diff --git a/.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml b/.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml
index 80327428..9054ca9c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ on:
         description: >-
           Block (fail the job) on findings at or above this severity:
           never|informational|low|medium|high. Independent of the report floor.
-          Defaults to `never` (non-blocking). Set to `high` to gate on High only.
+          Defaults to `never` (non-blocking).
         type: string
         default: 'never'
       config:
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ on:
           they live) are covered too — not just `.github/workflows`. zizmor honors
           `.gitignore` when collecting inputs. Ensure the caller's trigger `paths`
           cover everywhere scannable files live, or changes can slip through.
+          With the default `.` an empty repo skips green; with explicit paths an
+          empty scan fails closed.
         type: string
         default: '.'
       zizmor_version:
@@ -121,12 +123,26 @@ jobs:
           set -e
 
           # Fail hard on anything that isn't a clean run (0) or a findings run
-          # (11-14). An errored or empty scan (bad scan_paths, install failure, arg
-          # error) must NOT pass silently under fail_severity: never — for a security
-          # control, fail-open is the worst outcome. Dump both streams so the real
-          # cause is visible.
+          # (11-14): an errored scan must not pass silently under
+          # fail_severity: never. Exception: exit 3 ("no inputs collected") on
+          # the default '.' scan means the repo has no Actions content — skip
+          # green; with explicit scan_paths it's more likely a typo — fail.
           case "${code}" in
             0|11|12|13|14) : ;;
+            3)
+              if [ "${SCAN_PATHS}" = "." ]; then
+                echo "No GitHub Actions workflows or composite actions in this repo; nothing to scan."
+                {
+                  echo "## 🌈 zizmor — GitHub Actions security scan"
+                  echo ""
+                  echo "Nothing to scan: this repo has no GitHub Actions workflows or composite actions. Skipped."
+                } >> "${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY}"
+                exit 0
+              fi
+              echo "zizmor collected no inputs from scan_paths='${SCAN_PATHS}' (exit 3); failing."
+              cat zizmor.log report.txt
+              exit 1
+              ;;
             *)
               echo "zizmor did not complete a scan (exit ${code}); failing."
               cat zizmor.log report.txt
diff --git a/.github/workflows/zizmor.yaml b/.github/workflows/zizmor.yaml
index 3a598bf3..934b79fb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/zizmor.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/zizmor.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,5 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   zizmor:
+    # Bare call: severity floors come from the shared workflow's defaults.
     uses: ./.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml
-    with:
-      fail_severity: never   # report-only for now; set to `high` later to gate on High-severity
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 134ab0c8..f96141bd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ The marker goes in the commit message, not the branch name or PR title. This is
 `shared-zizmor-scan.yaml` runs [zizmor](https://docs.zizmor.sh) over a repo's GitHub
 Actions workflows to catch workflow-security issues.
 By default it runs all offline zizmor rules except `unpinned-uses` (disabled in
-config — SHA-pinning was declined for UID2), reports **High-severity** findings
-(`min_severity`), and is non-blocking (`fail_severity: never`).
+config — SHA-pinning was declined for UID2), reports **High-severity** findings,
+and is non-blocking.
 
 Adopt it by adding a small caller workflow to the target repo:
 
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   zizmor:
     uses: IABTechLab/uid2-shared-actions/.github/workflows/shared-zizmor-scan.yaml@v3
-    with:
-      fail_severity: never   # report-only; set to `high` to block PRs on High-severity findings
 ```
 
 For one-off false positives in a consuming repo, add an inline