diff --git a/.changeset/28771-sealed-overlay-report-served-override.md b/.changeset/28771-sealed-overlay-report-served-override.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..92c100b1798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/28771-sealed-overlay-report-served-override.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/metadata-protocol': patch
+---
+
+fix(metadata-protocol): the boot's sealed-overlay report no longer counts a served `.custom` override or tells the operator to delete it (#28771)
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+At boot, `[metadata_sealed_overlay_unserved]` lists the environment rows that overlay sealed managed content, says no read serves them, and prescribes deleting each stored row. Since #28412 the shipping package's declared override in its paired `<base>.custom` package is served, and for a flow it is armed in place of the base. The report still counted that row, so it told the operator to delete the live customization.
+
+- **A served override is not counted.** The census skips a row that the one served-override predicate (`isServedOverrideRowOf`) admits, judged on the row's `package_id` column, never on a body's `_packageId`.
+- **Every unserved row is still reported, with its remedies.** That includes the legacy package-less row a declared override leaves shadowed, the pair's undeclared row, a dependent package's declaration, and a package-less row whose body only names the pair. The count goes down by exactly the served rows.
+- **Nothing else changes.** Which row is served, loaded or armed stays the same; only the report line changes.
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.reads-environment-only.test.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.reads-environment-only.test.ts
index 50c80ce19c7..43d80e3dfd9 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.reads-environment-only.test.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.reads-environment-only.test.ts
@@ -310,6 +310,56 @@ describe('§3 the boot report names the sealed overlays, per type, with their re
         expect(sealed[0]).toContain('datasource×1 (pkg_ds)');
         expect(sealed[0]).not.toContain('host_ds');
     });
+
+    // [#28771, ADR-0146 D2] The shipping package's declared `.custom` override
+    // of a shipped flow is served (and armed) since #28412, so the census that
+    // says "no read serves them … delete the stored row" does not count it. The
+    // judgement is `isServedOverrideRowOf` on the row's `package_id` column.
+    describe('[#28771] a served .custom override is not counted as unserved', () => {
+        const FLOW = 'managed_flow';
+        const PAIR = `${PKG}.custom`;
+        const DECLARED = { overrides: { package: PKG, basedOn: '1.0.0' } };
+        const flowArtifact: Artifact = { type: 'flow', name: FLOW, body: { name: FLOW, _packageId: PKG } };
+        const override = (over: Row = {}, body: Row = DECLARED) =>
+            metaRow('flow', FLOW, { label: 'override', ...body }, { id: 'r_flow_override', package_id: PAIR, ...over });
+        const legacy = () => metaRow('flow', FLOW, { label: 'legacy' }, { id: 'r_flow_legacy' });
+        const sealedLines = (warns: string[]) => warns.filter((w) => w.includes('[metadata_sealed_overlay_unserved]'));
+
+        it('a boot holding only the declared override prints no sealed-overlay line', async () => {
+            const { warns } = await boot({ sys_metadata: [override()] }, [flowArtifact]);
+            expect(sealedLines(warns)).toEqual([]);
+        });
+
+        it('a boot holding the override and a legacy package-less row reports the legacy row alone, with its remedies', async () => {
+            const { warns } = await boot({ sys_metadata: [override(), legacy()] }, [flowArtifact]);
+            const sealed = sealedLines(warns);
+            expect(sealed).toHaveLength(1);
+            expect(sealed[0]).toContain(`1 active environment sys_metadata row(s)`);
+            expect(sealed[0]).toContain(`flow×1 (${FLOW})`);
+            expect(sealed[0]).toContain('linkage-free clone');
+            expect(sealed[0]).toContain('delete the stored row');
+        });
+
+        it('control: a legacy row alone is reported as before', async () => {
+            const { warns } = await boot({ sys_metadata: [legacy()] }, [flowArtifact]);
+            const sealed = sealedLines(warns);
+            expect(sealed).toHaveLength(1);
+            expect(sealed[0]).toContain(`flow×1 (${FLOW})`);
+        });
+
+        for (const [label, row] of [
+            ['the pair\'s undeclared row', () => override({}, {})],
+            ['a dependent package\'s declaration', () => override({ package_id: 'app.partner' })],
+            ['a package-less row whose body stamps the pair', () => metaRow('flow', FLOW, { label: 'stamped', _packageId: PAIR, ...DECLARED }, { id: 'r_flow_stamped' })],
+        ] as const) {
+            it(`control: ${label} is served by no rule, so it is still reported`, async () => {
+                const { warns } = await boot({ sys_metadata: [row()] }, [flowArtifact]);
+                const sealed = sealedLines(warns);
+                expect(sealed).toHaveLength(1);
+                expect(sealed[0]).toContain(`flow×1 (${FLOW})`);
+            });
+        }
+    });
 });
 
 describe('§4 [ADR-0131 C7] the anonymous form doors\' legacy organization read is deleted', () => {
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
index 3a2f380e0b0..3f9cd578af3 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
@@ -29382,7 +29382,21 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                         // defines in code is named once, by the
                         // datasource-admin boot restore's warning, which
                         // carries its own remedy — not here as well.
-                        if (!this.isHostCodeDatasource(normalizedType, String(record.name))) {
+                        //
+                        // [#28771, ADR-0146 D2] …nor a row the served-override
+                        // rule serves: the shipping package's declared `.custom`
+                        // override IS served (and, for a flow, armed), so a line
+                        // saying "no read serves them … delete the stored row"
+                        // would prescribe deleting the live customization. The
+                        // one predicate, on the row's `package_id` column. The
+                        // census only: what this loop loads is unchanged.
+                        if (
+                            !this.isHostCodeDatasource(normalizedType, String(record.name))
+                            && !isServedOverrideRowOf(
+                                record as ServedOverrideRow,
+                                this.packagedArtifactOwner({ type: normalizedType, name: String(record.name) }),
+                            )
+                        ) {
                             sealedOverlays.push({ type: normalizedType, name: String(record.name) });
                         }
                         if (normalizedType === 'object') continue;