diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/languages/zig/query.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/languages/zig/query.ts
index fb16a3432..cf0ee3ca5 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/languages/zig/query.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/languages/zig/query.ts
@@ -56,9 +56,13 @@ const ZIG_SCOPE_QUERY = `
 (container_field
   name: (identifier) @declaration.name) @declaration.field
 
-;; Declarations — const/var bindings (import/container groups filtered in TS)
+;; Declarations — const/var bindings (import/container groups filtered in TS).
+;; The \`.\` anchor pins the FIRST named child: without it the pattern also
+;; matched the initializer of \`const first = target;\`, minting a phantom
+;; local named \`target\` that shadowed the real callee for every later
+;; reference in the block.
 (variable_declaration
-  (identifier) @declaration.name) @declaration.variable
+  . (identifier) @declaration.name) @declaration.variable
 
 ;; Imports — const x = @import("...")
 (variable_declaration
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/zig.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/zig.test.ts
index 7267dbd28..6f8bb7e15 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/zig.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/resolvers/zig.test.ts
@@ -72,3 +72,28 @@ describe('Zig basic resolution', () => {
     expect(edgeSet(calls)).toContain('main → tick');
   });
 });
+
+describe('Zig scope captures — variable bindings', () => {
+  it('binds only the declared name, never the initializer identifier', async () => {
+    // `(variable_declaration (identifier) @declaration.name)` without a
+    // first-child anchor ALSO matches the RHS identifier of `const h = helper;`
+    // and mints a phantom local named `helper` in the enclosing block. That
+    // phantom shadows the real function for every later reference in the
+    // block, so `helper()` below silently lost its CALLS edge — and the
+    // callable-value-flow seed for `h` had nothing to resolve against.
+    const { emitZigScopeCaptures } =
+      await import('../../../src/core/ingestion/languages/zig/captures.js');
+    const source = [
+      'fn helper() void {}',
+      'pub fn main() void {',
+      '    const h = helper;',
+      '    helper();',
+      '}',
+      '',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const variableNames = emitZigScopeCaptures(source, 'main.zig')
+      .filter((m) => m['@declaration.variable'] !== undefined)
+      .map((m) => m['@declaration.name']?.text);
+    expect(variableNames).toEqual(['h']);
+  });
+});