diff --git a/bin/bullpen-grinder b/bin/bullpen-grinder
index d9b4176..fcdd2e3 100755
--- a/bin/bullpen-grinder
+++ b/bin/bullpen-grinder
@@ -762,8 +762,19 @@ def serve(nick):
                     # Explicit targets only when they look like real files; anything else is
                     # left to grind()'s git-backed inference, which sees the actual repo.
                     # Never offer a test file as a target — the grinder must not edit the spec.
-                    targets = [t for t in re.findall(r"\b[\w-]+(?:/[\w.-]+)*/[\w.-]+\.\w+\b", body)
-                               if not t.startswith("tests/") and t != test_rel]
+                    # `bin/[\w.-]+` alternative: bullpen's own scripts (bin/bullpen-*) have NO
+                    # dot-extension, so the base dir/dir/file.ext pattern alone can never match
+                    # them — meaning a ticket fixing bullpen's own code couldn't auto-infer its
+                    # own target. tmp/ and absolute paths are excluded (never real repo targets);
+                    # inclusionai/ling excluded because research tickets quoting model names like
+                    # "inclusionai/Ling-flash-2.0" look exactly like a dir/file target to this
+                    # regex otherwise. (Recovered 2026-07-28: this fix existed only as an
+                    # undeployed hand-patch on boltzmann's /usr/local/bin copy, never committed —
+                    # merged back in when that staleness was found.)
+                    targets = [t for t in re.findall(r"\b(?:bin/[\w.-]+|[\w-]+(?:/[\w.-]+)*/[\w.-]+\.\w+)\b", body)
+                               if not t.startswith("tests/") and t != test_rel
+                               and not t.startswith("tmp/") and not t.startswith("/")
+                               and not t.startswith("inclusionai") and not t.startswith("ling")]
                     reply = _remote_grind(body, test_rel, targets)
                 review_reason = _auto_review_reason(reply)
                 posted = False