diff --git a/crates/nexum-runtime/src/host/venue_registry.rs b/crates/nexum-runtime/src/host/venue_registry.rs
index 57e029e3..cfb24ec6 100644
--- a/crates/nexum-runtime/src/host/venue_registry.rs
+++ b/crates/nexum-runtime/src/host/venue_registry.rs
@@ -404,13 +404,10 @@ impl VenueRegistry {
     /// budget and is stopped at the gate on the next call rather than
     /// re-invoking the adapter.
     ///
-    /// Charging is deliberately asymmetric across the two stages. Once the
-    /// guard admits the header the submission is charged before the adapter
-    /// call, so a forwarded submission spends one unit regardless of the
-    /// venue's outcome (the adapter did the work, and a transient venue
-    /// outage must not become a free retry loop). A derive-stage venue error
-    /// that is not a decode failure is the venue's fault, not the caller's,
-    /// so it is left uncharged and the caller may retry.
+    /// Charged once the header derives, ahead of the guard and adapter, so
+    /// a deny (when enforcing) or a venue outage is never a free retry.
+    /// Derive-stage venue errors other than a decode failure are left
+    /// uncharged and retryable.
     pub async fn submit(
         &self,
         caller: &str,
@@ -443,6 +440,8 @@ impl VenueRegistry {
             venue,
             header: &header,
         };
+        // Charge before the guard so an enforcing deny stays non-free.
+        self.charge(caller);
         // Advisory-only checkpoint: a deny is logged, never enforced.
         if let GuardVerdict::Deny(reason) = self.inner.guard.check(&ctx) {
             warn!(
@@ -452,8 +451,6 @@ impl VenueRegistry {
                 "egress guard would deny - advisory-only, submission proceeds",
             );
         }
-        // A forwarded submission consumes one unit of the caller's budget.
-        self.charge(caller);
         let outcome = adapter.submit(&body).await?;
         // An accepted receipt goes under status watch so subscribers see
         // its transitions; requires-signing has no receipt to watch yet.
@@ -972,6 +969,39 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(calls.submit.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 1);
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn repeated_guard_denies_exhaust_the_caller_quota() {
+        let calls = Arc::new(StubCalls::default());
+        let quota = SubmitQuota::new(2, Duration::from_secs(3600));
+        let registry = registry_with(
+            quota,
+            Some(Arc::new(DenyGuard)),
+            StubAdapter::new(calls.clone()),
+        );
+
+        // Each denied submit spends exactly one unit: the second is still
+        // admitted, so a deny is never double-charged.
+        assert!(
+            registry
+                .submit("mod-a", &cow(), b"b".to_vec())
+                .await
+                .is_ok()
+        );
+        assert!(
+            registry
+                .submit("mod-a", &cow(), b"b".to_vec())
+                .await
+                .is_ok()
+        );
+        // The deny loop is rate-limited at the gate, not free.
+        assert!(matches!(
+            registry.submit("mod-a", &cow(), b"b".to_vec()).await,
+            Err(VenueError::RateLimited(_))
+        ));
+        assert_eq!(calls.derive.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 2);
+        assert_eq!(calls.submit.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 2);
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn quote_reaches_the_adapter_without_header_or_guard() {
         let calls = Arc::new(StubCalls::default());