diff --git a/src/lib/references.test.ts b/src/lib/references.test.ts
index 851758d..70900c6 100644
--- a/src/lib/references.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/references.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
-import { formatReferences, rankReferences, MAX_REFERENCES } from "./references";
+import {
+  formatReferences,
+  rankReferences,
+  MAX_REFERENCES,
+  REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER,
+  stripReferencesFooter,
+} from "./references";
 
 describe("formatReferences", () => {
   it("returns empty string when no refs", () => {
@@ -182,3 +188,31 @@ describe("rankReferences", () => {
     expect(ranked).toHaveLength(1);
   });
 });
+
+// ── #146: footer echo — format/strip round-trip ──────────────────────
+
+describe("stripReferencesFooter", () => {
+  const ref = { type: "doc" as const, label: "setup.md", url: "https://github.com/o/r/blob/main/docs/setup.md" };
+
+  it("round-trips: stripping a formatted footer restores the bare answer (drift guard)", () => {
+    const withFooter = "the answer body" + formatReferences([ref]);
+    expect(stripReferencesFooter(withFooter)).toBe("the answer body");
+  });
+
+  it("formatReferences output contains the exported marker (the pair can't drift apart)", () => {
+    expect(formatReferences([ref])).toContain(REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER);
+  });
+
+  it("returns text unchanged when no footer is present", () => {
+    expect(stripReferencesFooter("plain answer\nwith lines")).toBe("plain answer\nwith lines");
+  });
+
+  it("cuts from the marker to the END — trailing hint and any stragglers go too", () => {
+    const text = "answer\n\n" + REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER + "\n  • 📄 <u|l>\n_React with 👍 or 👎 to help me give better answers in the future._";
+    expect(stripReferencesFooter(text)).toBe("answer");
+  });
+
+  it("a footer-only string strips to empty", () => {
+    expect(stripReferencesFooter(formatReferences([ref]))).toBe("");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/references.ts b/src/lib/references.ts
index a169447..f42b899 100644
--- a/src/lib/references.ts
+++ b/src/lib/references.ts
@@ -117,5 +117,20 @@ export function formatReferences(refs: Reference[]): string {
   // No "...and N more" — if refs are ranked correctly, the cap is the answer
 
   const hint = "\n_React with 👍 or 👎 to help me give better answers in the future._";
-  return `\n\n───\n*References:*\n${lines.join("\n")}${hint}`;
+  return `\n\n${REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER}\n${lines.join("\n")}${hint}`;
+}
+
+// ── Footer stripping (#146) ──────────────────────────────────────────
+// Prior bot replies are replayed into conversation history; if the
+// system footer rides along, the model learns to imitate it and emits
+// its own references block mid-answer. The marker is shared between
+// format and strip so the pair can never drift apart.
+
+export const REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER = "───\n*References:*";
+
+/** Remove the system-appended footer (marker to end of text). */
+export function stripReferencesFooter(text: string): string {
+  const idx = text.indexOf(REFERENCES_FOOTER_MARKER);
+  if (idx === -1) return text;
+  return text.slice(0, idx).trimEnd();
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/thread-filter.test.ts b/src/lib/thread-filter.test.ts
index 65a330f..7d22674 100644
--- a/src/lib/thread-filter.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/thread-filter.test.ts
@@ -203,3 +203,86 @@ describe("extractTranscriptTail", () => {
     expect(tail).not.toContain("msg 13");
   });
 });
+
+// ── #146: system footer must not echo through conversation history ──
+
+describe("buildConversationHistory — footer stripping (#146)", () => {
+  const BOT = "B001";
+  const FOOTER = "\n\n───\n*References:*\n  • 📄 <https://github.com/o/r/blob/main/f.ts|f.ts>\n_React with 👍 or 👎 to help me give better answers in the future._";
+
+  it("strips the system footer from assistant turns so the model can't imitate it", () => {
+    const history = buildConversationHistory(
+      [
+        { user: "U1", text: "how does auth work?", bot_id: undefined },
+        { user: BOT, text: "Auth uses JWT." + FOOTER, bot_id: "B001" },
+      ],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    expect(history).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(history[1].content).toBe("Auth uses JWT.");
+    expect(history[1].content).not.toContain("References");
+    expect(history[1].content).not.toContain("React with");
+  });
+
+  it("does NOT strip footer-lookalike text from USER turns", () => {
+    const userText = "why does your ───\n*References:*\n block show twice?";
+    const history = buildConversationHistory(
+      [{ user: "U1", text: userText, bot_id: undefined }],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    expect(history[0].content).toContain("*References:*");
+  });
+
+  it("skips an assistant message that is footer-only (no empty turns)", () => {
+    const history = buildConversationHistory(
+      [
+        { user: "U1", text: "question", bot_id: undefined },
+        { user: BOT, text: FOOTER.trimStart(), bot_id: "B001" },
+        { user: "U1", text: "follow-up", bot_id: undefined },
+      ],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    // Footer-only bot turn vanishes; the two user turns merge.
+    expect(history).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(history[0].role).toBe("user");
+    expect(history[0].content).toContain("question");
+    expect(history[0].content).toContain("follow-up");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("extractTranscriptTail — footer stripping (#146 review)", () => {
+  const BOT = "B001";
+  const FOOTER = "\n\n───\n*References:*\n  • 📄 <https://github.com/o/r/blob/main/f.ts|f.ts>\n_React with 👍 or 👎 to help me give better answers in the future._";
+
+  it("bot entries reach the classifier transcript footer-free", () => {
+    const tail = extractTranscriptTail(
+      [
+        { user: "U1", text: "how does auth work?", bot_id: undefined },
+        { user: BOT, text: "Auth uses JWT." + FOOTER, bot_id: "B001" },
+      ],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    expect(tail).toContain("bot: Auth uses JWT.");
+    expect(tail).not.toContain("References");
+    expect(tail).not.toContain("React with");
+  });
+
+  it("a footer-only bot message is skipped, not an empty entry", () => {
+    const tail = extractTranscriptTail(
+      [
+        { user: "U1", text: "question", bot_id: undefined },
+        { user: BOT, text: FOOTER.trimStart(), bot_id: "B001" },
+      ],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    expect(tail).toBe("user: question");
+  });
+
+  it("user entries quoting footer-lookalike text are NOT stripped", () => {
+    const tail = extractTranscriptTail(
+      [{ user: "U1", text: "why is *References:* doubled?", bot_id: undefined }],
+      BOT,
+    );
+    expect(tail).toContain("*References:*");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/thread-filter.ts b/src/lib/thread-filter.ts
index 5b7b51c..68ea5f2 100644
--- a/src/lib/thread-filter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/thread-filter.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
  * proper multi-turn conversation history from Slack thread messages.
  */
 
+import { stripReferencesFooter } from "./references";
+
 const MENTION_RE = /<@([A-Z0-9]+)>/g;
 
 /**
@@ -83,11 +85,15 @@ export function buildConversationHistory(
   // Build raw turns with cleaned text
   const rawTurns: MessageParam[] = [];
   for (const m of recent) {
-    const text = truncate(cleanText(m.text ?? ""), MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH);
-    if (!text) continue; // Skip empty messages
-
     const role: "user" | "assistant" =
       m.user === botUserId || m.bot_id ? "assistant" : "user";
+    // Strip the system-appended references footer from prior bot replies
+    // before they re-enter the model's context — otherwise the model
+    // imitates the footer and emits its own copy mid-answer (#146).
+    const raw = role === "assistant" ? stripReferencesFooter(m.text ?? "") : m.text ?? "";
+    const text = truncate(cleanText(raw), MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH);
+    if (!text) continue; // Skip empty messages
+
     rawTurns.push({ role, content: text });
   }
 
@@ -143,10 +149,14 @@ export function extractTranscriptTail(
   const entries: string[] = [];
   for (let i = messages.length - 1; i >= 0 && entries.length < TRANSCRIPT_TAIL_MAX; i--) {
     const m = messages[i];
-    const text = truncate(cleanText(m.text ?? ""), TRANSCRIPT_ENTRY_MAX_CHARS);
+    const speaker = m.user === botUserId || m.bot_id ? "bot" : "user";
+    // Same rule as buildConversationHistory (#146): bot replies drop the
+    // system footer so reference bullets can't eat the classifier's
+    // per-entry budget or skew the gate.
+    const raw = speaker === "bot" ? stripReferencesFooter(m.text ?? "") : m.text ?? "";
+    const text = truncate(cleanText(raw), TRANSCRIPT_ENTRY_MAX_CHARS);
     if (!text) continue; // Skip empty messages
 
-    const speaker = m.user === botUserId || m.bot_id ? "bot" : "user";
     entries.push(`${speaker}: ${text}`);
   }
   return entries.reverse().join("\n");