diff --git a/api/app/ept.py b/api/app/ept.py
index 8fcfff4..6a55a05 100644
--- a/api/app/ept.py
+++ b/api/app/ept.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ this module returns only identity and the caller re-checks standing.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import base64
+import json
 import logging
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass
@@ -110,16 +112,31 @@ def verify_ept(token: str, eternitas_base_url: str) -> VerifiedEpt:
 
 
 def looks_like_ept(token: str) -> bool:
-    """Cheap, unauthenticated triage: is this token even claiming to be an EPT?
+    """Cheap, unauthenticated triage: is this token even *claiming* to be an EPT?
 
     Used ONLY to route a token to the right verifier. It decides nothing about
     trust — an attacker controls every byte it reads.
+
+    Decodes the header segment directly rather than via
+    `jwt.get_unverified_header`, which validates the whole token structure and
+    therefore rejects anything with a malformed SIGNATURE. That made routing
+    depend on signature well-formedness: an EPT-shaped token with a bad
+    signature fell through to the human path, where it was refused for the wrong
+    reason ("signing in isn't switched on") and — with `require_verified_jwt`
+    off — could have been read as a human identity via its `sub` claim.
+
+    Routing must depend only on what the token claims to be. Whether it is
+    authentic is `verify_ept`'s job, and it says no.
     """
     try:
-        header = jwt.get_unverified_header(token)
+        head_b64 = token.split(".", 1)[0]
+        head_b64 += "=" * (-len(head_b64) % 4)
+        header = json.loads(base64.urlsafe_b64decode(head_b64))
     except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
         return False
-    return header.get("typ") == "EPT" or header.get("alg") == "ES256"
+    if not isinstance(header, dict):
+        return False
+    return header.get("typ") == "EPT" or header.get("alg") in ("ES256", "none")
 
 
 async def eternitas_reachable(base_url: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/api/tests/test_ept_and_throttle.py b/api/tests/test_ept_and_throttle.py
index 6f7da2e..37361c2 100644
--- a/api/tests/test_ept_and_throttle.py
+++ b/api/tests/test_ept_and_throttle.py
@@ -260,3 +260,26 @@ async def test_resolve_passport_returns_band_on_active_wiring(monkeypatch):
     settings = Settings(eternitas_platform_api_key="x")
     band, actions = await resolve_passport(settings, "ET26-1EF9-VJAN")
     assert band == "gold" and actions == ("read",)
+
+
+def test_routing_does_not_depend_on_signature_wellformedness():
+    """An EPT-shaped token must route to the EPT verifier even when its
+    signature is malformed. jwt.get_unverified_header() validates the whole
+    token and rejects bad signature padding, which used to push such tokens to
+    the human path — refused for the wrong reason, and readable as a human
+    identity via `sub` whenever require_verified_jwt was off."""
+    import base64
+    import json as _j
+
+    from api.app.ept import looks_like_ept
+
+    def seg(d):
+        return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(_j.dumps(d).encode()).rstrip(b"=").decode()
+
+    for hdr in ({"alg": "none", "typ": "EPT"}, {"alg": "ES256", "typ": "EPT"},
+                {"alg": "ES256"}):
+        tok = f"{seg(hdr)}.{seg({'sub': 'ET26-X'})}.x"  # deliberately bad signature
+        assert looks_like_ept(tok), f"{hdr} did not route to the EPT verifier"
+
+    assert not looks_like_ept("not-a-token")
+    assert not looks_like_ept("")
diff --git a/api/tests/test_invariants.py b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
index eec4f03..984008a 100644
--- a/api/tests/test_invariants.py
+++ b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
@@ -670,7 +670,10 @@ async def test_security_forged_agent_token_is_refused_in_production():
                         eternitas_platform_api_key="x")
     req = _fake_request(settings)
 
-    for typ, expected in (("JWT", "human_signin_not_ready"), ("EPT", "ept_invalid")):
+    # Both shapes now route to the EPT verifier, because alg:none is never
+    # valid for ANY caller — so 401 "your token is bad" is the honest answer,
+    # not 503 "that feature isn't ready".
+    for typ, expected in (("JWT", "ept_invalid"), ("EPT", "ept_invalid")):
         def seg(d):
             return _b64.urlsafe_b64encode(_json.dumps(d).encode()).rstrip(b"=").decode()
         forged = (f"{seg({'alg':'none','typ':typ})}"