diff --git a/src/review/ledger-anchor-rekor.ts b/src/review/ledger-anchor-rekor.ts
index 6e6ae5f648..afe3e863d4 100644
--- a/src/review/ledger-anchor-rekor.ts
+++ b/src/review/ledger-anchor-rekor.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,18 @@ import type { SignedLedgerAnchor } from "./ledger-anchor";
 import { anchorSigningInput } from "./ledger-anchor";
 import { recordLedgerAnchorAttempt } from "./ledger-anchor-persistence";
 
-/** Rekor shards annually and the research is explicit: do not hardcode a log URL. Configurable via env,
- *  with a fallback to the current shard as of when this was written -- an operator updates the env var at
- *  the next rotation rather than this needing a code change. */
-const DEFAULT_REKOR_SHARD_BASE_URL = "https://log2026-1.rekor.sigstore.dev";
+/** Rekor shards annually as `log<year>-<rev>.rekor.sigstore.dev` and the research is explicit: do not
+ *  hardcode a log URL. Configurable via env, so an operator updates a variable at the next rotation rather
+ *  than waiting on a release.
+ *
+ *  This default was previously `log2026-1`, a shard Sigstore has not deployed -- so it did not resolve, and
+ *  EVERY deployment that enabled anchoring without setting the env var recorded `fetch failed` forever and
+ *  published no anchor at all (#9844, found on a live self-host instance). Guessing the next shard ahead of
+ *  its deployment is worse than lagging behind it: a stale-but-real default still anchors, while a
+ *  not-yet-existent one silently anchors nothing.
+ *
+ *  So: only ever point this at a shard confirmed to be serving. When 2026-1 goes live, this moves then. */
+const DEFAULT_REKOR_SHARD_BASE_URL = "https://log2025-1.rekor.sigstore.dev";
 
 /** The exact `hashedRekordRequestV002` body Rekor v2's `POST /api/v2/log/entries` accepts. Digest and
  *  signature are both base64 per the API; `keyDetails` names the algorithm so Rekor can verify without
@@ -155,16 +163,19 @@ export async function submitToRekor(
       proofR2Key: null,
     });
   } catch (error) {
-    // Pass the raw caught value through, not a pre-stringified one -- #9271's persistence layer is the single
-    // place that normalizes an unknown error into text (Error instance vs. anything else), so this backend
-    // and every other one feed it the same undecided shape rather than each reimplementing that choice.
+    // The raw caught value still reaches the persistence layer, which stays the single place that normalizes
+    // an unknown error into text -- but it is WRAPPED so the recorded failure names the endpoint. Node's bare
+    // "fetch failed" cannot distinguish a shard hostname that does not resolve from blocked egress from a log
+    // that is down, and those have three different fixes. #9271 published these failures precisely so anyone
+    // can see anchoring is broken; a published failure that does not say what failed only half-delivers that.
+    // `cause` is preserved, so nothing a caller could previously inspect is lost.
     await recordLedgerAnchorAttempt(env, {
       payload: signed.payload,
       signature: signed.signature,
       keyId: signed.keyId,
       backend: "rekor",
       status: "failed",
-      error,
+      error: new Error(`Rekor submission to ${shardBaseUrl}/api/v2/log/entries failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`, { cause: error }),
     });
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/ledger-anchor-rekor.test.ts b/test/unit/ledger-anchor-rekor.test.ts
index 449640c2dd..c41fc1cd3f 100644
--- a/test/unit/ledger-anchor-rekor.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/ledger-anchor-rekor.test.ts
@@ -84,12 +84,44 @@ describe("submitToRekor (#9272)", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("uses the default shard URL when unconfigured", async () => {
+  it("uses the default shard URL when unconfigured -- pinned EXACTLY, because a shard that does not exist still matches a substring", async () => {
+    // #9844: this assertion used to be `stringContaining("rekor.sigstore.dev")`, which passed happily while
+    // the default pointed at log2026-1 -- a shard Sigstore never deployed. Every deployment that enabled
+    // anchoring without overriding the env var recorded `fetch failed` forever and published no anchor, and
+    // this test could not have caught it. The exact host is the thing under test, so it is asserted exactly.
     const env = createTestEnv();
     const { signed, publicKeySpki } = await realSignedAnchor();
     const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(new Response(JSON.stringify(REKOR_RESPONSE), { status: 201 }));
     await submitToRekor(env, signed, publicKeySpki, fetchMock);
-    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("rekor.sigstore.dev"), expect.anything());
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("https://log2025-1.rekor.sigstore.dev/api/v2/log/entries", expect.anything());
+  });
+
+  it("REGRESSION (#9844): a thrown fetch error records WHICH endpoint failed, not a bare 'fetch failed'", async () => {
+    // Node's own message is "fetch failed" with no URL, so an operator cannot tell a shard hostname that does
+    // not resolve from blocked egress from a log that is down -- three different fixes. #9271 publishes these
+    // failures so anyone can see anchoring is broken; naming the endpoint is what makes that actionable.
+    const env = createTestEnv({ LOOPOVER_LEDGER_ANCHOR_REKOR_SHARD_URL: "https://log-does-not-exist.example" });
+    const { signed, publicKeySpki } = await realSignedAnchor();
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockRejectedValue(new TypeError("fetch failed"));
+
+    await expect(submitToRekor(env, signed, publicKeySpki, fetchMock)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+
+    const { anchors } = await loadPublicLedgerAnchors(env);
+    expect(anchors[0]).toMatchObject({ backend: "rekor", status: "failed" });
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("https://log-does-not-exist.example/api/v2/log/entries");
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("fetch failed"); // the original cause is still legible
+  });
+
+  it("wraps a non-Error thrown value without losing it", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    const { signed, publicKeySpki } = await realSignedAnchor();
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockRejectedValue("a bare string, not an Error");
+
+    await submitToRekor(env, signed, publicKeySpki, fetchMock);
+
+    const { anchors } = await loadPublicLedgerAnchors(env);
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("a bare string, not an Error");
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("log2025-1.rekor.sigstore.dev");
   });
 
   it("records status:'failed' on a non-2xx response, and does NOT throw", async () => {
@@ -124,6 +156,10 @@ describe("submitToRekor (#9272)", () => {
     await expect(submitToRekor(env, signed, publicKeySpki, fetchMock)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
 
     const { anchors } = await loadPublicLedgerAnchors(env);
-    expect(anchors[0]).toMatchObject({ status: "failed", error: "network down" });
+    // #9844: the cause is still legible, now alongside the endpoint that was attempted -- "network down" on
+    // its own could not tell an operator which of the backends or which URL had the problem.
+    expect(anchors[0]).toMatchObject({ status: "failed" });
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("network down");
+    expect(anchors[0]!.error).toContain("/api/v2/log/entries");
   });
 });