diff --git a/local/scripts/verify-overlay-integrity.sh b/local/scripts/verify-overlay-integrity.sh
index 5923c2a2fa..872dbbfeb7 100755
--- a/local/scripts/verify-overlay-integrity.sh
+++ b/local/scripts/verify-overlay-integrity.sh
@@ -101,7 +101,12 @@ while IFS= read -r link; do
             BROKEN_RECIPE_SYMLINKS=$((BROKEN_RECIPE_SYMLINKS + 1))
         fi
     fi
-done < <(find recipes -maxdepth 3 -type l 2>/dev/null | grep -v '/target$\|/stage\|/sysroot$\|/source$' | sort)
+# NB: recipes/wip/ is EXCLUDED. It is upstream work-in-progress scratch and is
+# never part of any shipped image — the local-over-WIP policy stages shipped
+# packages into local/recipes/ and symlinks them into recipes/<cat>/, never
+# recipes/wip/. A broken symlink under recipes/wip/ (e.g. a graphics WIP recipe
+# while building the text-only mini target) must not clutter or fail a build.
+done < <(find recipes -maxdepth 3 -type l 2>/dev/null | grep -v '^recipes/wip/\|/target$\|/stage\|/sysroot$\|/source$' | sort)
 
 log "    $RECIPE_SYMLINK_COUNT recipe symlinks checked, $BROKEN_RECIPE_SYMLINKS broken"