diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4a1d1a28..01d68dea 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ TESTS	= $(BIN)/test_smoke $(BIN)/test_lex $(BIN)/test_parse $(BIN)/test_check \
 	  $(BIN)/test_chained_index \
 	  $(BIN)/test_chained_write \
 	  $(BIN)/test_dotbase_chained \
+	  $(BIN)/test_parse_error \
 	  $(BIN)/test_fnparams_bare_leaf_shadow \
 	  $(BIN)/test_fnret_bare_leaf_shadow \
 	  $(BIN)/test_param_shadow_mod \
@@ -659,6 +660,10 @@ $(BIN)/test_dotbase_chained: test/wcc/741_dotbase_chained.c \
 		$(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6c_ww | $(BIN)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
 
+$(BIN)/test_parse_error: test/wcc/742_parse_error.c \
+		$(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6c_ww | $(BIN)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+
 $(BIN)/test_fnparams_bare_leaf_shadow: test/wcc/732_fnparams_bare_leaf_shadow.c \
 		$(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6c_ww | $(BIN)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
diff --git a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
index 3b9229f5..e5cf6590 100644
--- a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
+++ b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
@@ -20949,12 +20949,14 @@ export fn main(argc: i32, argv: **u8) i32 = {
 	let ps: parser;
 	parserinit(&ps, ar, &l);
 	let f: *node = parsefile(&ps);
+	// Gate cgen on parse-stage errors. Mirrors cmd/w6c/main.c's
+	// `if (l.errs || p.errs) return 1;` — broken AST otherwise reaches
+	// cgen and emits junk asm with a zero exit (silent miscompile).
+	if (l.errs > 0 || ps.errs > 0) { return 1; };
 
 	let cg: cgen;
 	cgeninit(&cg, ar);
 	cgfile(&cg, f);
-
-	if (l.errs > 0) { return 1; };
 	return 0;
 };
 
diff --git a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.ww b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.ww
index 7ee04c5f..cae8312f 100644
--- a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.ww
+++ b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.ww
@@ -142,11 +142,13 @@ export fn main(argc: i32, argv: **u8) i32 = {
 	let ps: parser;
 	parserinit(&ps, ar, &l);
 	let f: *node = parsefile(&ps);
+	// Gate cgen on parse-stage errors. Mirrors cmd/w6c/main.c's
+	// `if (l.errs || p.errs) return 1;` — broken AST otherwise reaches
+	// cgen and emits junk asm with a zero exit (silent miscompile).
+	if (l.errs > 0 || ps.errs > 0) { return 1; };
 
 	let cg: cgen;
 	cgeninit(&cg, ar);
 	cgfile(&cg, f);
-
-	if (l.errs > 0) { return 1; };
 	return 0;
 };
diff --git a/test/wcc/742_parse_error.c b/test/wcc/742_parse_error.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2427ee38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/wcc/742_parse_error.c
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * 742_parse_error — both stages of w6c must exit non-zero on a parse
+ * error. Pins rule 10 symmetry on the failure path.
+ *
+ * Predecessor symptom: wwstage `w6c_ww` ran cgen on the broken AST and
+ * exited 0 (stderr noise only). Drivers downstream of w6c (`ww build`,
+ * make rules) saw no signal and proceeded.
+ *
+ * cstage `w6c` checks `l.errs || p.errs` before cgen and returns 1.
+ * This test pins the same exit-code contract on both binaries against a
+ * known-bad fixture.
+ */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.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 int
+write_file(const char *path, const char *content)
+{
+	FILE *f = fopen(path, "wb");
+	if (!f) return -1;
+	fputs(content, f);
+	fclose(f);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+check_fail(const char *tool, const char *src)
+{
+	char cmd[4096];
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "%s %s >/dev/null 2>/dev/null", tool, src);
+	int rc = runwait(cmd);
+	if (rc == 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "742 FAIL: %s exited 0 on parse-error fixture\n",
+		    tool);
+		return -1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int
+main(void)
+{
+	const char *bin = getenv("BIN");
+	if (!bin) bin = "out/bin";
+	char absbin[2048];
+	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 src[64], outs[64];
+	snprintf(src,  sizeof src,  "/tmp/parse_err_%d.ww", getpid());
+	snprintf(outs, sizeof outs, "/tmp/parse_err_%d.s",  getpid());
+	if (write_file(src, "fn fn fn ;\n") != 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "742: cannot write fixture\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	char w6c[2240], w6c_ww[2240], w6c_ww_bin[2240];
+	snprintf(w6c,        sizeof w6c,        "%s/w6c -o %s",    bin, outs);
+	snprintf(w6c_ww,     sizeof w6c_ww,     "%s/w6c_ww -o %s", bin, outs);
+	snprintf(w6c_ww_bin, sizeof w6c_ww_bin, "%s/w6c_ww",       bin);
+
+	int total = 0, fail = 0;
+
+	total++;
+	if (check_fail(w6c, src) != 0) fail++;
+
+	if (access(w6c_ww_bin, X_OK) == 0) {
+		total++;
+		if (check_fail(w6c_ww, src) != 0) fail++;
+	}
+
+	unlink(src);
+	unlink(outs);
+
+	if (fail) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "742_parse_error: %d/%d failed\n", fail, total);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	printf("742_parse_error: %d/%d ok\n", total, total);
+	return 0;
+}