diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 678681d5..4bcd0779 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -517,6 +517,7 @@ TESTS	= $(BIN)/test_smoke $(BIN)/test_lex $(BIN)/test_parse $(BIN)/test_check \
 	  $(BIN)/test_attest_record \
 	  $(BIN)/test_fmt_run $(BIN)/test_log_run $(BIN)/test_fnmatch_run \
 	  $(BIN)/test_shlex_run $(BIN)/test_getenv_run $(BIN)/test_dirs_run \
+	  $(BIN)/test_dirs_toolong_run \
 	  $(BIN)/test_stat_run $(BIN)/test_time_run \
 	  $(BIN)/test_intdiv_signed \
 	  $(BIN)/test_strings_run \
@@ -2683,6 +2684,16 @@ $(BIN)/test_dirs_run: test/wcc/975_dirs_run.c $(BIN)/ww $(BIN)/w6c \
 		$(BIN)/w6a $(BIN)/w6l $(LIB)/libwwrt.a | $(BIN)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
 
+# 975_dirs_toolong_run (F14 #69): an over-long composed path must abort
+# loudly, not silently mkdir a truncated wrong directory. Builds+runs a
+# dirs.config fixture on BOTH driver twins under a short and a ~260B HOME.
+$(BIN)/test_dirs_toolong_run: test/wcc/975_dirs_toolong_run.c \
+		$(BIN)/ww $(BIN)/ww_ww \
+		$(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6a $(BIN)/w6l \
+		$(BIN)/w6c_ww $(BIN)/w6a_ww $(BIN)/w6l_ww \
+		$(LIB)/libwwrt.a | $(BIN)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+
 $(BIN)/test_stat_run: test/wcc/976_stat_run.c $(BIN)/ww $(BIN)/w6c \
 		$(BIN)/w6a $(BIN)/w6l $(LIB)/libwwrt.a | $(BIN)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
diff --git a/lib/dirs/dirs.ww b/lib/dirs/dirs.ww
index 6cba53ff..3f7f8c20 100644
--- a/lib/dirs/dirs.ww
+++ b/lib/dirs/dirs.ww
@@ -90,15 +90,24 @@ fn puts(off: i32, s: str) i32 = {
 // Embedded '/' in `sub` (e.g. ".local/share") is fine — [[os.mkdirs]]
 // handles intermediate dirs.
 fn build(base: str, sub: str, prog: str) void = {
+	// ref/hare/dirs/xdg.ha routes through path::set/push, whose too_long
+	// error the `!` turns into a loud abort. ww's fixed 256B pathbuf
+	// (dirs.ww:58) is a documented simplification, but the overflow must
+	// be LOUD, not a silently-wrong directory that then gets mkdir'd:
+	// reject up front when the composition (+ trailing NUL) won't fit.
+	// Shape (a); routing dirs through lib/path is the fidelity follow-up.
+	let need: i32 = base.len + 1 + prog.len;
+	if (sub.len > 0) { need += 1 + sub.len; };
+	if (need >= 256) { rtabort("dirs: path too long"); };
+
 	let off: i32 = 0;
 	off = puts(off, base);
 	if (sub.len > 0) {
-		if (off < 255) { pathbuf[off] = SEP; off += 1; };
+		pathbuf[off] = SEP; off += 1;
 		off = puts(off, sub);
 	};
-	if (off < 255) { pathbuf[off] = SEP; off += 1; };
+	pathbuf[off] = SEP; off += 1;
 	off = puts(off, prog);
-	if (off > 255) { off = 255; };
 	pathbuf[off] = 0u8;
 	pathlen = off;
 };
diff --git a/test/wcc/975_dirs_toolong_run.c b/test/wcc/975_dirs_toolong_run.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c650c5e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/wcc/975_dirs_toolong_run.c
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/*
+ * 975_dirs_toolong_run — F14 #69: dirs silently truncated an over-long
+ * composed path and then mkdir'd the WRONG directory, returning it rc=0.
+ * The fix (dirs.ww build()) precomputes the composition length and
+ * rt_aborts loudly when it won't fit the 256B pathbuf — mirroring Hare's
+ * path::push too_long → `!` abort (ref/hare/dirs/xdg.ha). Both stages
+ * share the lib, so this is a stdlib behavior fix, not a stage divergence;
+ * the test still runs both driver twins for parity.
+ *
+ * One fixture program (dirs.config("prog"), print len) built per stage,
+ * then run under two HOME states:
+ *   - a short HOME → exit 0 (normal path intact, no regression);
+ *   - a ~260-byte HOME → non-zero exit (loud abort) AND no stray
+ *     directory created on disk.
+ */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+
+static int
+runwait(const char *cmd)
+{
+	int rc = system(cmd);
+	if (rc == -1) return -1;
+	if (WIFEXITED(rc)) return WEXITSTATUS(rc);
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static const char *PROG =
+	"package main;\n"
+	"import dirs;\n"
+	"import fmt;\n"
+	"export fn main() int = {\n"
+	"	let d = dirs.config(\"prog\");\n"
+	"	fmt.println(d.len: i64);\n"
+	"	return 0;\n"
+	"};\n";
+
+/* run_stage — build PROG with `driver`, then exercise the two HOME states.
+ * Returns 0 on success, non-zero on any mismatch. */
+static int
+run_stage(const char *name, const char *driver)
+{
+	char src[64], tmpdir[64], cmd[2048];
+	snprintf(src, sizeof src, "/tmp/dtl_%d.ww", getpid());
+	snprintf(tmpdir, sizeof tmpdir, "/tmp/dtl_%d_d", getpid());
+
+	FILE *f = fopen(src, "wb");
+	if (!f) return 1;
+	fputs(PROG, f);
+	fclose(f);
+
+	mkdir(tmpdir, 0755);
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "cd %s && %s build %s 2>/dev/null",
+	    tmpdir, driver, src);
+	if (runwait(cmd) != 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong[%s]: build failed\n", name);
+		unlink(src); rmdir(tmpdir);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	char outbin[128];
+	snprintf(outbin, sizeof outbin, "%s/dtl_%d", tmpdir, getpid());
+
+	int fail = 0;
+
+	/* short HOME — the normal path, must still exit 0. */
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd,
+	    "env -u XDG_CONFIG_HOME HOME=/tmp/dtl_%d_home %s >/dev/null 2>&1",
+	    getpid(), outbin);
+	if (runwait(cmd) != 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong[%s]: short HOME did not exit 0\n",
+		    name);
+		fail = 1;
+	}
+
+	/* ~260-byte HOME — must abort loudly (non-zero) and create no dir. */
+	char longhome[512];
+	int p = snprintf(longhome, sizeof longhome, "/tmp/dtl_%d_long_", getpid());
+	for (int i = 0; i < 260 && p < (int)sizeof longhome - 1; i++)
+		longhome[p++] = 'a';
+	longhome[p] = '\0';
+
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd,
+	    "env -u XDG_CONFIG_HOME HOME=%s %s >/dev/null 2>&1",
+	    longhome, outbin);
+	if (runwait(cmd) == 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong[%s]: long HOME exited 0, "
+		    "expected a loud abort\n", name);
+		fail = 1;
+	}
+	/* the truncated wrong directory must NOT have been created. */
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "test -e %s", longhome);
+	if (runwait(cmd) == 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong[%s]: stray directory created\n",
+		    name);
+		fail = 1;
+		snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "rm -rf %s", longhome);
+		(void)system(cmd);
+	}
+
+	unlink(src); unlink(outbin); rmdir(tmpdir);
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "rm -rf /tmp/dtl_%d_home", getpid());
+	(void)system(cmd);
+	return fail;
+}
+
+int
+main(void)
+{
+	const char *bin = getenv("BIN");
+	if (!bin) bin = "out/bin";
+	char absbin[1024];
+	if (bin[0] != '/') {
+		char cwd[1024];
+		if (getcwd(cwd, sizeof cwd) == NULL) return 1;
+		snprintf(absbin, sizeof absbin, "%s/%s", cwd, bin);
+		bin = absbin;
+	}
+
+	char cdrv[1024], wdrv[1024];
+	snprintf(cdrv, sizeof cdrv, "%s/ww", bin);
+	snprintf(wdrv, sizeof wdrv, "%s/ww_ww", bin);
+
+	int fail = 0;
+	fail += run_stage("cstage", cdrv);
+	if (access(wdrv, X_OK) == 0)
+		fail += run_stage("wwstage", wdrv);
+	else
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong: skip wwstage (no %s)\n", wdrv);
+
+	if (fail) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "dirs_toolong: %d stage(s) failed\n", fail);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	printf("dirs_toolong: ok\n");
+	return 0;
+}