on macOS, and the export-data format is minor-versioned, so
+  # patch level does not enter into it.
+  _a=${1%%.*}; _ar=${1#*.}; _am=${_ar%%.*}
+  _b=${2%%.*}; _br=${2#*.}; _bm=${_br%%.*}
+  case "$_a$_am$_b$_bm" in *[!0-9]*) return 1 ;; esac
+  [ "$_a" -lt "$_b" ] && return 0
+  [ "$_a" -gt "$_b" ] && return 1
+  [ "$_am" -lt "$_bm" ]
+}
+
+if command -v golangci-lint >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v go >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  lint_go=$(golangci-lint --version 2>/dev/null | sed -n 's/.*built with go\([0-9][0-9.]*\).*/\1/p' | head -1)
+  root_go=$(go version 2>/dev/null | sed -n 's/.*go version go\([0-9][0-9.]*\).*/\1/p' | head -1)
+  if [ -n "$lint_go" ] && [ -n "$root_go" ] && ver_lt "$lint_go" "$root_go"; then
+    add FAIL toolchain "golangci-lint built with go$lint_go but GOROOT is go$root_go — lint panics on every Go repo; reinstall it under the current toolchain (infra#375)"
+  fi
+fi
+
 # --- output -----------------------------------------------------------------
 if [ "$JSON" -eq 1 ]; then
   printf '{"checkout":"%s","expected":%s,"plugin":{"installed":"%s","available":"%s"},"findings":[%s]}\n' \
diff --git a/tests/doctor_test.sh b/tests/doctor_test.sh
index 4cd16ed..c2fa15f 100644
--- a/tests/doctor_test.sh
+++ b/tests/doctor_test.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,18 @@ if [ ! -f "$DOCTOR" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# The toolchain check (golangci-lint build-Go vs GOROOT) reads the real host
+# unless we say otherwise, which made every unrelated fixture fail on a machine
+# whose golangci-lint is genuinely stale. Give the whole suite a matching fake
+# pair so only the cases that OPT IN exercise that check.
+STUB_BIN="$WORK/_stub_bin"
+mkdir -p "$STUB_BIN"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "golangci-lint has version 2.0.0 built with go1.27.0 from abc\\n"\n' > "$STUB_BIN/golangci-lint"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\ncase "$1" in version) printf "go version go1.27.0 linux/amd64\\n";; *) printf "\\n";; esac\n' > "$STUB_BIN/go"
+chmod +x "$STUB_BIN/golangci-lint" "$STUB_BIN/go"
+PATH="$STUB_BIN:$PATH"
+export PATH
+
 cleanup() { rm -rf "$WORK"; }
 trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM
 
@@ -291,5 +303,75 @@ else
   fail=$((fail + 1)); printf '  FAIL --online reports an unreachable remote as its own fault\n       rc=%s got: %s\n' "$_rc" "$_out"
 fi
 
+# --- toolchain: golangci-lint must be built with Go >= GOROOT ---------------
+# Measured on koala 2026-09-08 (infra#375, second recurrence): golangci-lint
+# 2.11.4 built with go1.26.1 against a go1.27.0 GOROOT PANICS on any Go repo --
+#
+#   panic: file requires newer Go version go1.27 (application built with go1.26)
+#
+# and the earlier form of the same fault printed a typecheck error naming YOUR
+# file, so the natural response is to debug code that is fine. It cost time in
+# two repos. CI never sees it (the runner image matches), so it breaks only the
+# local `task check` that AGENT.md requires before every push.
+#
+# The fixtures inject fake `go` and `golangci-lint` on PATH; nothing here reads
+# the real host toolchain, so the suite still passes on a machine without Go.
+mk_toolchain() { # $1=fixture  $2=lint-build-go  $3=goroot-go   ("" = absent)
+  _b="$1/bin"; mkdir -p "$_b"
+  if [ -n "$2" ]; then
+    printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "golangci-lint has version 2.11.4 built with %s from abc on 2026-01-01\\n"\n' "$2" > "$_b/golangci-lint"
+    chmod +x "$_b/golangci-lint"
+  fi
+  if [ -n "$3" ]; then
+    printf '#!/bin/sh\ncase "$1" in version) printf "go version %s linux/amd64\\n";; *) printf "\\n";; esac\n' "$3" > "$_b/go"
+    chmod +x "$_b/go"
+  fi
+  printf '%s' "$_b"
+}
+
+f=$(new_fixture golangci_old); wire_clean "$f"
+b=$(mk_toolchain "$f" go1.26.1 go1.27.0)
+_out=$(PATH="$b:$PATH" HOME="$f/home" DOCTOR_CHECKOUT="$f/ck" "$DOCTOR" 2>&1); _rc=$?
+if [ "$_rc" -ne 0 ] && printf '%s' "$_out" | grep -qi 'golangci'; then
+  pass=$((pass + 1)); printf '  ok   golangci-lint older than GOROOT is reported\n'
+else
+  fail=$((fail + 1)); printf '  FAIL golangci-lint older than GOROOT is reported\n       rc=%s got: %s\n' "$_rc" "$_out"
+fi
+
+# Matching versions are the normal case and must stay silent.
+f=$(new_fixture golangci_ok); wire_clean "$f"
+b=$(mk_toolchain "$f" go1.27.0 go1.27.0)
+_out=$(PATH="$b:$PATH" HOME="$f/home" DOCTOR_CHECKOUT="$f/ck" "$DOCTOR" 2>&1); _rc=$?
+if [ "$_rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+  pass=$((pass + 1)); printf '  ok   golangci-lint matching GOROOT is silent\n'
+else
+  fail=$((fail + 1)); printf '  FAIL golangci-lint matching GOROOT is silent\n       rc=%s got: %s\n' "$_rc" "$_out"
+fi
+
+# A NEWER lint than GOROOT is fine -- the constraint is one-directional.
+f=$(new_fixture golangci_newer); wire_clean "$f"
+b=$(mk_toolchain "$f" go1.28.0 go1.27.0)
+_out=$(PATH="$b:$PATH" HOME="$f/home" DOCTOR_CHECKOUT="$f/ck" "$DOCTOR" 2>&1); _rc=$?
+if [ "$_rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+  pass=$((pass + 1)); printf '  ok   golangci-lint newer than GOROOT is not a fault\n'
+else
+  fail=$((fail + 1)); printf '  FAIL golangci-lint newer than GOROOT is not a fault\n       rc=%s got: %s\n' "$_rc" "$_out"
+fi
+
+# Fail OPEN on anything unparseable. doctor runs in a SessionStart hook on every
+# machine; a toolchain it cannot read is not a fault it may assert. (A host with
+# no Go at all takes the same path -- command -v simply misses.)
+f=$(new_fixture golangci_garbled); wire_clean "$f"
+_b="$f/bin"; mkdir -p "$_b"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "golangci-lint dev build\\n"\n' > "$_b/golangci-lint"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "go version devel\\n"\n' > "$_b/go"
+chmod +x "$_b/golangci-lint" "$_b/go"
+_out=$(PATH="$_b:$PATH" HOME="$f/home" DOCTOR_CHECKOUT="$f/ck" "$DOCTOR" 2>&1); _rc=$?
+if [ "$_rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+  pass=$((pass + 1)); printf '  ok   an unreadable toolchain version is not asserted as a fault\n'
+else
+  fail=$((fail + 1)); printf '  FAIL an unreadable toolchain version is not asserted as a fault\n       rc=%s got: %s\n' "$_rc" "$_out"
+fi
+
 printf '\ndoctor: %d passed, %d failed\n' "$pass" "$fail"
 [ "$fail" -eq 0 ]