diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 504e5315c3..25866d6189 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     "player:perf": "bun run --filter @hyperframes/player perf",
     "format:check": "oxfmt --check .",
     "knip": "knip",
-    "test:scripts": "node --import tsx --test scripts/animejs-v4-guidance.test.mjs scripts/check-tracked-artifacts.test.mjs scripts/check-no-main-deletions.test.mjs scripts/check-docs-snippet-motion.test.mjs scripts/registry-target-paths.test.mjs scripts/check-workspace-contracts.test.mjs scripts/check-package-cycles.test.mjs scripts/check-cli-process-ownership.test.mjs scripts/package-subpaths.test.mjs scripts/validate-release-channel.test.mjs scripts/publish-workflow.test.mjs scripts/install-workspace-dependencies.test.mjs scripts/draft-changelog.test.ts scripts/set-version.test.ts scripts/release-prepare.test.ts scripts/cli-options.test.ts scripts/changelog-weekly.test.ts scripts/claude-plugin-compression.test.ts scripts/catalog-payload-assets.test.ts scripts/catalog-preview-temp.test.ts scripts/player-cdn-pin.test.ts scripts/studio-runtime-smoke.test.mjs scripts/verify-packed-manifests.test.mjs scripts/lint-skills.test.mjs packages/gcp-cloud-run/check-dockerfile-workspaces.test.mjs && vitest run scripts/catalog/",
+    "test:scripts": "node --import tsx --test scripts/animejs-v4-guidance.test.mjs scripts/check-tracked-artifacts.test.mjs scripts/check-no-main-deletions.test.mjs scripts/check-docs-snippet-motion.test.mjs scripts/registry-target-paths.test.mjs scripts/check-workspace-contracts.test.mjs scripts/check-package-cycles.test.mjs scripts/check-cli-process-ownership.test.mjs scripts/check-large-files.test.mjs scripts/package-subpaths.test.mjs scripts/validate-release-channel.test.mjs scripts/publish-workflow.test.mjs scripts/install-workspace-dependencies.test.mjs scripts/draft-changelog.test.ts scripts/set-version.test.ts scripts/release-prepare.test.ts scripts/cli-options.test.ts scripts/changelog-weekly.test.ts scripts/claude-plugin-compression.test.ts scripts/catalog-payload-assets.test.ts scripts/catalog-preview-temp.test.ts scripts/player-cdn-pin.test.ts scripts/studio-runtime-smoke.test.mjs scripts/verify-packed-manifests.test.mjs scripts/lint-skills.test.mjs packages/gcp-cloud-run/check-dockerfile-workspaces.test.mjs && vitest run scripts/catalog/",
     "typecheck:scripts": "tsc --noEmit -p scripts/tsconfig.json",
     "test:skills": "node --test 'skills/**/*.test.mjs'",
     "generate:previews": "tsx scripts/generate-template-previews.ts",
diff --git a/scripts/check-large-files.sh b/scripts/check-large-files.sh
index 1646c94d0e..5f562ce10c 100755
--- a/scripts/check-large-files.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-large-files.sh
@@ -52,6 +52,19 @@ list_files "$@" | while IFS= read -r f; do
   # round-trip. Those are the product, not accidental bloat — skip them here.
   case "$f" in registry/*) continue ;; esac
 
+  # Text is exempt, whatever its size, because the cost this hook exists to stop
+  # is a binary one. Git delta-compresses text, so a file that grows by a few KB
+  # per commit adds a few KB to the pack. A binary of the same size re-enters the
+  # pack whole on every edit, which is exactly how the history got its hundreds
+  # of megabytes. `docs/changelog.mdx` is the case that forced this: half a
+  # megabyte of release notes, a little larger every release, tripping a check
+  # whose own error message says "large binaries".
+  #
+  # `grep -I` treats a file containing NUL bytes as binary, the same heuristic
+  # git uses to print "Binary files differ". A generated blob of text is still
+  # caught by review, not here.
+  grep -qI . "$f" 2>/dev/null && continue
+
   bytes="$(wc -c < "$f" | tr -d ' ')"
   # Ceiling division: a sub-1024-byte file must report >=1 KB, never 0, so it
   # can't slip past a strict threshold (e.g. HF_MAX_NONLFS_KB=0). Plain
diff --git a/scripts/check-large-files.test.mjs b/scripts/check-large-files.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..237dbae7b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-large-files.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { describe, it } from "node:test";
+
+const SCRIPT = join(import.meta.dirname, "check-large-files.sh");
+const OVER_LIMIT_BYTES = 2 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+/** Run the checker over explicit paths. Exit 0 means "nothing to complain about". */
+function check(...paths) {
+  const result = spawnSync(SCRIPT, paths, { encoding: "utf-8" });
+  return { ok: result.status === 0, stderr: result.stderr ?? "" };
+}
+
+function withFiles(files, run) {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-largefiles-"));
+  try {
+    const paths = {};
+    for (const [name, contents] of Object.entries(files)) {
+      paths[name] = join(dir, name);
+      writeFileSync(paths[name], contents);
+    }
+    run(paths);
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
+const bigBinary = Buffer.alloc(OVER_LIMIT_BYTES);
+const bigText = "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\n".repeat(50_000);
+
+describe("check-large-files", () => {
+  it("rejects a binary over the limit, and names it", () => {
+    withFiles({ "big.bin": bigBinary }, ({ "big.bin": path }) => {
+      const { ok, stderr } = check(path);
+      assert.equal(ok, false);
+      assert.match(stderr, /big\.bin/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  // The cost this hook exists to stop is a binary one: git delta-compresses
+  // text, so a file that grows a few KB per commit costs a few KB. Before this,
+  // `docs/changelog.mdx` (half a megabyte of release notes, a little larger
+  // every release) failed a check whose own message says "large binaries", and
+  // every release had to pass HF_MAX_NONLFS_KB to get through.
+  it("accepts a text file over the limit", () => {
+    withFiles({ "big.txt": bigText }, ({ "big.txt": path }) => {
+      assert.equal(check(path).ok, true);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("accepts a binary under the limit", () => {
+    withFiles({ "small.bin": Buffer.alloc(1024) }, ({ "small.bin": path }) => {
+      assert.equal(check(path).ok, true);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("reports every offending binary, not just the first", () => {
+    withFiles({ "a.bin": bigBinary, "b.bin": bigBinary }, ({ "a.bin": a, "b.bin": b }) => {
+      const { ok, stderr } = check(a, b);
+      assert.equal(ok, false);
+      assert.match(stderr, /a\.bin/);
+      assert.match(stderr, /b\.bin/);
+    });
+  });
+});