diff --git a/graphify/build.py b/graphify/build.py
index 077db58..b26ddcb 100644
--- a/graphify/build.py
+++ b/graphify/build.py
@@ -519,6 +519,18 @@ def build_from_json(extraction: dict, *, directed: bool = False, root: str | Pat
     # resolve to a real path) could ride this alias onto whichever unrelated
     # same-stem file happened to be inserted first into ``node_set`` — a Python
     # set, so "first" is hash-order, not anything meaningful.
+    #
+    # A file node's OWN id is not always a clean ``new_stem`` prefix: when a
+    # same-directory ``.h``/``.cpp`` pair collides on their shared pre-extension
+    # id, _disambiguate_colliding_node_ids salts both apart into ids like
+    # ``tools_aolserver_utility_h_tools_aolserver_utility`` — which no longer
+    # string-prefixes cleanly for the suffix math below. Detecting "this IS the
+    # file node" by label (every file node's label is its own basename,
+    # regardless of id mangling) instead of by id shape keeps a salted file node
+    # in the alias competition, so a genuine collision (a C header AND an
+    # unrelated same-named PHP script) is still caught as ambiguous instead of
+    # the header silently dropping out of the race and leaving the PHP file as
+    # the lone (wrong) "unambiguous" winner.
     from graphify.extractors.base import _file_stem as _fs
     _alias_candidates: dict[str, set[str]] = {}
     for nid in node_set:
@@ -530,9 +542,12 @@ def build_from_json(extraction: dict, *, directed: bool = False, root: str | Pat
         if rel.is_absolute():
             continue
         new_stem = make_id(_fs(rel))
-        suffix = ""
-        if _normalize_id(nid).startswith(new_stem):
-            suffix = _normalize_id(nid)[len(new_stem):]  # leading "_entity" or ""
+        if str(attrs.get("label", "")) == rel.name:
+            suffix = ""  # this node IS the file, whatever its (possibly salted) id
+        else:
+            suffix = ""
+            if _normalize_id(nid).startswith(new_stem):
+                suffix = _normalize_id(nid)[len(new_stem):]  # leading "_entity" or ""
         for old_stem in _old_file_stems(rel):
             if old_stem == new_stem:
                 continue
diff --git a/tests/test_build.py b/tests/test_build.py
index 1e1d5b5..e8c0309 100644
--- a/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -542,6 +542,40 @@ def test_build_from_json_ambiguous_old_stem_alias_stays_dangling(tmp_path):
     assert not G.has_edge("dev_poker_server", "www_pages_api_ping")
 
 
+def test_build_from_json_ambiguous_alias_detected_despite_header_impl_salting(tmp_path):
+    """A same-directory .h/.cpp pair collides on their shared pre-extension id
+    and gets salted apart into ids like "tools_aolserver_utility_h_..." — no
+    longer a clean new_stem prefix. The ambiguity check must still recognize
+    the salted header as a legitimate claimant for the bare old-stem alias (by
+    label, not id shape), so a real collision with an unrelated same-named PHP
+    file is still caught instead of the header silently dropping out of the
+    race and leaving the PHP file as the lone "unambiguous" winner (this
+    reproduced against the real depot: Tools/aolserver/utility.h and .cpp,
+    salted apart, let wwwapi.masque.com/pages/utility.php win the bare
+    "utility" alias uncontested)."""
+    root = tmp_path / "repo"
+    root.mkdir()
+    extraction = {
+        "nodes": [
+            {"id": "tools_aolserver_utility_h_tools_aolserver_utility", "label": "utility.h",
+             "file_type": "code", "source_file": "Tools/aolserver/utility.h"},
+            {"id": "tools_aolserver_utility_cpp_tools_aolserver_utility", "label": "utility.cpp",
+             "file_type": "code", "source_file": "Tools/aolserver/utility.cpp"},
+            {"id": "wwwapi_masque_com_pages_utility", "label": "utility.php",
+             "file_type": "code", "source_file": "wwwapi.masque.com/pages/utility.php"},
+            {"id": "dev_poker_server", "label": "server.cpp", "file_type": "code",
+             "source_file": "Dev/poker/server.cpp"},
+        ],
+        "edges": [
+            {"source": "dev_poker_server", "target": "utility", "relation": "imports",
+             "confidence": "EXTRACTED", "source_file": "Dev/poker/server.cpp"},
+        ],
+    }
+    G = build_from_json(extraction, root=root)
+    assert not G.has_edge("dev_poker_server", "wwwapi_masque_com_pages_utility")
+    assert not G.has_edge("dev_poker_server", "tools_aolserver_utility_h_tools_aolserver_utility")
+
+
 def test_build_from_json_unambiguous_old_stem_alias_still_resolves(tmp_path):
     """Companion to the ambiguous case above: when exactly one real file claims
     an old-stem alias, a dangling edge to that bare alias should still resolve