diff --git a/internal/web/uploads.go b/internal/web/uploads.go
index 8ef6a43..836b493 100644
--- a/internal/web/uploads.go
+++ b/internal/web/uploads.go
@@ -275,24 +275,21 @@ func titleFromFilename(name string) string {
 // definition the start-up validation uses, not a second string match here (#52).
 //
 // The endpoint is one alias, except for the two-engine path (ADR-034), which writes
-// "<base> + <alt>, reconciled by <model>". Every alias in it is judged on its own, so a
-// composite of local models is local and one naming a cloud alias names that provider.
+// "<base> + <alt>, reconciled by <model>". Every word of it that is not that format's own
+// connector is judged as an alias, so a composite of local models is local, and anything
+// else (a cloud alias, one with no provider prefix, one with a space in it) is not.
 func cloudProvider(endpoint string) (string, bool) {
-	if strings.TrimSpace(endpoint) == "" {
-		return "", false
-	}
-	aliases := []string{}
 	for _, tok := range strings.Fields(endpoint) {
-		if tok = strings.Trim(tok, ","); strings.Contains(tok, "/") {
-			aliases = append(aliases, tok)
+		tok = strings.Trim(tok, ",")
+		switch tok {
+		case "", "+", "reconciled", "by":
+			continue
 		}
-	}
-	if len(aliases) == 0 {
-		aliases = append(aliases, strings.TrimSpace(endpoint))
-	}
-	for _, a := range aliases {
-		if !config.IsLocalModel(a) {
-			provider, _, _ := strings.Cut(a, "/")
+		if !config.IsLocalModel(tok) {
+			provider, _, _ := strings.Cut(tok, "/")
+			if provider == "" {
+				provider = tok
+			}
 			return provider, true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/web/uploads_cloud_note_test.go b/internal/web/uploads_cloud_note_test.go
index 7e68187..f703e76 100644
--- a/internal/web/uploads_cloud_note_test.go
+++ b/internal/web/uploads_cloud_note_test.go
@@ -82,3 +82,24 @@ func TestUploadStatus_AReconciledEndpointNamingACloudEngineStillNamesTheCloudPro
 
 	assert.Contains(t, b, "cloud service (berget)")
 }
+
+// An alias without a provider prefix is not a local model, wherever it sits in the
+// composite: it must never be dropped from the judgement (PR #58 re-review).
+func TestUploadStatus_AReconciledEndpointWithAnUnprefixedAliasIsNotCalledLocal(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, endpoint := range []string{
+		"iguana/kb-whisper + whisper-1, reconciled by iguana/gemma4-26b",
+		"iguana/kb-whisper + whisper 1, reconciled by iguana/gemma4-26b",
+		"iguana/kb-whisper + berget / x, reconciled by iguana/gemma4-26b",
+	} {
+		t.Run(endpoint, func(t *testing.T) {
+			app, _ := newUploadApp(t, audioOK, 200<<20)
+			id := seedUpload(t, userID, "m", "done", "Synthetic transcript text.")
+			setEndpoint(t, id, endpoint)
+
+			b := body(t, do(t, app, get("/uploads/"+id+"/status")))
+
+			assert.Contains(t, b, "left the homelab")
+			assert.NotContains(t, b, "cloud service ()", "the note names a provider")
+		})
+	}
+}