diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 1f7de0f684..4a900bc2bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -318,7 +318,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 1
+          # Depth 2 makes the PR merge commit's first parent (the base
+          # branch tip) available so lint/emdash can diff against HEAD^
+          # without fetching the base branch at runtime.
+          fetch-depth: 2
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Set up mise tools
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dogfood.yaml b/.github/workflows/dogfood.yaml
index 9eef88cf9b..7b61d41e92 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dogfood.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dogfood.yaml
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
         with:
+          # Depth 2 makes the PR merge commit's first parent (the base
+          # branch tip) available so lint/emdash, run inside the image via
+          # scripts/dogfood_test_image.sh, can diff against HEAD^1 without
+          # fetching the base branch at runtime.
+          fetch-depth: 2
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Get branch name
diff --git a/scripts/check_emdash.sh b/scripts/check_emdash.sh
index 71d1728637..4433a6d6b9 100755
--- a/scripts/check_emdash.sh
+++ b/scripts/check_emdash.sh
@@ -39,87 +39,24 @@ scan_all_files() {
 	fi
 }
 
-# resolve_merge_base finds the merge-base between HEAD and the given ref.
-# In shallow CI clones the merge-base is not directly reachable, so we
-# query the PR commit count via `gh`, deepen HEAD by count+1, and
-# resolve HEAD~N which is the parent of the first PR commit.
-resolve_merge_base() {
-	local base_ref="$1"
-
-	# Fast path: merge-base already reachable (full clone or sufficient depth).
-	local mb
-	mb=$(git merge-base HEAD "$base_ref" 2>/dev/null || true)
-	if [[ -n "$mb" ]]; then
-		echo "$mb"
-		return
-	fi
-
-	if ! command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		echo "gh CLI not found, cannot determine PR commit count." >&2
-		return
-	fi
-
-	# Use the PR commit count to deepen HEAD past the PR commits.
-	# HEAD~N is the parent of the oldest PR commit, i.e. the merge-base.
-	local count
-	count=$(gh pr view --json commits --jq '.commits | length' 2>/dev/null || true)
-	if [[ -z "$count" || "$count" -le 0 ]]; then
-		echo "Could not determine PR commit count from gh." >&2
-		return
-	fi
-
-	echo "Deepening HEAD by $((count + 1)) to reach PR base..." >&2
-	git fetch --deepen="$((count + 1))" 2>/dev/null || true
-
-	# Retry merge-base now that we have more history.
-	mb=$(git merge-base HEAD "$base_ref" 2>/dev/null || true)
-	if [[ -n "$mb" ]]; then
-		echo "$mb"
-		return
-	fi
-
-	# Last resort: walk first-parent history. This is correct for
-	# linear PRs but may traverse the wrong branch for merge-commit
-	# checkouts.
-	git rev-parse --verify "HEAD~${count}" 2>/dev/null || true
-}
-
-# fetch_base_ref ensures origin/$GITHUB_BASE_REF is available locally.
-# CI shallow clones (fetch-depth: 1) typically omit the base branch.
-fetch_base_ref() {
-	local base_ref="$1"
-
-	if git rev-parse --verify "$base_ref" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		return 0
-	fi
-
-	local ref="${base_ref#origin/}"
-	echo "Base ref $base_ref not found locally, fetching $ref..." >&2
-	git fetch origin "$ref" --depth=1 2>/dev/null || true
-
-	if ! git rev-parse --verify "$base_ref" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		echo "ERROR: could not fetch base ref $base_ref." >&2
-		return 1
-	fi
-}
-
-# resolve_diff_base determines the base ref to diff against.
+# resolve_diff_base determines the base commit to diff against.
 resolve_diff_base() {
-	# CI pull requests: use merge-base against the target branch.
+	# CI pull requests: actions/checkout checks out the PR merge commit
+	# (refs/pull/<n>/merge). Its first parent (HEAD^1) is the exact base
+	# commit GitHub merged against, so diffing HEAD^1 against the checkout
+	# yields every change the PR makes against its base branch. We rely on
+	# this commit rather than fetching the base branch by name: branch
+	# names are mutable and Graphite stacks target an ephemeral
+	# graphite-base/<n> ref that may not exist on origin. Requires the
+	# checkout to use fetch-depth >= 2 so HEAD^1 is present.
 	if [[ -n "${GITHUB_BASE_REF:-}" ]]; then
-		local base_ref="origin/${GITHUB_BASE_REF}"
-		fetch_base_ref "$base_ref" || return 1
-
-		local base
-		base=$(resolve_merge_base "$base_ref")
-		if [[ -n "$base" ]]; then
-			echo "$base"
-			return
+		if ! git rev-parse --verify --quiet "HEAD^1" >/dev/null; then
+			echo "ERROR: the PR base commit (HEAD^1) is missing. Check out" >&2
+			echo "       the PR with fetch-depth >= 2 so the merge commit's" >&2
+			echo "       base parent is available." >&2
+			return 1
 		fi
-
-		# Could not determine merge-base; fall back to branch tip.
-		echo "WARNING: could not find merge-base with $base_ref, using branch tip (diff may include non-PR changes)." >&2
-		echo "$base_ref"
+		git rev-parse "HEAD^1"
 		return
 	fi