diff --git a/graphify/detect.py b/graphify/detect.py
index 6b54d8913..deddfe2a9 100644
--- a/graphify/detect.py
+++ b/graphify/detect.py
@@ -955,25 +955,18 @@ def _matches(rel: str, p: str, anchored: bool) -> bool:
             if not p:
                 continue
 
+            # gitignore semantics: patterns from A/.gitignore apply ONLY to paths
+            # under A. Matching non-anchored patterns against root-relative paths
+            # let e.g. .hypothesis/.gitignore's bare "*" ignore the ENTIRE repo
+            # (detect() returned 0 files). The anchor dir itself is exempt — an
+            # ignore file governs its directory's contents, not the directory.
             matched = False
-            if anchored:
-                try:
-                    rel_anchor = str(target.relative_to(anchor)).replace(os.sep, "/")
-                    matched = _matches(rel_anchor, p, anchored=True)
-                except ValueError:
-                    pass
-            else:
-                try:
-                    rel = str(target.relative_to(root)).replace(os.sep, "/")
-                    matched = _matches(rel, p, anchored=False)
-                except ValueError:
-                    pass
-                if not matched and anchor != root:
-                    try:
-                        rel_anchor = str(target.relative_to(anchor)).replace(os.sep, "/")
-                        matched = _matches(rel_anchor, p, anchored=False)
-                    except ValueError:
-                        pass
+            try:
+                rel_anchor = str(target.relative_to(anchor)).replace(os.sep, "/")
+            except ValueError:
+                continue  # target outside this pattern's anchor: cannot match
+            if rel_anchor != ".":
+                matched = _matches(rel_anchor, p, anchored=anchored)
 
             if matched:
                 result = not negated  # last match wins; ! flips to un-ignore
diff --git a/tests/test_detect.py b/tests/test_detect.py
index 37ffc6fb7..676a07db6 100644
--- a/tests/test_detect.py
+++ b/tests/test_detect.py
@@ -1754,3 +1754,35 @@ def test_detect_surfaces_unreadable_dir_instead_of_silent_skip(tmp_path, capsys)
     assert any(f.endswith("a.py") for f in code)  # rest of tree still enumerated
     assert len(res["walk_errors"]) >= 1
     assert "could not scan" in capsys.readouterr().err
+
+
+def test_nested_gitignore_star_does_not_ignore_outside_its_dir(tmp_path):
+    """A nested .gitignore containing a bare `*` (auto-written by e.g. the
+    hypothesis library into .hypothesis/) must ignore ONLY that directory's
+    contents — matching it against root-relative paths ignored the entire
+    corpus (detect() returned 0 files on a real repo). Regression for #1873."""
+    (tmp_path / "README.md").write_text("# hello")
+    (tmp_path / "main.py").write_text("x = 1")
+    hyp = tmp_path / ".hypothesis"
+    hyp.mkdir()
+    (hyp / ".gitignore").write_text("*\n")
+    (hyp / "cached.py").write_text("y = 2")
+
+    result = detect(tmp_path)
+
+    assert result["total_files"] == 2  # README.md + main.py survive; .hypothesis/* ignored
+
+
+def test_nested_gitignore_patterns_still_apply_inside_their_dir(tmp_path):
+    """Counterpart guard: the anchor-scoped fix must not stop nested ignore
+    files from working WITHIN their own subtree."""
+    (tmp_path / "main.py").write_text("x = 1")
+    sub = tmp_path / "sub"
+    sub.mkdir()
+    (sub / ".gitignore").write_text("*.log\n")
+    (sub / "keep.py").write_text("y = 2")
+    (sub / "noise.log").write_text("z")
+
+    result = detect(tmp_path)
+
+    assert result["total_files"] == 2  # main.py + sub/keep.py; sub/noise.log ignored