diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 0e5d0a81..74b745a8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -79,8 +79,35 @@ jobs:
       - run: cargo fmt --all --check
       - run: cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
       - run: cargo test --workspace
+
+  rustdoc:
+    name: rustdoc (-D warnings)
+    # Its OWN job, deliberately, for two reasons learned the hard way.
+    #
+    # 1. It used to be the LAST step of the `test` job, after the slow test run.
+    #    That made it the most likely thing to be lost when a follow-up push
+    #    cancelled the run (`cancel-in-progress` below), and in practice a commit
+    #    with a broken intra-doc link sailed through because the run was
+    #    CANCELLED before rustdoc ever executed -- not because it passed.
+    # 2. A rustdoc failure reported as "test (ubuntu-latest) failed", which
+    #    points at the wrong thing. Now the job name says what broke.
+    #
+    # No `needs:`, so it starts immediately and finishes in well under a minute
+    # -- fast enough to be genuinely useful feedback, and small enough that it is
+    # rarely mid-flight when a supersede happens.
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@1.97
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+      # rustdoc builds the whole workspace including the frontend, so the
+      # alsa/udev headers its build scripts need must be present.
+      - uses: ./.github/actions/linux-build-deps
+      # -D warnings turns every rustdoc lint into an error: broken intra-doc
+      # links, public docs linking to private items, and missing docs on public
+      # items (the workspace sets `missing_docs = "warn"`).
       - run: RUSTDOCFLAGS="-D warnings" cargo doc --workspace --no-deps
-        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
 
   test-roms:
     name: test (test-roms feature)
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b162a8cd..aa05981c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,21 @@ All notable changes to RustyN64 are documented here. The format is based on
 The next rung is `v0.2.0 "Interpreter"` — the VR4300 (see
 [`to-dos/VERSION-PLAN.md`](to-dos/VERSION-PLAN.md)).
 
+### Fixed — rustdoc gets its own CI job
+
+`RUSTDOCFLAGS="-D warnings" cargo doc --workspace --no-deps` was the **last step of the
+`test` job**, after the slow test run. Two consequences, both observed rather than theorised:
+
+- It was the most likely thing to be lost to `cancel-in-progress`. A commit with a broken
+  intra-doc link (public docs linking to a private item) went through with its run marked
+  **`cancelled`, not failed** — rustdoc never executed. The gate did not fail; it did not run.
+- A rustdoc failure reported as `test (ubuntu-latest) failed`, pointing at the wrong subsystem.
+
+Now a dedicated `rustdoc (-D warnings)` job with no `needs:`, so it starts immediately, runs in
+parallel with the tests, and finishes in well under a minute — fast enough to be useful feedback
+and small enough to rarely be mid-flight when a supersede happens. Verified by reintroducing the
+exact defect that slipped through: the job's command rejects it, and `cargo test` is blind to it.
+
 ### Added — the ADR 0007 five-stage pipeline (T-11-001, second half)
 
 `crates/rustyn64-cpu/src/pipeline.rs`. **Structure, not instructions** — the stages move latches