diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 190839c..131cf4e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,17 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Changed
+
+- `SubjectAs[T]` and `SET.IssSub` now match the value form of the `sub_id`
+  Subject Identifier only. go-subjectid v0.2.0 made the value form the single
+  dynamic type `Parse` returns and a Go-built `SET` should hold, so the
+  reflection-based pointer-form fallback the accessors carried is unreachable
+  through any supported flow; it is removed along with its `reflect` import. A
+  `SET` hand-built with a `*subjectid.IssSubID` Subject now reports `ok=false`
+  from these accessors instead of being dereferenced. Consumers reading subjects
+  produced by `Parse`, or building SETs with value-form subjects, are unaffected.
+
 ## [0.2.0] - 2026-06-21
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/encode_test.go b/encode_test.go
index 591b974..da778d0 100644
--- a/encode_test.go
+++ b/encode_test.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func TestEncodeFullyPopulated(t *testing.T) {
 		IssuedAt: time.Unix(1700000000, 0).UTC(),
 		JWTID:    "abc123",
 		Audience: Audience{"https://rp.example.com"},
-		Subject: &subjectid.IssSubID{
+		Subject: subjectid.IssSubID{
 			Iss: "https://issuer.example.com/",
 			Sub: "145234573",
 		},
diff --git a/example_test.go b/example_test.go
index 2b5c8ce..1ff5592 100644
--- a/example_test.go
+++ b/example_test.go
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ func Example_encode() {
 }
 
 // ExampleSET_IssSub reads the typed sub_id of a parsed SET. IssSub returns the
-// iss_sub value directly regardless of whether the held identifier is the value
-// or pointer form, so a consumer never has to handle the distinction itself.
+// iss_sub value directly, so a consumer never has to type-assert SET.Subject.
 func ExampleSET_IssSub() {
 	// Verified, base64url-decoded claims-set bytes carrying an iss_sub subject.
 	payload := []byte(`{
diff --git a/secevent.go b/secevent.go
index 4a6f570..7bda879 100644
--- a/secevent.go
+++ b/secevent.go
@@ -59,10 +59,8 @@ type SET struct {
 	// RFC 9493 §3).
 	//
 	// Parse yields the value form of the identifier (for example
-	// subjectid.IssSubID), the same form a SET built in Go naturally holds; a
-	// SET may also be hand-built with the pointer form (*subjectid.IssSubID).
-	// Use SubjectAs or IssSub to read the concrete subject without handling
-	// both forms by hand.
+	// subjectid.IssSubID), the same form a SET built in Go holds. Use SubjectAs
+	// or IssSub to read the concrete subject as its typed value.
 	Subject subjectid.SubjectIdentifier
 
 	// TransactionID (txn) optionally correlates the SET with related events or
diff --git a/subject.go b/subject.go
index f1b0eba..bca8cbe 100644
--- a/subject.go
+++ b/subject.go
@@ -3,27 +3,19 @@
 
 package secevent
 
-import (
-	"reflect"
-
-	"github.com/hstern/go-subjectid"
-)
+import "github.com/hstern/go-subjectid"
 
 // SubjectAs returns the SET's sub_id as the concrete Subject Identifier type T,
 // reporting ok=false when the subject is absent or of a different format.
 //
-// It exists to absorb the value/pointer distinction in the Subject field.
 // go-subjectid's Parse returns identifiers in their value form (for example
-// subjectid.IssSubID), the same form a SET built in Go naturally holds, so the
-// two share a dynamic type. A SET may nonetheless be hand-built with the
-// pointer form (*subjectid.IssSubID also satisfies the interface), and a
-// consumer that type-asserts SET.Subject directly would have to handle both.
-// SubjectAs handles them once: it accepts the value type as T (for example
-// SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID]) and matches whether the held identifier is the
-// value or the pointer form, always returning the value.
+// subjectid.IssSubID), the same form a SET built in Go holds, so T is the value
+// type — SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID]. It is a typed, nil-safe read of the
+// SET.Subject interface: a checked type assertion that also tolerates a nil SET
+// or an absent subject.
 //
 //	if iss, ok := secevent.SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID](set); ok {
-//	    // iss is a subjectid.IssSubID regardless of how set was built
+//	    // iss is a subjectid.IssSubID
 //	}
 //
 // For the overwhelmingly common iss_sub case, (*SET).IssSub is a shorthand.
@@ -32,30 +24,16 @@ func SubjectAs[T subjectid.SubjectIdentifier](s *SET) (T, bool) {
 	if s == nil || s.Subject == nil {
 		return zero, false
 	}
-
-	// The value form (a SET built in Go) matches directly.
 	if v, ok := s.Subject.(T); ok {
 		return v, true
 	}
-
-	// The pointer form (a hand-built SET) is *T; dereference it. A type
-	// assertion to *T will not compile for an arbitrary type parameter, so
-	// reach for reflection to peel exactly one pointer indirection.
-	rv := reflect.ValueOf(s.Subject)
-	if rv.Kind() == reflect.Pointer && !rv.IsNil() {
-		if v, ok := reflect.TypeAssert[T](rv.Elem()); ok {
-			return v, true
-		}
-	}
-
 	return zero, false
 }
 
 // IssSub returns the SET's sub_id as a subjectid.IssSubID when the subject is
 // present and in the iss_sub format, reporting ok=false otherwise. It is a
 // shorthand for SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID] covering the most common subject
-// format, and it transparently handles both the value and pointer forms of the
-// held identifier (see SubjectAs).
+// format.
 func (s *SET) IssSub() (subjectid.IssSubID, bool) {
 	return SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID](s)
 }
diff --git a/subject_test.go b/subject_test.go
index 81a0281..4e4ff35 100644
--- a/subject_test.go
+++ b/subject_test.go
@@ -73,18 +73,19 @@ func TestSubjectAsValueForm(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestSubjectAsPointerForm checks that SubjectAs and IssSub also read the
-// pointer form — the shape a SET hand-built with *subjectid.IssSubID carries.
-// This is the value/pointer distinction the accessor absorbs.
-func TestSubjectAsPointerForm(t *testing.T) {
-	want := subjectid.IssSubID{Iss: "https://issuer.example.com/", Sub: "145234573"}
-	s := SET{Subject: &want}
+// TestSubjectAsPointerFormUnmatched pins the value-only contract: a SET
+// hand-built with the pointer form of an identifier (*subjectid.IssSubID) is
+// reported as not found rather than dereferenced. go-subjectid v0.2.0 made the
+// value form the single shape Parse returns and a Go-built SET should hold, so
+// the accessors match the value form only.
+func TestSubjectAsPointerFormUnmatched(t *testing.T) {
+	s := SET{Subject: &subjectid.IssSubID{Iss: "https://issuer.example.com/", Sub: "145234573"}}
 
-	if got, ok := SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID](&s); !ok || got != want {
-		t.Errorf("SubjectAs[IssSubID] = (%+v, %v), want (%+v, true)", got, ok, want)
+	if got, ok := SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID](&s); ok {
+		t.Errorf("SubjectAs[IssSubID] with pointer-form Subject = (%+v, true), want ok false", got)
 	}
-	if got, ok := s.IssSub(); !ok || got != want {
-		t.Errorf("IssSub() = (%+v, %v), want (%+v, true)", got, ok, want)
+	if got, ok := s.IssSub(); ok {
+		t.Errorf("IssSub() with pointer-form Subject = (%+v, true), want ok false", got)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -147,8 +148,8 @@ func TestSubjectAsMismatch(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Run("typed nil subject", func(t *testing.T) {
 		// A typed nil pointer in the interface is not == nil, so it slips past
-		// the s.Subject == nil guard and reaches the reflection path; the
-		// !rv.IsNil() check is what keeps rv.Elem() from panicking.
+		// the s.Subject == nil guard; the value-form type assertion then fails
+		// without dereferencing it, so there is no panic.
 		var p *subjectid.IssSubID
 		s := SET{Subject: p}
 		if got, ok := SubjectAs[subjectid.IssSubID](&s); ok {