diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/issue-assign.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/issue-assign.sh
index b7192005..1dad6987 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/issue-assign.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/issue-assign.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Usage: issue-assign.sh -i ISSUE_NUMBER [-a assignee] [-l labels] [-m milestone]
 
 set -e
+set -o pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 source "$SCRIPT_DIR/detect-platform.sh"
@@ -96,7 +97,14 @@ case "$PLATFORM" in
         fi
         if [[ "$REMOVE_ASSIGNEE" == true ]]; then
             # Get current assignees and remove them
-            CURRENT=$(gh issue view "$ISSUE" --json assignees -q '.assignees[].login' 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ',')
+            # pipefail preserves the provider status through the pipeline;
+            # a FAILED lookup exits here instead of reading as a silent
+            # no-assignees skip (codex PR #1464). A successful lookup with
+            # zero assignees still skips the edit below.
+            CURRENT=$(gh issue view "$ISSUE" --json assignees -q '.assignees[].login' 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ',') || {
+                echo "Error: could not read current assignees (provider lookup failed)" >&2
+                exit 1
+            }
             if [[ -n "$CURRENT" ]]; then
                 prov_rc=0
                 gh issue edit "$ISSUE" --remove-assignee "${CURRENT%,}" || prov_rc=$?
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/milestone-create.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/milestone-create.sh
index 67202fb2..c21acfce 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/milestone-create.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/milestone-create.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Usage: milestone-create.sh -t "Title" [-d "Description"] [--due "YYYY-MM-DD"]
 
 set -e
+set -o pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 source "$SCRIPT_DIR/detect-platform.sh"
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/test-issue-assign-usage-contract.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/test-issue-assign-usage-contract.sh
index 8eb35e0a..5c73537c 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/test-issue-assign-usage-contract.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/test-issue-assign-usage-contract.sh
@@ -129,4 +129,26 @@ done
 # the arm above proves only parse acceptance and non-usage classification.
 # Parser-failure arms (1-4) remain zero-contact (asserted at 4b).
 
+# 6b. Provider-exit normalization (codex PR #1464): a provider stub exiting
+# 2 (its own usage-error status) must surface as wrapper exit 1, never 2.
+GH_REPO="$WORK_DIR/repo-gh"
+mkdir -p "$GH_REPO"
+git -C "$GH_REPO" init -q
+git -C "$GH_REPO" remote add origin https://github.com/acme/widgets.git
+cat > "$BIN_DIR/gh" <<GHSTUB
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "gh \$*" >> "$PROBE_LOG"
+if [[ "\$1 \$2" == "issue edit" ]]; then exit 2; fi
+exit 0
+GHSTUB
+chmod +x "$BIN_DIR/gh"
+rc=0
+(
+    cd "$GH_REPO"
+    PATH="$BIN_DIR:$PATH" MOSAIC_GIT_IDENTITY="" MOSAIC_BRAIN_HOME="" \
+        "$SCRIPT_DIR/issue-assign.sh" -i 5 -a someone >"$OUT_FILE" 2>"$ERR_FILE"
+) || rc=$?
+[[ "$rc" -eq 1 ]] || fail "GitHub path: gh exit 2 must normalize to wrapper exit 1 (got $rc)"
+grep -q "provider" "$ERR_FILE" || fail "GitHub path: normalized provider error missing from stderr"
+
 echo "issue-assign.sh usage-contract regression passed (R1/R4)"