diff --git a/debs-manifest.conf b/debs-manifest.conf
index 6129fb3..4fd8c93 100644
--- a/debs-manifest.conf
+++ b/debs-manifest.conf
@@ -136,3 +136,22 @@ grub2-xcat=2.12-1
 elilo-xcat=3.14-6
 xnba-undi=1.21.1-1
 xcat-genesis-base=2.*
+
+# [shared] is NOT a build target. It describes the ONE pool the OpenEmbedded Genesis release is
+# published into (pool/main/xcat-genesis-openembedded), which every suite indexes and which no
+# [<codename>-<arch>] section covers. Without it nothing asserted the published pool was COMPLETE:
+# its packages were checked only as they were copied, against the release checksums, so a pool that
+# lost one afterwards would publish quietly.
+#
+# The pin tracks the paired xcat-core, like xcat-genesis-base ('2.*'): these are built FROM
+# xcat-core, so the version walks with it. A glob, not an EVR floor -- pins in THIS manifest are
+# exact-or-glob (version_matches); the '>= epoch:version-release' form is an EL-side feature of
+# packages-manifest.conf. The deb names carry the architecture with '_' folded to '-'.
+[shared]
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-x86=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-x86-64=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-ppc64=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-ppc64le=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-armv7hf=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-aarch64=2.*
+xcat-genesis-openembedded-riscv64=2.*
diff --git a/sbuild-all.pl b/sbuild-all.pl
index b843120..0f566c8 100755
--- a/sbuild-all.pl
+++ b/sbuild-all.pl
@@ -1019,9 +1019,31 @@ sub install_genesis_release_debs {
             or die "FATAL: cannot set mode on $pool/$base: $!\n";
         XCAT::GenesisRelease::verify_release_file($genesis_release_checksums, $relative, "$pool/$base");
     }
+    verify_shared_pool($pool);
     return scalar(@files);
 }
 
+# verify_shared_pool($pool): assert the shared Genesis pool carries every package the manifest's
+# [shared] section requires, at a version satisfying its pin. [shared] is not a build target: it
+# describes the one pool every suite indexes, which no [<codename>-<arch>] section covers. Run on
+# the SIDE TREE, before it is swapped into place, so an incomplete pool is never published.
+# Completeness only -- the release checksums cover the bytes.
+sub verify_shared_pool {
+    my ($pool) = @_;
+    my %req = %{ $MANIFEST{shared} // {} };
+    die "FATAL: no [shared] section in $manifest -- cannot verify the shared Genesis pool\n"
+        if !%req;
+    my @names = sort keys %req;
+    my %present = map { $_ => deb_version($pool, $_) } @names;
+    my @problems = verify_repo_packages(\%req, \%present);
+    if (@problems) {
+        print "  - $_\n" for @problems;
+        die "FATAL: shared Genesis pool INCOMPLETE at $pool (" . scalar(@problems) . " problem(s))\n";
+    }
+    print "  [verify-repo] shared pool complete: " . scalar(@names) . " packages present\n";
+    return 1;
+}
+
 sub assemble_into {
     my ($dir, $expect) = @_;
     if ($genesis_release ne '') {
diff --git a/t/genesis_openembedded_consumer.t b/t/genesis_openembedded_consumer.t
index 6ff5af2..964840f 100644
--- a/t/genesis_openembedded_consumer.t
+++ b/t/genesis_openembedded_consumer.t
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ SKIP: {
 }
 
 SKIP: {
-    skip 'APT repository tools are not installed', 58
+    skip 'APT repository tools are not installed', 59
       unless $^O eq 'linux'
       && command_exists('dpkg-deb')
       && command_exists('apt-ftparchive');
@@ -279,8 +279,13 @@ sub run_apt_consumer {
     unless ($manifest) {
         $manifest = "$args{output}/manifest.conf";
         make_path($args{output});
+        # plus the shipped [shared] section verbatim: publishing a release gates the shared pool
+        # against it, and a manifest without it is refused rather than silently ungated.
+        my $shipped = read_binary("$repo_root/debs-manifest.conf");
+        my ($shared) = $shipped =~ /^(\[shared\]\n(?:[^\[]*))/ms;
+        BAIL_OUT('debs-manifest.conf has no [shared] section') unless $shared;
         write_binary($manifest,
-            join('', map { "[$_-amd64]\nxcat-genesis-base=*\n" } @APT_SUITES));
+            join('', map { "[$_-amd64]\nxcat-genesis-base=*\n" } @APT_SUITES) . "\n" . $shared);
     }
     return run_capture(
         $args{log},
@@ -370,6 +375,8 @@ sub test_deb_consumer {
     } architectures();
     is_deeply([ genesis_deb_names($shared_pool) ], \@expected_packages,
         'shared APT pool contains one complete Genesis release');
+    like(read_binary($log), qr/\[verify-repo\] shared pool complete: 7 packages present/,
+        'the shared pool is gated against the manifest\'s [shared] section');
     my @suite_packages;
     for my $codename (@APT_SUITES) {
         push(@suite_packages, map { "$codename/$_" }
diff --git a/t/sbuild-all.t b/t/sbuild-all.t
index 343b854..8f2075e 100644
--- a/t/sbuild-all.t
+++ b/t/sbuild-all.t
@@ -324,8 +324,11 @@ SKIP: {
 # ---- manifest <-> reality consistency (concern #3 + doc drift guard) -----------------------------
 {
     my %m = read_manifest("$RealBin/../debs-manifest.conf");
-    my @targets = sort keys %m;
+    # Not every section is a build target: [shared] describes the ONE pool the OpenEmbedded Genesis
+    # release is published into, which no builder produces. Target sections are <codename>-<arch>.
+    my @targets = grep { /^[a-z]+-(?:amd64|ppc64el)$/ } sort keys %m;
     cmp_ok(scalar(@targets), '>=', 8, 'manifest has all 8 codename x arch target sections');
+    ok(!grep({ $_ eq 'shared' } @targets), 'the shared-pool section is not treated as a build target');
 
     # goconserver is a compiled dep built for EVERY target (both arches, all codenames).
     my @miss_go = grep { !exists $m{$_}{'goconserver'} } @targets;