diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 57b6483..ac5bd35 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ Versioning.
   across the public-authority migration.
 - Release lifecycle operations invoked from a private control plane now bind
   their committed implementation proof to its pinned public GDS engine root.
+- Device bootstrap verifies the physical seed Go binary with
+  `GOTOOLCHAIN=local`, so automatic toolchain selection cannot make an already
+  installed pinned toolchain appear stale on every run.
 
 ## [0.1.1] - 2026-08-16
 
diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap-device.sh b/scripts/bootstrap-device.sh
index ab114a3..6d99e40 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap-device.sh
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap-device.sh
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ phase_1() {
   info "Phase 1 — seed Go ${GO_VERSION} + build gds from source"
   ensure_c_compiler
   local go_bin="${GO_HOME}/bin/go"
-  if [ -x "$go_bin" ] && "$go_bin" version 2>/dev/null | grep -q "$GO_VERSION"; then
+  if [ -x "$go_bin" ] && GOTOOLCHAIN=local "$go_bin" version 2>/dev/null | grep -q "$GO_VERSION"; then
     ok "Go ${GO_VERSION} already installed at ${GO_HOME}"
   else
     [ "$APPLY" -eq 1 ] || { info "PLAN: install Go ${GO_VERSION} to ${GO_HOME}"; return 0; }
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ phase_1() {
     mkdir -p "$GO_HOME"
     tar -xzf "$tmp" -C "$GO_HOME" --strip-components=1
     rm -f "$tmp"
-    "$go_bin" version
+    GOTOOLCHAIN=local "$go_bin" version
     ok "Go ${GO_VERSION} installed"
   fi
 
diff --git a/tests/test_bootstrap_device.py b/tests/test_bootstrap_device.py
index fcfa9f2..a3b703e 100644
--- a/tests/test_bootstrap_device.py
+++ b/tests/test_bootstrap_device.py
@@ -47,6 +47,13 @@ def test_source_build_never_accepts_a_merely_runnable_binary() -> None:
     assert "if ! source_build_dirty" in script
 
 
+def test_seed_go_verifies_the_physical_toolchain_without_auto_selection() -> None:
+    script = BOOTSTRAP.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert 'GOTOOLCHAIN=local "$go_bin" version 2>/dev/null' in script
+    assert 'GOTOOLCHAIN=local "$go_bin" version' in script
+
+
 def test_registration_skip_binds_full_control_plane_locator() -> None:
     script = BOOTSTRAP.read_text(encoding="utf-8")