diff --git a/stasis-core/src/state.js b/stasis-core/src/state.js
index ae2d27ae..56898c49 100644
--- a/stasis-core/src/state.js
+++ b/stasis-core/src/state.js
@@ -40,6 +40,31 @@ function readPackageJSON(pkgAbsolute) {
 // be unsound.
 const VERSION = corePackage.version
 
+// Set `format` for `file` in a formats map, applying the weak-stat-record priority
+// rule shared by the LIVE map writers (addFsStat, addImport -- addFile/addFsDir drop
+// a stale stat record in place before their own set) and the lockfile merge
+// (#mergedFormats): a payload-free 'stat:*' record (addFsStat) YIELDS to a real
+// format for the same file and never displaces one. Both directions arise
+// legitimately in one capture: an import may reveal the real format of a path that
+// was first only stat'd, and -- the reverse -- a stat may land on a path addImport
+// already format-attested at RESOLVE time with no byte record for addFsStat's
+// content skip to key off (stasis-core's own preload-cached modules are exactly
+// that shape: the resolve hook records 'module', the load hook never fires, and a
+// bundler's enhanced-resolve then stats the file). Everything else keeps noupsert's
+// conflict-is-fatal stance: two divergent REAL formats, or a stat kind flip
+// (stat:file vs stat:directory).
+function upsertFormat(map, file, format) {
+  const existing = map.get(file)
+  if (existing !== undefined && existing !== format) {
+    if (isStatFormat(existing) && !isStatFormat(format)) {
+      map.set(file, format)
+      return
+    }
+    if (isStatFormat(format) && !isStatFormat(existing)) return
+  }
+  noupsert(map, file, format)
+}
+
 // TODO: stricter format validation
 
 // Process-wide registry of every live State, kept on globalThis (not a module-local
@@ -1419,19 +1444,27 @@ export class State {
   // listing, whether captured this run or seeded from the lockfile/bundle): that
   // record already answers getFsStat, and a weak stat record must never sit beside
   // it (check-then-read -- lstatSync before readFileSync -- is the common pattern).
-  // The REVERSE order (stat first, content later) is handled by addFile/addFsDir
-  // dropping the stale stat record in place and by #mergedFormats' upgrade rule. A
-  // kind flip WITHIN the surviving stat records (stat'd as a file, later stat'd as
-  // a directory) conflicts at the noupsert and taints the capture, exactly like a
-  // mid-run byte conflict.
+  // A path with a REAL format but no content record -- addImport attests the format
+  // of a resolve-hook target whose load hook never fires (a preload-cached module) --
+  // is likewise left alone: upsertFormat drops the stat record, the real format
+  // wins (a plain noupsert here aborted real captures: enhanced-resolve stat'ing
+  // stasis-core's own src/util.js under --fs + a bundler plugin). The REVERSE order
+  // (stat first, real format later) is handled by addFile/addFsDir dropping the
+  // stale stat record in place, addImport's upsertFormat, and #mergedFormats'
+  // upgrade rule. A kind flip WITHIN the surviving stat records (stat'd as a file,
+  // later stat'd as a directory) still conflicts and taints the capture, exactly
+  // like a mid-run byte conflict.
   addFsStat(url, kind) {
     assert.ok(kind === 'file' || kind === 'directory', `addFsStat: unsupported kind '${kind}'`)
     const file = this.#canonicalFile(url)
     if (this.hashes.has(file) || this.sources.has(file) || this.resources.has(file)) return
-    noupsert(this.formats, file, `stat:${kind}`)
+    upsertFormat(this.formats, file, `stat:${kind}`)
     // Forwarded to the root via shardSnapshot's #observed-filtered formats, like
-    // every other capture; only a child's shardSnapshot reads it, skip otherwise.
-    if (this.config.childProcess) this.#observed.add(file)
+    // every other capture; only a child's shardSnapshot reads it, skip otherwise --
+    // and only when a stat record actually landed (upsertFormat yields to an
+    // existing real format, and forwarding THAT would ship an entry mergeShard's
+    // stat replay ignores).
+    if (this.config.childProcess && isStatFormat(this.formats.get(file))) this.#observed.add(file)
   }
 
   // Serve an `fs.readFileSync` from the bundle (`stasis run --fs`, bundle=load).
@@ -1697,7 +1730,11 @@ export class State {
     if (!imports.has(parent)) imports.set(parent, new Map())
     const specifiers = imports.get(parent)
     noupsert(specifiers, specifier, file)
-    if (format) noupsert(this.formats, file, format)
+    // upsertFormat (not a bare noupsert): the resolve hook may attest the format of
+    // a target the program already lstat/stat'd under --fs (a payload-free
+    // 'stat:file' record) -- the real format replaces the weak stat record instead
+    // of aborting the capture as a conflict.
+    if (format) upsertFormat(this.formats, file, format)
   }
 
   getImport(parentURL, specifier, { conditions = '*', importAttributes } = {}) {
@@ -1821,22 +1858,15 @@ export class State {
   // WEAK by design -- real content observed for the same file (a lock=add re-run
   // READING a path a prior capture only stat'd, or a sidecar bundling a file this
   // run also stat'd) UPGRADES the record instead of conflicting, and a stat record
-  // never displaces a real format. Two REAL formats -- and two divergent stat
-  // kinds (stat:file vs stat:directory) -- stay fatal.
+  // never displaces a real format (upsertFormat, the same rule the live-map
+  // writers apply). Two REAL formats -- and two divergent stat kinds (stat:file
+  // vs stat:directory) -- stay fatal.
   #mergedFormats() {
     const merged = new Map()
-    const mergeFormat = (file, format) => {
-      const existing = merged.get(file)
-      if (existing !== undefined && existing !== format) {
-        if (isStatFormat(existing) && !isStatFormat(format)) { merged.set(file, format); return }
-        if (isStatFormat(format) && !isStatFormat(existing)) return
-      }
-      noupsert(merged, file, format)
-    }
     if (this.#lockFormats) for (const [file, format] of this.#lockFormats) merged.set(file, format)
-    for (const [file, format] of this.formats) mergeFormat(file, format)
+    for (const [file, format] of this.formats) upsertFormat(merged, file, format)
     for (const sidecar of this.#sidecars) {
-      for (const [file, format] of sidecar.formats) mergeFormat(file, format)
+      for (const [file, format] of sidecar.formats) upsertFormat(merged, file, format)
     }
     return merged
   }
diff --git a/tests/cli-fs.test.js b/tests/cli-fs.test.js
index a97502be..174fd935 100644
--- a/tests/cli-fs.test.js
+++ b/tests/cli-fs.test.js
@@ -1305,6 +1305,36 @@ test('run --fs --child-process forwards a child-only stat record through the sha
   }
 })
 
+test('run --fs: a module stat\'d before it is ever imported upgrades to the real format (no conflict)', withTmp((t, tmp) => {
+  // The stat lands first ('stat:file'); the dynamic import's resolve hook then attests
+  // the REAL format via addImport -- for a target whose format arrives at RESOLVE time,
+  // not through addFile. The real format must replace the weak stat record; a bare
+  // noupsert used to abort the whole capture as a Conflict (the crash seen with
+  // enhanced-resolve stat'ing stasis-core's own resolve-attested src/util.js).
+  writeFileSync(join(tmp, 'src', 'dep.js'), 'export const k = "v"\n')
+  writeFileSync(join(tmp, 'src', 'entry.js'), [
+    "import { lstatSync } from 'node:fs'",
+    'const dep = new URL("./dep.js", import.meta.url)',
+    'console.log(`stat:${lstatSync(dep).isFile()}`)', // stat BEFORE dep.js is resolved/loaded
+    'const { k } = await import("./dep.js")', // resolve hook now records format "module"
+    'console.log(`k:${k}`)',
+    '',
+  ].join('\n'))
+  const bundlePath = join(tmp, 'snapshot.br')
+  const save = run(['run', '--lock=add', '--bundle=add', `--bundle-file=${bundlePath}`, '--fs=sync', 'src/entry.js'], { cwd: tmp })
+  t.assert.equal(save.status, 0, `save stderr: ${save.stderr}`)
+  t.assert.equal(save.stdout, 'stat:true\nk:v\n')
+  t.assert.doesNotMatch(save.stderr, /capture aborted|Conflict/, 'the real format must upgrade the stat record, not conflict')
+  const bundle = decode(bundlePath)
+  t.assert.equal(bundle.formats['src/dep.js'], 'module', 'the import upgraded the stat record to the real format')
+  t.assert.equal(JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(tmp, 'stasis.lock.json'), 'utf-8')).formats['src/dep.js'], 'module')
+
+  rmSync(join(tmp, 'src', 'dep.js')) // gone; both the stat and the import serve from the bundle
+  const load = run(['run', '--lock=frozen', '--bundle=load', `--bundle-file=${bundlePath}`, '--fs=sync', 'src/entry.js'], { cwd: tmp })
+  t.assert.equal(load.status, 0, `load stderr: ${load.stderr}`)
+  t.assert.equal(load.stdout, 'stat:true\nk:v\n')
+}))
+
 test('run --fs only captures the single-argument lstatSync/statSync (options pass through)', withTmp((t, tmp) => {
   // Same scope rule as readdirSync: an options form (bigint, throwIfNoEntry) is out of
   // scope -- passed through untouched and NOT recorded.
diff --git a/tests/state.test.js b/tests/state.test.js
index 2337ea53..8b18f4cc 100644
--- a/tests/state.test.js
+++ b/tests/state.test.js
@@ -109,6 +109,45 @@ test('getImport throws for unknown specifier', (t) => {
   t.assert.throws(() => state.getImport(parentURL, './does-not-exist.js'))
 })
 
+// --- payload-free stat records vs real formats (the weak-record priority rule) --------
+// addImport attests a resolve-hook target's format WITHOUT a byte record when the load
+// hook never fires for it (a preload-cached module -- stasis-core's own files, under a
+// bundler whose enhanced-resolve then stats them), so addFsStat cannot key its skip off
+// hashes/sources alone. The two must never conflict in EITHER order: the real format
+// always wins and the weak stat record always yields. Regression: a bare noupsert here
+// aborted whole captures -- `Conflict for "node_modules/@exodus/stasis-core/src/util.js"`,
+// 'module' vs 'stat:file'. Fresh State instances so the shared `state` above stays clean.
+
+test('addFsStat yields to a real format addImport recorded for a byte-less target', (t) => {
+  const s = new State(root)
+  const parentURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs2).toString()
+  const childURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs).toString()
+  s.addImport(parentURL, './foo.js', childURL, { format: 'module' }) // resolve-time format, no addFile
+  t.assert.ok(!s.hashes.has('src/foo.js') && !s.sources.has('src/foo.js'), 'precondition: no byte record')
+  s.addFsStat(childURL, 'file') // must neither throw nor displace 'module'
+  t.assert.equal(s.formats.get('src/foo.js'), 'module')
+})
+
+test('addImport upgrades a stat record recorded before the target was ever resolved', (t) => {
+  const s = new State(root)
+  const parentURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs2).toString()
+  const childURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs).toString()
+  s.addFsStat(childURL, 'file') // stat first (check-before-import)
+  t.assert.equal(s.formats.get('src/foo.js'), 'stat:file')
+  s.addImport(parentURL, './foo.js', childURL, { format: 'module' }) // must upgrade, not conflict
+  t.assert.equal(s.formats.get('src/foo.js'), 'module')
+})
+
+test('divergent stat kinds and divergent real formats still conflict', (t) => {
+  const s = new State(root)
+  const parentURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs2).toString()
+  const childURL = pathToFileURL(fileAbs).toString()
+  s.addFsStat(childURL, 'file')
+  t.assert.throws(() => s.addFsStat(childURL, 'directory'), /Conflict/) // kind flip stays fatal
+  s.addImport(parentURL, './foo.js', childURL, { format: 'module' })
+  t.assert.throws(() => s.addImport(parentURL, './foo.js', childURL, { format: 'commonjs' }), /Conflict/)
+})
+
 // CJS `require(require.resolve('./foo.js'))` (e.g. webpack's loader-runner doing
 // `require(loader.path)`) hands the resolve hook the already-resolved ABSOLUTE
 // path as the specifier. Recorded verbatim it bakes a machine-specific absolute