diff --git a/sync_blocked_label.py b/sync_blocked_label.py
index 891cbd2..dfa1e47 100755
--- a/sync_blocked_label.py
+++ b/sync_blocked_label.py
@@ -45,6 +45,18 @@ import urllib.request
 DEFAULT_LABEL = "Status/Blocked"
 DEFAULT_HOST = "https://git.chaosbit.de"
 
+#: Statuses that mean a human has decided something about this issue which
+#: outranks the dependency graph. bit, 2026-09-07: *"the reconciler must not
+#: touch issues that are already on hold or abandoned"*.
+#:
+#: "Not touch" is literal - neither add nor remove. Adding would be actively
+#: destructive once `Status/*` is exclusive again, because the add would
+#: *replace* the human's label rather than sit beside it, and `Status/On Hold`
+#: is precisely what makes the backlog sweep skip an issue. A parked issue
+#: would silently become an available one, every fifteen minutes, with nothing
+#: in the log to say so.
+HANDS_OFF = ("Status/On Hold", "Status/Abandoned")
+
 
 class Forge:
     def __init__(self, base, token):
@@ -75,15 +87,29 @@ class Forge:
 
 
 def label_id(forge, repo, name):
-    """The label's id, or None if this repo has no such label.
+    """The label's id, or None if neither the repo nor its org has one.
+
+    Repo first, then the organisation. Labels moved to the org on 2026-09-07
+    (weblib-archive#63) and `repos/<r>/labels` now returns `[]` in all five
+    repos, which made this return None everywhere and turned the whole script
+    into a silent no-op - every run printed "skipped" and reported success.
+    Checking both means it does not care how a given instance is arranged.
 
     Returning None rather than exiting matters when several repos are passed:
     aborting on the third would leave the first two already modified, which is
-    a worse state than doing nothing. weblib-viewer has no labels at all.
+    a worse state than doing nothing.
     """
-    for label in forge.get(f"repos/{repo}/labels?limit=100"):
-        if label["name"] == name:
-            return label["id"]
+    owner = repo.split("/")[0]
+    for path in (f"repos/{repo}/labels?limit=100",
+                 f"orgs/{owner}/labels?limit=100"):
+        try:
+            labels = forge.get(path) or []
+        except urllib.error.HTTPError:
+            # A user-owned repo has no org endpoint; not an error worth dying on.
+            continue
+        for label in labels:
+            if label["name"] == name:
+                return label["id"]
     return None
 
 
@@ -110,6 +136,15 @@ def reconcile(forge, repo, label_name, dry_run):
     changed = []
     for item in open_items(forge, repo):
         number = item["number"]
+        names = {l["name"] for l in item.get("labels") or []}
+        # A human has already ruled on this one. Leave it entirely alone -
+        # neither add nor remove - rather than letting the dependency graph
+        # overwrite a deliberate decision. See HANDS_OFF.
+        held = names.intersection(HANDS_OFF)
+        if held:
+            print(f"  hands off {repo}#{number}  ({', '.join(sorted(held))})",
+                  flush=True)
+            continue
         deps = forge.get(f"repos/{repo}/issues/{number}/dependencies") or []
         if not deps:
             # No edges, no opinion. See the docstring.