diff --git a/docs/roadmap.md b/docs/roadmap.md
index caaa677..f270c8e 100644
--- a/docs/roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/roadmap.md
@@ -1430,6 +1430,15 @@ principles named were durable, accurate and reactive. Found in rally 0x7 by plus
   run alongside; observed only, never changing the result; the browser tests carry those lines to their own
   standard error, so ci-local's log has them; with tests for a segfault retried, a second failing, and a teardown
   crash with a stand-in coredumpctl.
+- [ ] **RAL-183: Browser tests forward only real crash lines, marked as real; the stand-in core can't pass for
+  one.** From the lamplighter reading RAL-179's own faked teardown crash in ci-local's log as a real one
+  (2026-11-14, 61d0dca's check.log 738–739), assigned by the watchman. Done when: `run_browser` writes nothing
+  to the test's own standard error from a run whose Chrome command isn't the real `RALLY_TEST_CHROME` or that uses
+  a stand-in coredumpctl (the tests that fake a crash still assert on the script's output); what a real run
+  forwards begins `browser test: [real Chrome, real coredumpctl]`, so the log can be trusted at a glance; and the
+  stand-in core's time and pid are impossible ones (1970, pid 999999); and a core within 2 s of the run's own
+  crash at start is said as that crash's, by time, since its process is gone before a pid can be taken (the
+  lamplighter's real abort of 12:05:52Z was listed twice, by two runs, each as "not one of this run's").
 - [ ] **RAL-184: The digest's gate line counts "suites and scenes".** From the watchman's read of RAL-181: with every
   suite recorded, RAL-180's green line said "112 scenes" of what are mostly the QUICK phase's suites. Done when: the
   line, and the parser's and service's bound messages, say "suites and scenes"; with the tests updated.
diff --git a/tests/browser/sign-in.mjs b/tests/browser/sign-in.mjs
index 340a337..f4cfe06 100644
--- a/tests/browser/sign-in.mjs
+++ b/tests/browser/sign-in.mjs
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ let browser = null;
 let stderrTail = "";
 // A crash at start that was tried once more: its status and what Chrome said.
 let firstAbort = null;
+// When that crash at start was seen, in milliseconds, to tie its core to this run (RAL-183).
+let firstCrashMs = null;
 // When this run began, to the second, for coredumpctl's --since (RAL-179).
 const startedAt = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
 
@@ -189,9 +191,15 @@ function sayCores(ours, wait) {
   }
   for (const core of cores) {
     const at = new Date(Number(core.time) / 1000).toISOString().replace(/\.\d+Z$/, "Z");
+    // RAL-183: a crash at start has gone before any pid of it can be taken, so a core within 2 s of
+    // this run's own crash at start is said as that one's, by time; a pid can't say it.
+    const nearOwnCrash = firstCrashMs !== null
+      && Math.abs(Number(core.time) / 1000 - firstCrashMs) <= 2000;
     const whose = ours.has(Number(core.pid))
       ? "one of this run's processes"
-      : "not one of this run's processes, so perhaps a run alongside";
+      : nearOwnCrash
+        ? "within 2 s of this run's own crash at start, so most likely that one"
+        : "not one of this run's processes, so perhaps a run alongside";
     process.stderr.write(`sign-in.mjs: a Chrome core was dumped at ${at}, pid ${core.pid} (${whose}), `
       + `${signalNames[core.sig] || "signal " + core.sig}, ${core.exe} (RAL-179)\n`);
   }
@@ -299,6 +307,7 @@ try {
   page = await startOnce();
 } catch (error) {
   if (!error.exit) throw error;
+  firstCrashMs = Date.now();
   const first = { status: exitStatus(error.exit), ...exitSeen, chrome_stderr: stderrTail };
   if (!isCrash(error.exit.code, error.exit.signal)) {
     await fail({ error: `the browser exited with ${first.status} before the page loaded` });
diff --git a/tests/web.rs b/tests/web.rs
index aa05bb3..142d421 100644
--- a/tests/web.rs
+++ b/tests/web.rs
@@ -1153,12 +1153,25 @@ fn run_browser_env(
     let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).into_owned();
     let seen: Value = serde_json::from_str(printed.trim())
         .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("the script printed no result: {printed}\n{stderr}"));
-    if let Some(first) = seen.get("retried_after_abort") {
+    // RAL-183: only a run of the real browser, with the real coredumpctl, says anything on the
+    // test's own standard error, and says so first, so a line in ci-local's log is never a test's
+    // stand-in. A test that fakes a crash asserts on the script's output itself.
+    let real = browser().as_deref() == Some(chrome)
+        && !env
+            .iter()
+            .any(|(name, _)| *name == "RALLY_BROWSER_COREDUMPCTL");
+    const REAL: &str = "browser test: [real Chrome, real coredumpctl]";
+    if let (true, Some(first)) = (real, seen.get("retried_after_abort")) {
         use std::io::Write;
         let _ = writeln!(
             std::io::stderr(),
-            "browser test: Chrome aborted at start ({}) at {}, pid {} ({}), load {}, document \
+            "{REAL} Chrome {} at start ({}) at {}, pid {} ({}), load {}, document \
              portal mounted: {}; tried once more (RAL-160); it said: {}",
+            if first["status"] == 134 || first["status"] == "SIGABRT" {
+                "aborted"
+            } else {
+                "crashed"
+            },
             first["status"],
             first["at"].as_str().unwrap_or("?"),
             first["pid"],
@@ -1170,9 +1183,12 @@ fn run_browser_env(
     }
     // RAL-179: a crash at teardown, and any Chrome core dumped during the run, reach the test's
     // own standard error, so ci-local's log carries them even when the test passes.
-    for line in stderr.lines().filter(|line| line.contains("(RAL-179)")) {
+    for line in stderr
+        .lines()
+        .filter(|line| real && line.contains("(RAL-179)"))
+    {
         use std::io::Write;
-        let _ = writeln!(std::io::stderr(), "browser test: {line}");
+        let _ = writeln!(std::io::stderr(), "{REAL} {line}");
     }
     (output.status.success(), seen, stderr)
 }
@@ -1189,9 +1205,11 @@ fn chrome_that_fails(dir: &std::path::Path, aborts: u32, status: u32, chrome: &s
         format!(
             "#!/bin/sh\nn=$(cat {counter} 2>/dev/null || echo 0)\necho $((n + 1)) > {counter}\n\
              if [ \"$n\" -lt {aborts} ]; then\n  \
-             echo \"fake zypak: Assertion 'bus' failed (run $((n + 1)))\" >&2\n  exit {status}\nfi\n\
+             echo \"fake zypak: Assertion 'bus' failed (run $((n + 1)))\" >&2\n  \
+             date +%s%6N > {crashed_at}\n  exit {status}\nfi\n\
              exec \"$@\"\n",
-            counter = counter.display()
+            counter = counter.display(),
+            crashed_at = dir.join("crashed_at").display()
         ),
     )
     .unwrap();
@@ -1252,9 +1270,38 @@ fn a_segfault_at_start_is_tried_once_more_and_a_second_fails() {
     let viewer = start();
     let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
     let once = chrome_that_fails(dir.path(), 1, 139, &chrome);
-    let (ok, seen, stderr) = run_browser(&viewer, &once, None, None, None);
+    // RAL-183: a stand-in coredumpctl lists a core at the moment the stand-in Chrome crashed, as
+    // systemd would, with a pid the run never held: it's said as this run's crash, by its time.
+    let cores = dir.path().join("coredumpctl");
+    std::fs::write(
+        &cores,
+        format!(
+            "#!/bin/sh\nt=$(cat {})\necho \"[{{\\\"time\\\":$t,\\\"pid\\\":999999,\\\"sig\\\":11,\\\"exe\\\":\\\"/app/extra/chrome\\\"}}]\"\n",
+            dir.path().join("crashed_at").display()
+        ),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    {
+        use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+        std::fs::set_permissions(&cores, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o755)).unwrap();
+    }
+    let (ok, seen, stderr) = run_browser_env(
+        &viewer,
+        &once,
+        None,
+        None,
+        None,
+        &[("RALLY_BROWSER_COREDUMPCTL", cores.to_str().unwrap())],
+    );
     assert!(ok, "{seen}\n{stderr}");
     assert_eq!(seen["retried_after_abort"]["status"], 139, "{seen}");
+    assert!(
+        stderr.contains(
+            "pid 999999 (within 2 s of this run's own crash at start, so most likely that one), \
+             SIGSEGV"
+        ),
+        "{stderr}"
+    );
     assert!(
         stderr.contains("Chrome crashed at start (139) at ") && stderr.contains("trying once more"),
         "{stderr}"
@@ -1296,8 +1343,8 @@ fn a_crash_at_teardown_is_said_and_the_result_stands() {
     let cores = dir.path().join("coredumpctl");
     std::fs::write(
         &cores,
-        "#!/bin/sh\necho '[{\"time\":1794652199536351,\"pid\":1,\"sig\":11,\"exe\":\"/app/extra/chrome\"},\
-         {\"time\":1794652199536351,\"pid\":2,\"sig\":11,\"exe\":\"/usr/bin/node\"}]'\n",
+        "#!/bin/sh\necho '[{\"time\":1000000,\"pid\":999999,\"sig\":11,\"exe\":\"/app/extra/chrome\"},\
+         {\"time\":1000000,\"pid\":999998,\"sig\":11,\"exe\":\"/usr/bin/node\"}]'\n",
     )
     .unwrap();
     std::fs::set_permissions(&cores, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o755)).unwrap();
@@ -1319,7 +1366,7 @@ fn a_crash_at_teardown_is_said_and_the_result_stands() {
     );
     assert!(
         stderr.contains(
-            "a Chrome core was dumped at 2026-11-14T10:29:59Z, pid 1 (not one of this run's \
+            "a Chrome core was dumped at 1970-01-01T00:00:01Z, pid 999999 (not one of this run's \
              processes, so perhaps a run alongside), SIGSEGV, /app/extra/chrome (RAL-179)"
         ),
         "{stderr}"