diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml
index acb36d6910..fedd064796 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: 'Set Up Apple Runner Build'
-description: 'Restore an exact Apple runner build or build and cache it on a miss'
+description: 'Restore an exact Apple runner build and verify it with Xcode'
 
 inputs:
   derived-path:
@@ -44,7 +44,13 @@ runs:
       id: source-hash
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
-        echo "value=${{ hashFiles('apple/runner/**', 'apple/snapshot-presentation/**', 'scripts/build-xcuitest-apple.sh', 'scripts/runner-isolation-diagnostics.ts', 'scripts/swift-toolchain-tmpdir.ts', 'scripts/write-xcuitest-cache-metadata.mjs', '.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml') }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        echo "value=${{ hashFiles('apple/runner/**', 'apple/snapshot-presentation/**') }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Resolve Apple runner cache schema
+      id: cache-schema
+      run: |
+        echo "value=${{ hashFiles('.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml', 'scripts/build-xcuitest-apple.sh') }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Resolve Apple runner build variant
@@ -79,10 +85,9 @@ runs:
       uses: actions/cache/restore@0057852bfaa89a56745cba8c7296529d2fc39830 # v4.2.3
       with:
         path: ${{ inputs.derived-path }}
-        key: ${{ inputs.cache-key-prefix }}-${{ steps.xcode.outputs.key }}${{ inputs.cache-key-suffix }}-${{ steps.build-variant.outputs.key }}-${{ steps.source-hash.outputs.value }}
+        key: ${{ inputs.cache-key-prefix }}-${{ steps.xcode.outputs.key }}${{ inputs.cache-key-suffix }}-${{ steps.build-variant.outputs.key }}-${{ steps.cache-schema.outputs.value }}-${{ steps.source-hash.outputs.value }}
 
-    - name: Build Apple runner artifacts on cache miss
-      if: steps.restore-runner-build.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+    - name: Verify Apple runner artifacts with Xcode
       uses: ./.github/actions/run-gate
       with:
         gate: ${{ inputs.gate }}
@@ -111,7 +116,7 @@ runs:
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
         if [ "$CACHE_HIT" = 'true' ]; then
-          RESULT='restored native build; compilation skipped; icon patch applied'
+          RESULT='restored exact native build; verified incrementally with Xcode; icon patch applied'
         else
           RESULT='cache miss; built and cached native runner; icon patch applied'
         fi
diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/apple-ci-impact.test.ts b/scripts/__tests__/apple-ci-impact.test.ts
index 31b79a3d86..e6a00d9dce 100644
--- a/scripts/__tests__/apple-ci-impact.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/apple-ci-impact.test.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ import { selectChecks } from '../check-affected/model.ts';
 
 const repoRoot = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../..');
 
-function cacheInputs(action: string): string[] {
+function cacheInputs(action: string, stepId = 'source-hash'): string[] {
   const doc = parse(action) as { runs?: { steps?: Array<{ id?: string; run?: string }> } };
-  const sourceHash = doc.runs?.steps?.find((step) => step.id === 'source-hash')?.run ?? '';
-  const expressions = [...sourceHash.matchAll(/hashFiles\(([\s\S]*?)\)/g)];
+  const hashStep = doc.runs?.steps?.find((step) => step.id === stepId)?.run ?? '';
+  const expressions = [...hashStep.matchAll(/hashFiles\(([\s\S]*?)\)/g)];
   expect(expressions.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
   return expressions.flatMap((expression) =>
     [...expression[1]!.matchAll(/'([^']+)'/g)].map((match) => match[1]!),
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ test('native runner build-cache inputs trigger the PR XCTest lane', () => {
     'utf8',
   );
   expect(cacheInputs(action).filter((input) => input.startsWith('packages/'))).toEqual([]);
+  expect(cacheInputs(action).filter((input) => input.endsWith('.ts'))).toEqual([]);
   const uncovered = (text: string) =>
     cacheInputs(text)
       .filter((input) => !input.startsWith('!'))
@@ -62,26 +63,58 @@ test('native runner build-cache inputs trigger the PR XCTest lane', () => {
   ).toEqual(['packages/platform-apple/src/foldable/**']);
 });
 
-test('the cache stores native products before applying the current runner icon patch', () => {
+type AppleRunnerBuildStep = {
+  id?: string;
+  name?: string;
+  env?: Record<string, string>;
+  if?: string;
+  run?: string;
+  with?: Record<string, string>;
+};
+
+function appleRunnerBuildAction(): { text: string; steps: AppleRunnerBuildStep[] } {
   const action = fs.readFileSync(
     path.join(repoRoot, '.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml'),
     'utf8',
   );
   const doc = parse(action) as {
-    runs: {
-      steps: Array<{ name?: string; env?: Record<string, string>; if?: string; run?: string }>;
-    };
+    runs: { steps: AppleRunnerBuildStep[] };
   };
-  const steps = doc.runs.steps;
-  const build = steps.find((step) => step.name === 'Build Apple runner artifacts on cache miss');
+  return { text: action, steps: doc.runs.steps };
+}
+
+test('Apple runner build cache uses only declared source and schema hashes', () => {
+  const { text, steps } = appleRunnerBuildAction();
+  const restoreIndex = steps.findIndex((step) => step.name === 'Restore Apple runner build cache');
+  expect(steps.filter((step) => step.run?.includes('hashFiles(')).map((step) => step.id)).toEqual([
+    'source-hash',
+    'cache-schema',
+  ]);
+  expect(cacheInputs(text, 'cache-schema')).toEqual([
+    '.github/actions/setup-apple-runner-build/action.yml',
+    'scripts/build-xcuitest-apple.sh',
+  ]);
+  expect(steps[restoreIndex]?.with?.key).toContain('steps.cache-schema.outputs.value');
+  expect(steps[restoreIndex]?.with?.['restore-keys']).toBeUndefined();
+  expect(cacheInputs(text)).not.toContain('scripts/patch-xcuitest-runner-icon.ts');
+});
+
+test('restored native products are rebuilt before caching and icon patching', () => {
+  const { steps } = appleRunnerBuildAction();
+  const restoreIndex = steps.findIndex((step) => step.name === 'Restore Apple runner build cache');
+  const buildIndex = steps.findIndex(
+    (step) => step.name === 'Verify Apple runner artifacts with Xcode',
+  );
   const saveIndex = steps.findIndex((step) => step.name === 'Save Apple runner build cache');
   const patchIndex = steps.findIndex((step) => step.name === 'Patch XCTest runner icon');
-  expect(build?.env?.AGENT_DEVICE_XCUITEST_SKIP_ICON_PATCH).toBe('1');
-  expect(saveIndex).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+  expect(buildIndex).toBeGreaterThan(restoreIndex);
+  expect(steps[buildIndex]?.if).toBeUndefined();
+  expect(steps[buildIndex]?.env?.AGENT_DEVICE_XCUITEST_SKIP_ICON_PATCH).toBe('1');
+  expect(saveIndex).toBeGreaterThan(buildIndex);
+  expect(steps[saveIndex]?.if).toContain("cache-hit != 'true'");
   expect(patchIndex).toBeGreaterThan(saveIndex);
   expect(steps[patchIndex]?.if).toBeUndefined();
   expect(steps[patchIndex]?.run).toContain('scripts/patch-xcuitest-runner-icon.ts');
-  expect(cacheInputs(action)).not.toContain('scripts/patch-xcuitest-runner-icon.ts');
   expect(fs.readFileSync(path.join(repoRoot, 'scripts/build-xcuitest-apple.sh'), 'utf8')).toContain(
     'if ! is_truthy "${AGENT_DEVICE_XCUITEST_SKIP_ICON_PATCH:-}"; then',
   );