diff --git a/.github/workflows/issue-branch-policy.yml b/.github/workflows/issue-branch-policy.yml
index 3d7929e..a2b7050 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/issue-branch-policy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/issue-branch-policy.yml
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ jobs:
             local pull_request_number="$1"
             local expected_head_sha="$2"
             local pull_request_json branch_name head_sha
+            local head_repo_full_name head_commit_json
+            local head_commit_author_login head_commit_verified head_commit_verification_reason
             local category issue branch_date issue_json category_lines
             local issue_categories=()
             local issue_category
@@ -152,6 +154,48 @@ jobs:
               return 2
             fi
 
+            head_repo_full_name="$(jq -r '.head.repo.full_name // ""' <<< "$pull_request_json")" || {
+              printf 'Pull request #%s did not provide a readable head repository.\n' \
+                "$pull_request_number" >&2
+              return 1
+            }
+
+            head_commit_json="$(gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/commits/$head_sha")" || {
+              printf 'Pull request #%s did not provide a readable head commit.\n' \
+                "$pull_request_number" >&2
+              return 1
+            }
+            head_commit_author_login="$(jq -r '.author.login // ""' <<< "$head_commit_json")" || {
+              printf 'Pull request #%s did not provide a readable head commit author.\n' \
+                "$pull_request_number" >&2
+              return 1
+            }
+            head_commit_verified="$(jq -r '.commit.verification.verified // false' <<< "$head_commit_json")" || {
+              printf 'Pull request #%s did not provide readable head commit verification state.\n' \
+                "$pull_request_number" >&2
+              return 1
+            }
+            head_commit_verification_reason="$(jq -r '.commit.verification.reason // ""' <<< "$head_commit_json")" || {
+              printf 'Pull request #%s did not provide a readable head commit verification reason.\n' \
+                "$pull_request_number" >&2
+              return 1
+            }
+
+            # Dependabot branches are generated by GitHub and cannot use the
+            # issue-backed branch naming convention.  The PR author is not a
+            # trustworthy identity check: a collaborator can push a new head
+            # commit to an existing Dependabot branch after it is opened. Use
+            # the current head commit's verified GitHub identity instead.
+            if [[ "$head_commit_author_login" == "dependabot[bot]" &&
+              "$head_commit_verified" == true &&
+              "$head_commit_verification_reason" == valid &&
+              "$head_repo_full_name" == "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" &&
+              "$branch_name" == dependabot/* ]]; then
+              printf 'Validated Dependabot branch %s for pull request #%s.\n' \
+                "$branch_name" "$pull_request_number"
+              return 0
+            fi
+
             if [[ ! "$branch_name" =~ $branch_pattern ]]; then
               printf 'Pull request #%s: branch name is not canonical.\n' \
                 "$pull_request_number" >&2
diff --git a/tests/test_issue_branch_policy.py b/tests/test_issue_branch_policy.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f2ab9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_issue_branch_policy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import stat
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+
+
+def test_dependabot_policy_rejects_an_unverified_collaborator_head_commit() -> None:
+    if os.name == "nt":
+        pytest.skip("the policy under test is a Bash workflow and is validated on POSIX runners")
+    if shutil.which("bash") is None:
+        pytest.skip("bash is required to execute the workflow policy")
+    if shutil.which("jq") is None:
+        pytest.skip("jq is required by the workflow policy")
+
+    root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+    workflow = yaml.safe_load((root / ".github/workflows/issue-branch-policy.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    policy_run = workflow["jobs"]["policy"]["steps"][0]["run"]
+    head_sha = "a" * 40
+
+    fake_gh = """#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+path=""
+for argument in "$@"; do
+  case "$argument" in
+    repos/*) path="$argument"; break ;;
+  esac
+done
+case "$path" in
+  repos/basefoundry/base-cli/pulls\\?state=open\\&per_page=100)
+    printf '474\\t%s\\n' "$TEST_HEAD_SHA"
+    ;;
+  repos/basefoundry/base-cli/pulls/474)
+    printf '%s\\n' '{"number":474,"state":"open","user":{"login":"dependabot[bot]"},"head":{"sha":"'"$TEST_HEAD_SHA"'","ref":"dependabot/github_actions/astral-sh/setup-uv-10.3.1","repo":{"full_name":"basefoundry/base-cli"}}}'
+    ;;
+  repos/basefoundry/base-cli/commits/*)
+    printf '%s\\n' '{"author":{"login":"collaborator"},"commit":{"verification":{"verified":false,"reason":"unsigned"}}}'
+    ;;
+  repos/basefoundry/base-cli/statuses/*)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    printf 'unexpected gh api path: %s\\n' "$path" >&2
+    exit 2
+    ;;
+esac
+"""
+
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
+        fake_bin = Path(directory) / "bin"
+        fake_bin.mkdir()
+        gh_path = fake_bin / "gh"
+        gh_path.write_text(fake_gh, encoding="utf-8")
+        gh_path.chmod(gh_path.stat().st_mode | stat.S_IXUSR)
+
+        environment = os.environ.copy()
+        environment.update(
+            {
+                "PATH": os.pathsep.join((str(fake_bin), environment["PATH"])),
+                "GITHUB_REPOSITORY": "basefoundry/base-cli",
+                "GITHUB_SERVER_URL": "https://github.com",
+                "GITHUB_RUN_ID": "123",
+                "GH_TOKEN": "test-token",
+                "POLICY_CONTEXT": "base/issue-branch-policy",
+                "PULL_REQUEST_NUMBER": "474",
+                "ISSUE_EVENT_NUMBER": "",
+                "ISSUE_EVENT_LABEL": "",
+                "DEFAULT_BRANCH": "main",
+                "EVENT_NAME": "pull_request_target",
+                "EVENT_HEAD_SHA": head_sha,
+                "DISPATCH_HEAD_SHA": "",
+                "PREVIOUS_HEAD_SHA": "",
+                "RUN_SHA": "b" * 40,
+                "TEST_HEAD_SHA": head_sha,
+            }
+        )
+        completed = subprocess.run(
+            ["bash", "-euo", "pipefail", "-c", policy_run],
+            cwd=root,
+            env=environment,
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+        )
+
+    assert completed.returncode != 0
+    assert "One or more PRs sharing this commit violate branch policy" in completed.stderr
+    assert "Validated Dependabot branch" not in completed.stdout