diff --git a/src/TDB2.cpp b/src/TDB2.cpp
index 2d345f69f..745e44ca2 100644
--- a/src/TDB2.cpp
+++ b/src/TDB2.cpp
@@ -341,8 +341,8 @@ void TDB2::invalidate_cached_info() {
 bool TDB2::get(const std::string& uuid, Task& task) {
   auto depmap = replica()->dependency_map();
 
-  // Numeric task refs are per-user short IDs. Prefer them over numeric UUID
-  // prefixes; if no short ID matches, keep the historical UUID-prefix fallback.
+  // Numeric task refs are per-user short IDs. Only 8-char numeric refs may fall
+  // back to the historical displayed UUID-prefix form after a short-ID miss.
   if (taskref::looksLikeNumericShortId(uuid)) {
     auto maybe = replica()->get_task_data_by_ref(uuid);
     if (maybe.is_some()) {
@@ -351,6 +351,10 @@ bool TDB2::get(const std::string& uuid, Task& task) {
       apply_depmap(task, *depmap);
       return true;
     }
+
+    if (!taskref::looksLikeHexPrefix(uuid)) {
+      return false;
+    }
   }
 
   // Tier 1: full-UUID PK fast path.
diff --git a/test/short_id.test.py b/test/short_id.test.py
index dcfad4832..917c33fae 100644
--- a/test/short_id.test.py
+++ b/test/short_id.test.py
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ def setUp(self):
             "import -",
             input="""[
         {"description":"short-id target","entry":"1700000000","status":"pending","uuid":"aaaaaaaa-1111-4111-8111-111111111111"},
-        {"description":"numeric-prefix target","entry":"1700000000","status":"pending","uuid":"12345678-2222-4222-8222-222222222222"}
+        {"description":"numeric-prefix target","entry":"1700000000","status":"pending","uuid":"12345678-2222-4222-8222-222222222222"},
+        {"description":"short-numeric-prefix target","entry":"1700000000","status":"pending","uuid":"42000000-3333-4333-8333-333333333333"}
         ]""",
         )
         self._set_short_id(SHORT_ID_UUID, 12345678)
@@ -90,6 +91,11 @@ def test_uuid_prefix_falls_back_when_no_short_id_matches(self):
         code, out, err = self.t("aaaaaaaa export")
         self.assertIn('"description":"short-id target"', out)
 
+    def test_short_numeric_id_miss_does_not_fallback_to_uuid_prefix(self):
+        code, out, err = self.t.runError("42 info")
+        self.assertNotIn("short-numeric-prefix target", out)
+        self.assertNotIn("short-numeric-prefix target", err)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     from simpletap import TAPTestRunner