diff --git a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
index d4b3ea063..c62076bda 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
@@ -7050,8 +7050,27 @@ export class LocalBackend {
     // Risk scoring
     const processCount = affectedProcesses.length;
     const moduleCount = affectedModules.length;
-    let risk = 'LOW';
-    if (directCount >= 30 || processCount >= 5 || moduleCount >= 5 || impacted.length >= 200) {
+    let risk: string;
+    if (direction === 'upstream' && impacted.length === 0) {
+      // An upstream walk that resolved NO callers cannot support `LOW`. "Safe
+      // to change" is a claim ABOUT callers, and this walk found none to reason
+      // about: the symbol may be genuinely unused, or reached only through a
+      // reference class this index does not record — a property access on a
+      // plain object, or a bare-identifier read of a module-scope `Const`,
+      // neither of which mints a reference site today. Seeding `LOW` from an
+      // empty result is the same false-safe signal `anyKnownRisk` refuses to
+      // emit on the ambiguous-candidate path, and that #2687 removed by making
+      // an undetermined `impactedCount` `null` instead of `0`.
+      //
+      // Downstream is deliberately untouched: an empty downstream walk reports
+      // that this symbol resolved no callees, which is not a safety verdict.
+      risk = 'UNKNOWN';
+    } else if (
+      directCount >= 30 ||
+      processCount >= 5 ||
+      moduleCount >= 5 ||
+      impacted.length >= 200
+    ) {
       risk = 'CRITICAL';
     } else if (
       directCount >= 15 ||
@@ -7062,6 +7081,8 @@ export class LocalBackend {
       risk = 'HIGH';
     } else if (directCount >= 5 || impacted.length >= 30) {
       risk = 'MEDIUM';
+    } else {
+      risk = 'LOW';
     }
 
     // Build per-depth counts (always included, even in summaryOnly mode)
@@ -7090,6 +7111,16 @@ export class LocalBackend {
       direction,
       impactedCount: impacted.length,
       risk,
+      ...(risk === 'UNKNOWN'
+        ? {
+            riskNote:
+              'No callers resolved. Absence of edges is not evidence the symbol is unused: ' +
+              'a caller reaching it through a reference class this index does not record — ' +
+              'plain-object property access, a bare-identifier read of a module-scope const — ' +
+              'produces no edge to find. Confirm with a text search before treating the ' +
+              'change as safe.',
+          }
+        : {}),
       ...epistemic,
       ...(!traversalComplete && { partial: true }),
       summary: {
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/mcp/tools.ts b/gitnexus/src/mcp/tools.ts
index ee7d7fbee..f33b3e864 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/mcp/tools.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/mcp/tools.ts
@@ -455,7 +455,8 @@ WHEN TO USE: Before making code changes — especially refactoring, renaming, or
 AFTER THIS: Review d=1 items (WILL BREAK). Use context() on high-risk symbols.
 
 Output includes:
-- risk: LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / CRITICAL / UNKNOWN
+- risk: LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / CRITICAL / UNKNOWN. An upstream walk that resolved ZERO callers reports UNKNOWN, never LOW, and carries riskNote: "safe to change" is a claim about callers and there were none to reason about, so the symbol is either genuinely unused OR reached only through a reference class the index does not record (plain-object property access, a bare-identifier read of a module-scope const). Confirm with a text search before acting on it. Downstream walks are unaffected — an empty downstream result reports resolved callees, not safety.
+- riskNote: string — present only when risk is UNKNOWN; states why the verdict is withheld.
 - summary: direct callers, processes affected, modules affected
 - affected_processes: which execution flows break and at which step
 - affected_modules: which functional areas are hit (direct vs indirect)
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/impact-zero-caller-risk.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/impact-zero-caller-risk.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..485cbe917
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/impact-zero-caller-risk.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * Integration test: an empty upstream walk is UNKNOWN risk, never LOW.
+ *
+ * `risk: LOW` asserts "safe to change". That is a claim ABOUT callers, so a
+ * walk that resolved NONE has nothing to base it on: the symbol is either
+ * genuinely unused, or reached only through a reference class the index does
+ * not record (a property access on a plain object, a bare-identifier read of a
+ * module-scope `Const` — neither mints a reference site today). Reporting LOW
+ * there is the false-safe signal `anyKnownRisk` already refuses to emit on the
+ * ambiguous-candidate path, and that #2687 removed by making an undetermined
+ * `impactedCount` `null` rather than `0`.
+ *
+ * Direction matters: an empty DOWNSTREAM walk says this symbol resolved no
+ * callees, which is not a safety verdict, so it keeps its existing risk.
+ */
+import { it, expect, beforeAll, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { LocalBackend } from '../../src/mcp/local/local-backend.js';
+import { listRegisteredRepos } from '../../src/storage/repo-manager.js';
+import { withTestLbugDB } from '../helpers/test-indexed-db.js';
+
+vi.mock('../../src/storage/repo-manager.js', () => ({
+  listRegisteredRepos: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([]),
+  cleanupOldKuzuFiles: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ found: false, needsReindex: false }),
+  findSiblingClones: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([]),
+}));
+
+const SEED = [
+  // No edges in either direction — the empty-walk case.
+  `CREATE (orphan:Function {id: 'Function:src/orphan.ts:orphanHelper', name: 'orphanHelper', filePath: 'src/orphan.ts', startLine: 1, endLine: 3, isExported: true, content: '', description: ''})`,
+  // A resolved caller -> callee pair — the control that must stay LOW.
+  `CREATE (used:Function {id: 'Function:src/used.ts:usedHelper', name: 'usedHelper', filePath: 'src/used.ts', startLine: 1, endLine: 3, isExported: true, content: '', description: ''})`,
+  `CREATE (caller:Function {id: 'Function:src/caller.ts:callerFn', name: 'callerFn', filePath: 'src/caller.ts', startLine: 1, endLine: 8, isExported: true, content: '', description: ''})`,
+  `MATCH (a:Function {id:'Function:src/caller.ts:callerFn'}), (b:Function {id:'Function:src/used.ts:usedHelper'}) CREATE (a)-[:CodeRelation {type:'CALLS', confidence:0.9, reason:'direct', step:0}]->(b)`,
+];
+
+withTestLbugDB(
+  'impact-zero-caller-risk',
+  (handle) => {
+    let backend: LocalBackend;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      backend = (handle as any)._backend;
+    });
+
+    it('reports UNKNOWN, not LOW, when an upstream walk resolves no callers', async () => {
+      const result = await backend.callTool('impact', {
+        target: 'orphanHelper',
+        direction: 'upstream',
+      });
+      expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('error');
+      expect(result.impactedCount).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.risk).toBe('UNKNOWN');
+    });
+
+    it('explains the withheld verdict in riskNote', async () => {
+      const result = await backend.callTool('impact', {
+        target: 'orphanHelper',
+        direction: 'upstream',
+      });
+      expect(typeof result.riskNote).toBe('string');
+      // The note must say absence-of-edges is not proof of disuse; an agent
+      // gating its own edits reads this instead of inferring safety from 0.
+      expect(result.riskNote).toMatch(/not evidence/i);
+    });
+
+    it('leaves a resolved caller set at LOW with no riskNote', async () => {
+      const result = await backend.callTool('impact', {
+        target: 'usedHelper',
+        direction: 'upstream',
+      });
+      expect(result.impactedCount).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1);
+      expect(result.risk).toBe('LOW');
+      expect(result.riskNote).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it('does not hedge an empty DOWNSTREAM walk — that is not a safety claim', async () => {
+      const result = await backend.callTool('impact', {
+        target: 'orphanHelper',
+        direction: 'downstream',
+      });
+      expect(result.impactedCount).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.risk).toBe('LOW');
+      expect(result.riskNote).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+  },
+  {
+    seed: SEED,
+    poolAdapter: true,
+    afterSetup: async (handle) => {
+      vi.mocked(listRegisteredRepos).mockResolvedValue([
+        {
+          name: 'test-repo',
+          path: '/test/repo',
+          storagePath: handle.tmpHandle.dbPath,
+          indexedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+          lastCommit: 'abc123',
+          stats: { files: 3, nodes: 3, communities: 0, processes: 0 },
+        },
+      ]);
+      const backend = new LocalBackend();
+      await backend.init();
+      (handle as any)._backend = backend;
+    },
+  },
+);