diff --git a/test/programs/reload.flan b/test/programs/reload.flan
index 6e7579f..6d2b19e 100644
--- a/test/programs/reload.flan
+++ b/test/programs/reload.flan
@@ -27,6 +27,14 @@
 ;;; question.
 (defonce spare i64)
 
+;;; Unused too, and here for the redefinition-module question a [def] adds:
+;;; its initialiser is lifted into [global/paint] whatever it is — a literal
+;;; included — so re-evaluating the form republishes that function through
+;;; its cell, and [global/paint] is a *non-sibling* target (its parent is the
+;;; global, not a function in the form). test_reload greps the module's IR
+;;; for the cell declaration that publish needs.
+(def paint i64 7)
+
 ;;; Also unused, and for the same reason: a defconst's value and an enum
 ;;; member are folded into every call site, so a session has to refuse changing
 ;;; either. Nothing here reads them, so the checker has no opinion and the
diff --git a/test/test_reload.ml b/test/test_reload.ml
index b2053bc..67366a5 100644
--- a/test/test_reload.ml
+++ b/test/test_reload.ml
@@ -125,6 +125,21 @@ let () =
       fail "redefinition's own body is interposable";
     if not (has ir2 "@\"flan.cell.helper\" = external global ptr") then
       fail "redefinition defines a cell instead of using the host's";
+    (* A def's lifted initialiser as the target, which is what [Session]'s
+       [def_inits] hands in when the form is re-evaluated. [global/paint] is
+       not a sibling — its [fparent] is the global it initialises, not a
+       function in [fns] — so its cell declaration comes from the targets
+       pass in [Emit.redefinition]; without that pass the publish store
+       names a symbol the module never declared and the IR does not compile.
+       The x86 side needs no twin: it reaches a host cell through the GOT by
+       name, declared or not. *)
+    (let irdef =
+       Emit.redefinition ~dev:true ~known p1 ~fns:[ "global/paint" ]
+     in
+     if not (has irdef "@\"flan.cell.global/paint\" = external global ptr")
+     then fail "a lifted def initialiser's cell is not declared";
+     if not (has irdef "define hidden i64 @\"flan.global/paint\"") then
+       fail "a lifted def initialiser's body is missing or interposable");
     (* A name the host has is a symbol; a name it lacks is a registry lookup
        cached in a module-local slot. Getting this backwards either fails to
        link or silently gives each module its own copy. *)