diff --git a/src/discover/discover.c b/src/discover/discover.c
index a43b44be3..72804c087 100644
--- a/src/discover/discover.c
+++ b/src/discover/discover.c
@@ -763,7 +763,8 @@ int cbm_discover_ex(const char *repo_path, const cbm_discover_opts_t *opts, cbm_
         return CBM_NOT_FOUND;
     }
 
-    /* Load gitignore sources when a .git directory is present.
+    /* Load the indexed-directory .gitignore unconditionally.  When a .git
+     * directory is present, also load repository-local and global excludes.
      * Sources merged in order (later patterns win on conflict):
      *   1. <repo>/.gitignore        — committed exclusions
      *   2. <repo>/.git/info/exclude — per-clone exclusions, not committed
diff --git a/tests/test_discover.c b/tests/test_discover.c
index dff7e61c9..901aa0003 100644
--- a/tests/test_discover.c
+++ b/tests/test_discover.c
@@ -1008,6 +1008,41 @@ TEST(discover_nested_gitignore_stacks_with_root) {
     PASS();
 }
 
+TEST(discover_root_gitignore_respected_without_git_dir) {
+    char *repo = th_mktempdir("cbm_disc_subpkg_repo");
+    ASSERT(repo != NULL);
+
+    th_mkdir_p(TH_PATH(repo, ".git"));
+    th_write_file(TH_PATH(repo, "pkg/.gitignore"), "secret.py\n");
+    th_write_file(TH_PATH(repo, "pkg/secret.py"), "def secret(): return 1\n");
+    th_write_file(TH_PATH(repo, "pkg/keep.py"), "def keep(): return 1\n");
+
+    char pkg[512];
+    snprintf(pkg, sizeof(pkg), "%s/pkg", repo);
+
+    cbm_discover_opts_t opts = {0};
+    cbm_file_info_t *files = NULL;
+    int count = 0;
+    int rc = cbm_discover(pkg, &opts, &files, &count);
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+
+    bool found_secret = false;
+    bool found_keep = false;
+    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+        if (strstr(files[i].rel_path, "secret.py"))
+            found_secret = true;
+        if (strstr(files[i].rel_path, "keep.py"))
+            found_keep = true;
+    }
+    ASSERT_FALSE(found_secret);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(found_keep);
+    ASSERT_EQ(count, 1);
+
+    cbm_discover_free(files, count);
+    th_cleanup(repo);
+    PASS();
+}
+
 /* ── Suite ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
 SUITE(discover) {
@@ -1112,4 +1147,5 @@ SUITE(discover) {
     /* Nested .gitignore tests (issue #178) */
     RUN_TEST(discover_nested_gitignore);
     RUN_TEST(discover_nested_gitignore_stacks_with_root);
+    RUN_TEST(discover_root_gitignore_respected_without_git_dir);
 }