diff --git a/common.sh b/common.sh
index 8fb734b..a0179ba 100755
--- a/common.sh
+++ b/common.sh
@@ -2008,7 +2008,17 @@ run_orch_child() {
         return 0
     else
         _ec=$?
-        error "$label — failed (exit $_ec, $(format_duration $(( $(date +%s) - _start ))))"
+        # Match the severity ladder run_job.sh already records against: exit 1 is a warning,
+        # exit 2+ is an error. The status in the run record was always derived that way, so a
+        # child exiting 1 produced a run marked "warn" whose log was full of ❌ ERROR lines —
+        # and the log is the louder of the two. A job that skipped work it was told to skip read
+        # exactly like a job that broke.
+        #
+        # The label still lands in JOB_FAIL either way. Whether the child succeeded is a separate
+        # question from how loudly to report it, and the orchestrator's own exit code depends on
+        # the first one.
+        local _msg="$label — failed (exit $_ec, $(format_duration $(( $(date +%s) - _start ))))"
+        if (( _ec == 1 )); then warn "$_msg"; else error "$_msg"; fi
         JOB_FAIL+=("$label")
         return 1
     fi