diff --git a/src/orb/ingest.ts b/src/orb/ingest.ts
index dd52d104b..5c1e006fd 100644
--- a/src/orb/ingest.ts
+++ b/src/orb/ingest.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const MAX_BATCH = 500;
 const MAX_INSTANCE_ID_CHARS = 64;
 const MAX_HASH_CHARS = 128;
 const MAX_BUCKET_CHARS = 64;
+const MAX_VERDICT_CHARS = 32;
 const VALID_OUTCOMES = new Set(["merged", "closed"]);
 const VALID_REVERSALS = new Set(["none", "reopened", "reverted"]);
 const MIN_CYCLE_MS = 1_000; // <1s is implausible
@@ -166,7 +167,7 @@ export async function handleOrbIngest(body: string, db: D1Database): Promise<Orb
           instance_id,
           event.repo_hash,
           event.pr_hash,
-          typeof event.gate_verdict === "string" ? event.gate_verdict : null,
+          typeof event.gate_verdict === "string" && event.gate_verdict.length <= MAX_VERDICT_CHARS ? event.gate_verdict : null,
           event.outcome,
           reversal,
           typeof event.gate_reasoncode_bucket === "string" && event.gate_reasoncode_bucket.length <= MAX_BUCKET_CHARS ? event.gate_reasoncode_bucket : null,
diff --git a/test/integration/orb-ingest.test.ts b/test/integration/orb-ingest.test.ts
index 064323b3b..6003f6160 100644
--- a/test/integration/orb-ingest.test.ts
+++ b/test/integration/orb-ingest.test.ts
@@ -39,11 +39,12 @@ describe("handleOrbIngest()", () => {
     expect(await ingest(makeDb(), [ev({ outcome: "opened" })])).toEqual({ accepted: 0 });
   });
 
-  it("stores gate_verdict string vs null", async () => {
+  it("stores gate_verdict string vs null, coercing an oversized value to null", async () => {
     const db = makeDb();
-    await ingest(db, [ev({ pr_hash: "v1", gate_verdict: "merge" }), ev({ pr_hash: "v2" })]);
+    await ingest(db, [ev({ pr_hash: "v1", gate_verdict: "merge" }), ev({ pr_hash: "v2" }), ev({ pr_hash: "v3", gate_verdict: "v".repeat(33) })]);
     expect(await col(db, "v1", "gate_verdict")).toBe("merge");
     expect(await col(db, "v2", "gate_verdict")).toBeNull();
+    expect(await col(db, "v3", "gate_verdict")).toBeNull();
   });
 
   it("whitelists reversal_flag: valid kept, invalid + absent → 'none'", async () => {