diff --git a/internal/runner/web_last_action_test.go b/internal/runner/web_last_action_test.go
index 22ea458..e3a7ecc 100644
--- a/internal/runner/web_last_action_test.go
+++ b/internal/runner/web_last_action_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package runner
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -71,7 +72,47 @@ func TestRunner_WebInstallsLastActionInThePage(t *testing.T) {
 	// Every later step carries what the runner actually applied. The shape is
 	// the goja host's (internal/verifier/marshal.go lastActionFields), pinned
 	// against it by TestLastAction_WebJSONMatchesTheGojaObject.
-	const want = `{"kind":"Tap","on":"id:TxnSubmit"}`
+	const want = `{"kind":"Tap","applied":true,"on":"id:TxnSubmit"}`
+	if web.installed[1] != want {
+		t.Errorf("step 2 installed %s, want %s", web.installed[1], want)
+	}
+}
+
+// failingTapWebDriver dispatches the tap and then fails the call, the shape an
+// RPC deadline takes: the page has the click, the runner has an error.
+type failingTapWebDriver struct {
+	*tappingWebDriver
+}
+
+func (d *failingTapWebDriver) Tap(context.Context, int, int) error {
+	return errors.New("rpc error: code = DeadlineExceeded desc = context deadline exceeded")
+}
+
+// The web leg of the same three states the goja host reports. "applied":null is
+// not "no action": a property gated on the last action still sees the tap and
+// decides for itself, which it cannot do if the page is handed a bare null.
+func TestRunner_WebInstallsAnUnconfirmedActionWithItsFateUnknown(t *testing.T) {
+	state := newHarnessWithSpec(t, lastActionSpec)
+	web := &failingTapWebDriver{tappingWebDriver: &tappingWebDriver{Driver: state.mock}}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	if _, err := Run(ctx, Options{
+		Duration:    time.Hour,
+		IdleTimeout: 20 * time.Millisecond,
+		MaxSteps:    2,
+		Driver:      web,
+		Verifier:    state.verifier,
+		TraceWriter: state.writer,
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Run: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(web.installed) < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the page was handed lastAction %d time(s); the web path never installed it",
+			len(web.installed))
+	}
+	const want = `{"kind":"Tap","applied":null,"on":"id:TxnSubmit"}`
 	if web.installed[1] != want {
 		t.Errorf("step 2 installed %s, want %s", web.installed[1], want)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/verifier/marshal_test.go b/internal/verifier/marshal_test.go
index 1b91d1f..b76e480 100644
--- a/internal/verifier/marshal_test.go
+++ b/internal/verifier/marshal_test.go
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ func TestLastAction_WebJSONMatchesTheGojaObject(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{"nil", nil},
 		{"Tap", &Action{Kind: ActionKindTap, On: "id:TxnSubmit", X: 12, Y: 34}},
+		{"TapApplied", &Action{Kind: ActionKindTap, On: "id:TxnSubmit", Applied: true}},
 		{"TapWithoutSelector", &Action{Kind: ActionKindTap, X: 12, Y: 34}},
 		{"DoubleTap", &Action{Kind: ActionKindDoubleTap, On: `desc:say "hi" <b>`}},
 		{"InputText", &Action{Kind: ActionKindInputText, On: "id:field", Text: "50"}},
@@ -193,3 +194,42 @@ func TestLastAction_WebJSONMatchesTheGojaObject(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// A spec has to be able to tell three things apart: no action ran, an action
+// ran, and an action was dispatched whose fate the runner cannot vouch for.
+// The third used to be reported as the first, which is how a property that
+// reasons "an effect landed with no action to cause it" convicts an app over
+// an RPC deadline.
+func TestLastAction_SeparatesNoActionFromAnActionOfUnknownFate(t *testing.T) {
+	verifier := newVerifier(t)
+	mustLoad(t, verifier, `
+		globalThis.fate = __sanderling__.extract(state =>
+			state.lastAction === null ? "no action"
+			: state.lastAction.applied === true ? "applied"
+			: state.lastAction.applied === null ? "unknown"
+			: "unreadable");
+	`)
+
+	for _, testCase := range []struct {
+		name   string
+		action *Action
+		want   string
+	}{
+		{"nothing ran", nil, "no action"},
+		{"dispatch confirmed", &Action{Kind: ActionKindTap, On: "id:TxnSubmit", Applied: true}, "applied"},
+		{"dispatch unconfirmed", &Action{Kind: ActionKindTap, On: "id:TxnSubmit"}, "unknown"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(testCase.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if err := verifier.PushSnapshot(SnapshotInput{
+				Snapshots:  Snapshots{},
+				LastAction: testCase.action,
+			}); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			handle := verifier.runtime.GlobalObject().Get("fate").ToObject(verifier.runtime)
+			if got := handle.Get("current").String(); got != testCase.want {
+				t.Errorf("the spec read %q, want %q", got, testCase.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}