diff --git a/surface/shared/src/timeline.ts b/surface/shared/src/timeline.ts
index 00a9f9f3..a0ee2de9 100644
--- a/surface/shared/src/timeline.ts
+++ b/surface/shared/src/timeline.ts
@@ -240,6 +240,15 @@ export function isRenderableMessage(m: ChatMessage): boolean {
   return !(m.deleted === true && m.replyCount === 0);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Does this message contribute to unread state? Unlike row rendering, deletion
+ * always removes the unread content; a tombstone may remain to host replies,
+ * which contribute to unread state through their own broadcast events.
+ */
+export function countsAsUnread(m: ChatMessage): boolean {
+  return m.deleted !== true;
+}
+
 export interface ChannelTimeline {
   /** Root messages: confirmed sorted by id asc, then pending/failed in send order. */
   main: ChatMessage[];
diff --git a/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.test.tsx b/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.test.tsx
index fef0651b..dad020bb 100644
--- a/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.test.tsx
+++ b/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.test.tsx
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ describe('Timeline anchored agent answers', () => {
 // unread, scroll landing, and mark-read has to agree it isn't there — otherwise
 // deleting the newest message in a channel strands the read cursor forever.
 describe('Timeline deleted tail message', () => {
-  const deletedTail = () => message({ id: 3, text: '', deleted: true, replyCount: 0 });
+  const deletedTail = (replyCount = 0) => message({ id: 3, text: '', deleted: true, replyCount });
 
   function mockRowVisibility(visibleEid: string) {
     return vi.spyOn(HTMLElement.prototype, 'getBoundingClientRect').mockImplementation(function (this: HTMLElement) {
@@ -512,6 +512,21 @@ describe('Timeline deleted tail message', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByTestId('jump-to-unread')).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it('does not count a deleted tombstone with replies as unread', () => {
+    const view = renderTimeline({
+      messages: [message({ id: 1, text: 'Message 1' }), message({ id: 2, text: 'Message 2' }), deletedTail(1)],
+      unreadDividerAfterId: 2,
+    });
+
+    expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-eid="3"]')).not.toBeNull();
+    const log = screen.getByRole('log', { name: 'Messages' });
+    setScrollMetrics(log, { scrollHeight: 1000, clientHeight: 200 });
+    log.scrollTop = 0;
+    fireEvent.scroll(log);
+
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId('jump-to-unread')).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it('lands at the bottom when the only unread message is a deleted one', () => {
     const rect = mockRowVisibility('2');
     Object.defineProperty(HTMLDivElement.prototype, 'scrollHeight', { configurable: true, value: 1000 });
diff --git a/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.tsx b/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.tsx
index c96c093e..223c8db7 100644
--- a/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.tsx
+++ b/surface/web/src/components/Timeline.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { memo, useCallback, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import type { ChatMessage, UserRef } from '@atrium/surface-client';
 import type { Session } from '../sessions/types';
-import { buildTimelineItems, isAgentVoiceBroadcast, isRenderableMessage } from '@atrium/surface-client';
+import { buildTimelineItems, countsAsUnread, isAgentVoiceBroadcast, isRenderableMessage } from '@atrium/surface-client';
 import { ChevronDownIcon } from './icons';
 import { MessageRow } from './MessageRow';
 import type { MentionContext } from './useMentionTypeahead';
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ function TimelineImpl({
     const anchoredUnread = messages.find(
       (message) =>
         (message.id ?? 0) > unreadDividerAfterId &&
+        countsAsUnread(message) &&
         isRenderableMessage(message) &&
         (message.sessionEventType === 'replied' ||
           message.sessionEventType === 'question_requested' ||
@@ -152,15 +153,18 @@ function TimelineImpl({
         loadedRootIds.has(message.threadRootEventId),
     );
     if (anchoredUnread?.threadRootEventId != null) return anchoredUnread.threadRootEventId;
-    return visibleMessages.find((message) => (message.id ?? 0) > unreadDividerAfterId)?.id ?? null;
+    return (
+      visibleMessages.find((message) => countsAsUnread(message) && (message.id ?? 0) > unreadDividerAfterId)?.id ?? null
+    );
   }, [loadedRootIds, messages, unreadDividerAfterId, visibleMessages]);
   // Counted over `messages`, not `visibleMessages`: an anchored answer is
   // presented inside its root's cluster, so it is genuinely something new to
-  // see. A message that paints nothing is not, and counting one strands the
-  // pill at "1 new" pointing at a row that does not exist.
+  // see. `countsAsUnread` subsumes the renderability question here — every
+  // message that paints no row is a deleted one, and a deleted message never
+  // counts, so the pill can't point at a row that isn't there.
   const unreadCount = useMemo(() => {
     if (unreadDividerAfterId == null || unreadDividerAfterId <= 0) return 0;
-    return messages.filter((m) => isRenderableMessage(m) && (m.id ?? 0) > unreadDividerAfterId).length;
+    return messages.filter((message) => countsAsUnread(message) && (message.id ?? 0) > unreadDividerAfterId).length;
   }, [messages, unreadDividerAfterId]);
 
   const isAtBottom = useCallback((el: HTMLElement) => {