diff --git a/.changeset/brave-hounds-unwrap.md b/.changeset/brave-hounds-unwrap.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99b5b7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/brave-hounds-unwrap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@germ-network/atprototypes": patch
+---
+
+Fix the build: `AtprotoTypesVerify`'s `RepoSigningKey` still unwrapped `DIDDocument.verificationMethod` and `VerificationMethod.publicKeyMultibase` as non-optional after they became optional in the canonical-schema relaxation. Both absent cases now refuse with `noAtprotoSigningKey`, matching the existing empty-list behaviour, with regression tests for each.
diff --git a/Sources/AtprotoTypesVerify/Signing/RepoSigningKey.swift b/Sources/AtprotoTypesVerify/Signing/RepoSigningKey.swift
index ca59449..d59071b 100644
--- a/Sources/AtprotoTypesVerify/Signing/RepoSigningKey.swift
+++ b/Sources/AtprotoTypesVerify/Signing/RepoSigningKey.swift
@@ -49,8 +49,11 @@ public struct RepoSigningKey: Sendable {
 	///fragment, and taking "the first one" instead would let a document with an
 	///extra method up front decide what we check against.
 	public init(atprotoKeyIn document: Atproto.DIDDocument, did: Atproto.DID) throws {
+		//`verificationMethod` is optional in the canonical DID schema, so an
+		//absent list and an empty one mean the same thing here: nothing to
+		//check against, which is a refusal rather than a pass.
 		guard
-			let method = document.verificationMethod.first(where: {
+			let method = document.verificationMethod?.first(where: {
 				$0.id == "#atproto" || $0.id.hasSuffix("#atproto")
 			})
 		else {
@@ -68,7 +71,13 @@ public struct RepoSigningKey: Sendable {
 			throw Atproto.Repo.ProofError.signingKeyControllerMismatch
 		}
 
-		try self.init(multibase: method.publicKeyMultibase)
+		//A method that publishes no key material proves nothing, so it is the
+		//same refusal as having no `#atproto` method at all — never a skip.
+		guard let multibase = method.publicKeyMultibase else {
+			throw Atproto.Repo.ProofError.noAtprotoSigningKey
+		}
+
+		try self.init(multibase: multibase)
 	}
 
 	public init(multibase: String) throws {
diff --git a/Tests/AtprotoTypesVerifyTests/RepoProofVerifierTests.swift b/Tests/AtprotoTypesVerifyTests/RepoProofVerifierTests.swift
index 95761f2..3255cc5 100644
--- a/Tests/AtprotoTypesVerifyTests/RepoProofVerifierTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/AtprotoTypesVerifyTests/RepoProofVerifierTests.swift
@@ -336,6 +336,50 @@ struct RepoProofVerifierTests {
 		}
 	}
 
+	///`verificationMethod` and `publicKeyMultibase` are both optional in the
+	///canonical DID schema, so a document can omit either entirely. Absent has
+	///to mean the same refusal as empty — these two cases are only reachable
+	///by hand-written JSON, so without them the nil branches are decided by
+	///whoever last touched the unwrap rather than by a test.
+	@Test("a document omitting verificationMethod entirely is refused")
+	func refusesDocumentWithNoVerificationMethodKey() throws {
+		let scenario = Scenario()
+		let document = try JSONDecoder().decode(
+			Atproto.DIDDocument.self,
+			from: Data(#"{"id":"\#(scenario.did.rawValue)"}"#.utf8)
+		)
+
+		#expect(throws: Atproto.Repo.ProofError.noAtprotoSigningKey) {
+			try Atproto.Repo.Verifier().verifyRecordProof(
+				car: try scenario.car(),
+				did: scenario.did,
+				path: Self.path,
+				document: document
+			)
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Test("an atproto method publishing no key material is refused")
+	func refusesMethodWithoutMultibase() throws {
+		let scenario = Scenario()
+		let json = """
+			{"id":"\(scenario.did.rawValue)","verificationMethod":[\
+			{"id":"\(scenario.did.rawValue)#atproto","type":"Multikey",\
+			"controller":"\(scenario.did.rawValue)"}]}
+			"""
+		let document = try JSONDecoder().decode(
+			Atproto.DIDDocument.self, from: Data(json.utf8))
+
+		#expect(throws: Atproto.Repo.ProofError.noAtprotoSigningKey) {
+			try Atproto.Repo.Verifier().verifyRecordProof(
+				car: try scenario.car(),
+				did: scenario.did,
+				path: Self.path,
+				document: document
+			)
+		}
+	}
+
 	///The gap this closes on the shipped fetch path: today's `resolveMiniDoc`
 	///adapter builds a document with `verificationMethod: []`, so every proof
 	///would stop here until that key is carried through.