diff --git a/secrets b/secrets
index 77ee0bf..5711842 100755
--- a/secrets
+++ b/secrets
@@ -2266,12 +2266,45 @@ _verify_blob_decrypts() {
   age -d -i "$KEY_FILE" "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
+# Count age recipient stanzas ("-> ...") in a blob's header. The age v1 header
+# is ASCII and ends at the "--- <mac>" line, so reading line-by-line stops
+# before any binary body. Echoes the count.
+_blob_recipient_count() {
+  local f="$1" line count=0
+  while IFS= read -r line; do
+    case "$line" in
+      '--- '*) break ;;
+      '-> '*) count=$((count + 1)) ;;
+    esac
+  done < "$f"
+  echo "$count"
+}
+
+# If the store is multi-recipient (expected non-empty), assert <blob> was
+# encrypted to exactly <expected> recipients. Echoes a FINDING and returns 1 on
+# mismatch; returns 0 otherwise (incl. legacy stores where expected is empty).
+_check_blob_recipient_count() {
+  local blob="$1" rel="$2" expected="$3"
+  [ -n "$expected" ] || return 0
+  local actual; actual=$(_blob_recipient_count "$blob")
+  if [ "$actual" != "$expected" ]; then
+    echo "FINDING: $rel is encrypted to $actual recipient(s) but $RECIPIENTS_FILE_NAME has $expected — run 'secrets reencrypt'." >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
 # `secrets verify --all` — store-wide decrypt sweep. Decrypt-tests every blob
 # in every project. No manifest consistency check: the store carries only
 # ciphertext (manifests live in each project's repo), so orphan/missing
 # detection is impossible store-wide. This is the migration integrity gate.
 _verify_all() {
   local checked=0 failed=0 dir project f rel
+  local rexpected=""
+  if [ -e "$RECIPIENTS_FILE" ] && [ ! -L "$RECIPIENTS_FILE" ]; then
+    _load_recipients   # validates; dies on a bad recipients.txt
+    rexpected=$(( ${#RECIPIENT_ARGS[@]} / 2 ))
+  fi
   for dir in "$SECRETS_DIR"/*/; do
     [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
     project=$(basename "$dir")
@@ -2287,6 +2320,9 @@ _verify_all() {
         echo "FAIL: $rel does not decrypt with the current key." >&2
         failed=$((failed + 1))
       fi
+      if ! _check_blob_recipient_count "$f" "${f#"$SECRETS_DIR"/}" "$rexpected"; then
+        failed=$((failed + 1))
+      fi
     done < <(find "$dir" -type f -name '*.age')
   done
   if [ "$checked" -eq 0 ]; then
@@ -2319,6 +2355,11 @@ _verify_project() {
   local pdir="$SECRETS_DIR/$project"
 
   local findings=0 checked=0
+  local rexpected=""
+  if [ -e "$RECIPIENTS_FILE" ] && [ ! -L "$RECIPIENTS_FILE" ]; then
+    _load_recipients   # validates; dies on a bad recipients.txt
+    rexpected=$(( ${#RECIPIENT_ARGS[@]} / 2 ))
+  fi
   # `expected` accumulates the store-relative blob paths the manifest implies,
   # newline-framed (leading + trailing \n per entry) so the orphan walk can
   # test membership. bash 3.2 has no associative arrays — this string-set +
@@ -2349,6 +2390,9 @@ _verify_project() {
       echo "FINDING: blob for '$rel' ($project/$rel.age) does not decrypt with the current key." >&2
       findings=$((findings + 1))
     fi
+    if ! _check_blob_recipient_count "$blob" "$project/$rel.age" "$rexpected"; then
+      findings=$((findings + 1))
+    fi
   done < <(jq -r '.dotenv // [] | .[]' "$manifest")
 
   # ── external entries: missing-blob + decrypt ──
@@ -2375,6 +2419,9 @@ _verify_project() {
       echo "FINDING: external blob for '$epath' ($project/$erel) does not decrypt with the current key." >&2
       findings=$((findings + 1))
     fi
+    if ! _check_blob_recipient_count "$eblob" "$project/$erel" "$rexpected"; then
+      findings=$((findings + 1))
+    fi
   done < <(_json_external_entries "$manifest")
 
   # ── orphan detection: any stored blob the manifest doesn't account for ──
diff --git a/test/recipients.bats b/test/recipients.bats
index 433d46a..c02888c 100644
--- a/test/recipients.bats
+++ b/test/recipients.bats
@@ -267,3 +267,26 @@ make_second_identity() {
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
   [[ "$output" == *"recipients: single-key"* ]] || false
 }
+
+@test "verify --all passes on a healthy multi-recipient store" {
+  init_with_remote
+  create_project_dir myproj
+  run "$SECRETS_BIN" push
+  make_second_identity
+  run "$SECRETS_BIN" recipients add "$BOB_PUB" --name bob   # re-encrypts to 2
+  run "$SECRETS_BIN" verify --all
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+}
+
+@test "verify flags a blob whose recipient count drifted" {
+  init_with_remote
+  create_project_dir myproj
+  run "$SECRETS_BIN" push                                   # single-key blob (1 stanza)
+  make_second_identity
+  STORE_PUB=$(age-keygen -y "$SECRETS_DIR/key.txt")
+  # Declare 2 recipients but do NOT re-encrypt — the on-disk blob still has 1.
+  printf '%s\n%s\n' "$STORE_PUB" "$BOB_PUB" > "$SECRETS_DIR/recipients.txt"
+  run "$SECRETS_BIN" verify --all
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"recipient"* ]] || false
+}