diff --git a/implementations/main.cpp b/implementations/main.cpp
index e3b735d..336c33a 100644
--- a/implementations/main.cpp
+++ b/implementations/main.cpp
@@ -98,6 +98,21 @@ int g_rescan = -1;          // -1 = leave the config's value alone
 // reached a verdict is also reported as no-match. Under rescan=0 this cannot
 // arise (every frame is terminal), so the knob only matters with a budget.
 bool g_undecidedIsNoMatch = false;
+// How many rejected frames one press may accumulate before the daemon calls it
+// and answers no-match, WITHOUT waiting for the finger to lift.
+//
+// Judging a press only at release deadlocks against the instruction the user is
+// given. Told to hold until it answers, a user holds; a press whose frames keep
+// rejecting is never released, so the daemon never judges it and the client sits
+// there until its own timeout. Measured 2026-09-05: 29 consecutive full-contact
+// frames rejected over 20 seconds with the finger down the whole time, reported
+// to the user as a hang rather than a failure.
+//
+// A phone tells you it did not recognise you while your finger is still on it.
+// At ~700 ms a frame, five is about three and a half seconds -- long enough that
+// the frame-3 and frame-8 matches in this project's records still land, short
+// enough to be an answer rather than a wait.
+int g_pressRejectBudget = 5;
 bool g_irqObserve = false;
 bool g_edgeWake = false;
 
@@ -1447,7 +1462,7 @@ public:
         en::TouchTracker tracker;
         harvested_ = 0;   // no fold has happened in this session yet
         bool inPress = false, pressMatched = false, pressRejected = false;
-        int pressFrames = 0, rescans = 0, skipped = 0;
+        int pressFrames = 0, rescans = 0, skipped = 0, pressRejects = 0;
         std::uint32_t pressFid = 0;
         auto t0 = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
         // When contact first appeared. The wall clock a client sees starts when
@@ -1491,7 +1506,7 @@ public:
             for (ta::Event ev : tracker.Observe(finger, settled, en::Mode::Authenticate)) {
                 if (ev == ta::Event::FingerTouched) {
                     inPress = true; pressMatched = false; pressRejected = false;
-                    pressFrames = 0; rescans = 0; pressFid = 0;
+                    pressFrames = 0; rescans = 0; pressFid = 0; pressRejects = 0;
                     out.presses++;
                 }
                 std::vector<std::byte> evbuf(ta::EventContextSize);
@@ -1527,7 +1542,19 @@ public:
                         note += " folded";
                     }
                     break;
-                case ta::Verdict::Rejected:         pressRejected = true; note += " rej"; break;
+                case ta::Verdict::Rejected:
+                    pressRejected = true; ++pressRejects; note += " rej";
+                    // Answer while the finger is still down. See
+                    // g_pressRejectBudget: waiting for a release the user has
+                    // been told not to make is a deadlock, not a policy.
+                    if (!pressMatched && g_pressRejectBudget > 0
+                        && pressRejects >= g_pressRejectBudget) {
+                        out.decided = true; out.matched = false;
+                        std::println("  press {}: {} rejected frame(s) -> NO MATCH "
+                                     "(budget reached, finger still down)",
+                                     out.presses, pressRejects);
+                    }
+                    break;
                 case ta::Verdict::NotIdentifiedYet: rescans++; note += " -11"; break;
                 case ta::Verdict::MatcherNeverRan:  break;
                 }
@@ -2610,6 +2637,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         if (a.starts_with("--log-dir=")) g_logDir = a.substr(10);
         if (a.starts_with("--state-dir=")) g_stateDir = a.substr(12);
         if (a.starts_with("--rescan=")) g_rescan = std::stoi(std::string(a.substr(9)));
+        if (a.starts_with("--reject-budget=")) g_pressRejectBudget = std::stoi(std::string(a.substr(16)));
         if (a.starts_with("--group-path=")) g_groupPath = a.substr(13);
         if (a.starts_with("--samples=")) { g_samples = std::stoi(std::string(a.substr(10))); g_samplesForced = true; }
         if (a.starts_with("--learn=")) g_learn = a.substr(8) != "0";