diff --git a/src/domain/graph/builder/pipeline.ts b/src/domain/graph/builder/pipeline.ts
index f31afa77..1416631a 100644
--- a/src/domain/graph/builder/pipeline.ts
+++ b/src/domain/graph/builder/pipeline.ts
@@ -658,6 +658,14 @@ async function tryNativeOrchestrator(
 
   if (result.earlyExit) {
     info('No changes detected');
+    // Even on no-op rebuilds, dropped-language files added since the last
+    // full build are still missing from `nodes`/`file_hashes` (#1083). The
+    // orchestrator's file_collector skipped them, so its earlyExit doesn't
+    // imply DB consistency. Run the gap repair before returning.
+    const gap = detectDroppedLanguageGap(ctx);
+    if (gap.missingAbs.length > 0) {
+      await backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx, gap);
+    }
     closeDbPair({ db: ctx.db, nativeDb: ctx.nativeDb });
     return 'early-exit';
   }
@@ -753,37 +761,55 @@ async function tryNativeOrchestrator(
   // stale native binaries). WASM handles those — backfill via WASM so both
   // engines process the same file set (#967).
   //
-  // Runs on full builds and on incrementals when the orchestrator reports
-  // any file activity (removals or changes). The orchestrator's
-  // `detect_removed_files` filter (#1070) skips files outside its narrower
-  // file_collector, so on a current binary a no-op rebuild reports
-  // `removedCount=0` and `changedCount=0`, making the backfill call pure
-  // overhead (fs walk + 2 DB queries + 48-file WASM re-parse). Legacy
-  // binaries lacking the filter still report `removedCount>0` and get the
-  // gap-repair behavior #1068 introduced. Triggering on `changedCount>0`
-  // narrows (but does not fully close) the gap where a brand-new
-  // unsupported-extension file is added on an otherwise-quiet incremental
-  // — see #1091 for the residual gap.
+  // Detect the gap once (fs walk + 2 DB queries, ~20–30ms) and use it for
+  // both gating and the backfill itself. On dirty incrementals/full builds
+  // the orchestrator signals trigger backfill, so the walk happens once
+  // (instead of redundantly inside backfill). On quiet incrementals we
+  // still pay the walk so we can detect brand-new files in dropped-language
+  // extensions — a gap that the orchestrator's `detect_removed_files`
+  // filter (#1070) leaves open (#1083, #1091). The pre-check is cheap
+  // because the expensive part (WASM re-parse of the missing set) is
+  // gated below.
   const removedCount = result.removedCount ?? 0;
   const changedCount = result.changedCount ?? 0;
-  if (result.isFullBuild || removedCount > 0 || changedCount > 0) {
-    await backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx);
+  const gap = detectDroppedLanguageGap(ctx);
+  if (result.isFullBuild || removedCount > 0 || changedCount > 0 || gap.missingAbs.length > 0) {
+    await backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx, gap);
   }
 
   closeDbPair({ db: ctx.db, nativeDb: ctx.nativeDb });
   return formatNativeTimingResult(p, structurePatchMs, analysisTiming);
 }
 
+/** Files the native orchestrator silently dropped — the working set for backfill. */
+interface DroppedLanguageGap {
+  /** Relative paths (normalized) of files missing from `nodes` or `file_hashes`. */
+  missingRel: string[];
+  /** Absolute paths, aligned by index with `missingRel`. */
+  missingAbs: string[];
+}
+
 /**
- * Backfill files that the native orchestrator silently dropped during parse.
- * Falls back to WASM + inserts file/symbol nodes so engine counts match (#967).
+ * Detect files the native orchestrator silently dropped.
+ *
+ * Walks the filesystem and compares against `nodes` + `file_hashes`. A file
+ * is "missing" if it's absent from EITHER table — both must be present for
+ * the fast-skip pre-flight (#1054) to work, and the two can diverge (e.g.
+ * legacy DBs where `nodes` was populated but `file_hashes` was not).
+ *
+ * Restricted to files with an installed WASM grammar; extensions in
+ * `LANGUAGE_REGISTRY` without a shipped grammar (e.g. groovy on minimal
+ * installs) can't be parsed by either engine, so they're not a native
+ * regression — excluding them keeps the warn count in
+ * `backfillNativeDroppedFiles` meaningful.
+ *
+ * Cheap (no DB handoff, no parsing): used both to gate the backfill call
+ * and as its working set. NativeDbProxy supports `.prepare().all()`, so
+ * this works whether `ctx.db` is a proxy or a real better-sqlite3
+ * connection — letting us skip the close-native / reopen-better-sqlite3
+ * cost when there's nothing to backfill.
  */
-async function backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx: PipelineContext): Promise<void> {
-  // Compute the missing-file set FIRST, before any expensive DB handoff.
-  // NativeDbProxy supports .prepare().all(), so the upfront query works
-  // whether ctx.db is a proxy or a real better-sqlite3 connection. On
-  // incremental no-op rebuilds nothing is missing, so we want to early-return
-  // without paying the close-native / reopen-better-sqlite3 cost.
+function detectDroppedLanguageGap(ctx: PipelineContext): DroppedLanguageGap {
   const collected = collectFilesUtil(ctx.rootDir, [], ctx.config, new Set<string>());
   const expected = new Set(
     collected.files.map((f) => normalizePath(path.relative(ctx.rootDir, f))),
@@ -794,12 +820,6 @@ async function backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx: PipelineContext): Promise<void> {
     .all() as Array<{ file: string }>;
   const existingNodes = new Set(existingNodeRows.map((r) => r.file));
 
-  // Belt-and-suspenders: also check `file_hashes`. The fast-skip pre-flight
-  // (#1054) rejects on `file_hashes` gaps, and the two tables can diverge
-  // (e.g. a DB written by old code where `nodes` was populated but
-  // `file_hashes` was not). Treating "in nodes but not in file_hashes" as
-  // missing closes the gap so the backfill repairs the file_hashes row even
-  // when the node row already exists.
   let existingHashes = new Set<string>();
   try {
     const existingHashRows = ctx.db
@@ -810,26 +830,36 @@ async function backfillNativeDroppedFiles(ctx: PipelineContext): Promise<void> {
     // file_hashes table may not exist on legacy DBs; treat as fully missing
     // so the backfill writes rows on the upsert path below.
     debug(
-      `backfillNativeDroppedFiles: file_hashes read failed (table may not exist): ${toErrorMessage(e)}`,
+      `detectDroppedLanguageGap: file_hashes read failed (table may not exist): ${toErrorMessage(e)}`,
     );
   }
 
-  // Restrict backfill to files with an installed WASM grammar. Extensions in
-  // LANGUAGE_REGISTRY without a shipped grammar file (e.g. groovy, erlang on
-  // minimal installs) can't be parsed by either engine, so they're not a
-  // native regression — excluding them keeps the warn count meaningful.
   const installedExts = getInstalledWasmExtensions();
   const missingRel: string[] = [];
   const missingAbs: string[] = [];
   for (const rel of expected) {
-    // A file is "missing" if it's absent from EITHER nodes OR file_hashes.
-    // Both must be present for fast-skip to work correctly.
     if (existingNodes.has(rel) && existingHashes.has(rel)) continue;
     const ext = path.extname(rel).toLowerCase();
     if (!installedExts.has(ext)) continue;
     missingRel.push(rel);
     missingAbs.push(path.join(ctx.rootDir, rel));
   }
+  return { missingRel, missingAbs };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Backfill files that the native orchestrator silently dropped during parse.
+ * Falls back to WASM + inserts file/symbol nodes so engine counts match (#967).
+ *
+ * Accepts a pre-computed `gap` from `detectDroppedLanguageGap` so the caller
+ * can use the same scan for both gating and the actual backfill — avoiding
+ * a redundant fs walk when the orchestrator's signals already triggered.
+ */
+async function backfillNativeDroppedFiles(
+  ctx: PipelineContext,
+  gap: DroppedLanguageGap,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const { missingRel, missingAbs } = gap;
   if (missingAbs.length === 0) return;
 
   // Now that we know there's work to do, hand off to better-sqlite3 (needed
diff --git a/tests/integration/dropped-language-gap.test.ts b/tests/integration/dropped-language-gap.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f69fdf96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/dropped-language-gap.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+/**
+ * Regression test for #1083: backfill must run on a quiet incremental when
+ * the DB has a gap (a file present on disk but missing from `nodes`).
+ *
+ * Issue scenario: a brand-new file with a dropped-language extension is added
+ * on an incremental pass. The orchestrator's narrower file_collector doesn't
+ * see the file, so it reports `changedCount=0`, `removedCount=0`,
+ * `isFullBuild=false`. The pre-#1083 gate would skip backfill and the file
+ * would never appear in the graph until a full rebuild.
+ *
+ * We simulate that DB state directly (instead of relying on a specific binary
+ * version's dropped-extension set, which varies as extractors get ported to
+ * Rust): delete a file's `nodes` row but keep its `file_hashes` row intact
+ * so the orchestrator's content-hash tier sees the file as unchanged and
+ * processes nothing. Then run an incremental and assert the gap is repaired.
+ *
+ * Two scenarios cover both backfill call sites added by #1083:
+ *  1. earlyExit=true branch (pipeline.ts:659–671): content hash unchanged →
+ *     orchestrator returns early_exit=true → backfill runs from that branch.
+ *  2. earlyExit=false branch (pipeline.ts:776–778): content changed in some
+ *     other file → orchestrator returns early_exit=false with changedCount>0
+ *     → backfill runs from the main gate (which now also fires when
+ *     `gap.missingAbs.length > 0`).
+ */
+
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { buildGraph } from '../../src/domain/graph/builder.js';
+import { isNativeAvailable } from '../../src/infrastructure/native.js';
+
+const FIXTURE_DIR = path.join(import.meta.dirname, '..', 'fixtures', 'sample-project');
+
+const hasNative = isNativeAvailable();
+const requireParity = !!process.env.CODEGRAPH_PARITY;
+const describeOrSkip = requireParity || hasNative ? describe : describe.skip;
+
+function copyDirSync(src: string, dest: string) {
+  fs.mkdirSync(dest, { recursive: true });
+  for (const entry of fs.readdirSync(src, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+    const s = path.join(src, entry.name);
+    const d = path.join(dest, entry.name);
+    if (entry.isDirectory()) copyDirSync(s, d);
+    else fs.copyFileSync(s, d);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Shared setup: full build → delete the target's `nodes` row → return paths
+ * so each scenario can stage its own incremental trigger before rebuilding.
+ */
+async function setupGappedDb(label: string, targetFile: string) {
+  const tmpBase = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), `codegraph-1083-${label}-`));
+  const projectDir = path.join(tmpBase, 'proj');
+  copyDirSync(FIXTURE_DIR, projectDir);
+  const dbPath = path.join(projectDir, '.codegraph', 'graph.db');
+
+  // Full build → every file has nodes + file_hashes rows.
+  await buildGraph(projectDir, {
+    engine: 'native',
+    incremental: false,
+    skipRegistry: true,
+  });
+
+  // Simulate the issue's DB state: a file is on disk and tracked in
+  // `file_hashes`, but its `kind='file'` node row is absent — the same
+  // shape produced when an old binary's collector never inserts
+  // dropped-extension files in the first place.
+  //
+  // Foreign keys are disabled for this surgical delete; edges referencing
+  // the file node are left intact so we only test the gap-detection path.
+  const db = new Database(dbPath);
+  db.pragma('foreign_keys = OFF');
+  db.prepare("DELETE FROM nodes WHERE kind='file' AND file = ?").run(targetFile);
+  db.close();
+
+  return { tmpBase, projectDir, dbPath };
+}
+
+function readFileNodeRow(dbPath: string, file: string) {
+  const db = new Database(dbPath, { readonly: true });
+  const row = db
+    .prepare("SELECT name, kind, file FROM nodes WHERE kind='file' AND file = ?")
+    .get(file) as { name: string; kind: string; file: string } | undefined;
+  db.close();
+  return row;
+}
+
+// ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Scenario 1: orchestrator early_exit=true path
+//
+// Bump mtime without changing content. The JS-side fast-skip pre-flight
+// (#1054) sees the mtime mismatch and falls through to the orchestrator.
+// The orchestrator's mtime tier also fails, so it hashes the content; the
+// hash matches → classifies as a metadata-only change → after the
+// metadata_only filter, parse_changes is empty and removed is empty →
+// returns early_exit=true. Backfill must run from pipeline.ts:665–667.
+// ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+describeOrSkip('Dropped-language gap repair on quiet incremental (#1083) — earlyExit=true', () => {
+  let projectDir: string;
+  let dbPath: string;
+  let tmpBase: string;
+  const targetFile = 'math.js';
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    ({ tmpBase, projectDir, dbPath } = await setupGappedDb('quiet', targetFile));
+
+    // Bump the file's mtime without changing content. This forces the
+    // JS-side fast-skip pre-flight (#1054) to fall through to the
+    // orchestrator (mtime mismatch with file_hashes), while the
+    // orchestrator's content-hash tier still classifies the file as
+    // unchanged (metadata-only update) — so `changedCount=0`,
+    // `removedCount=0`, and `earlyExit=true`. That's the exact
+    // orchestrator-state the issue describes for a brand-new
+    // dropped-language file.
+    const targetAbs = path.join(projectDir, targetFile);
+    const future = new Date(Date.now() + 5000);
+    fs.utimesSync(targetAbs, future, future);
+
+    // Incremental rebuild — must detect the gap and re-insert the row.
+    await buildGraph(projectDir, {
+      engine: 'native',
+      incremental: true,
+      skipRegistry: true,
+    });
+  }, 60_000);
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    try {
+      if (tmpBase) fs.rmSync(tmpBase, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('repairs the missing file node when the orchestrator returns earlyExit=true', () => {
+    const row = readFileNodeRow(dbPath, targetFile);
+    expect(row).toBeDefined();
+    expect(row?.file).toBe(targetFile);
+  });
+});
+
+// ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Scenario 2: orchestrator early_exit=false path with a real change
+//
+// One file's content actually changes (so the orchestrator reports
+// changedCount=1, removedCount=0, earlyExit=false) AND a separate file has
+// a gap (nodes row deleted, file_hashes intact). Without the
+// `gap.missingAbs.length > 0` clause added by #1083, the existing gate
+// would still fire (changedCount > 0), so this scenario verifies the
+// non-early-exit branch still threads the pre-computed gap through to
+// backfill and repairs the missing row alongside the regular changed-file
+// processing.
+// ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+describeOrSkip('Dropped-language gap repair on dirty incremental (#1083) — earlyExit=false', () => {
+  let projectDir: string;
+  let dbPath: string;
+  let tmpBase: string;
+  const gapFile = 'math.js'; // gap target — node row deleted
+  const dirtyFile = 'utils.js'; // change driver — content modified
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    ({ tmpBase, projectDir, dbPath } = await setupGappedDb('dirty', gapFile));
+
+    // Append a comment to a *different* file. This makes the orchestrator's
+    // content hash diverge for that file, producing changedCount=1 and
+    // earlyExit=false. The gapFile's node row is still missing — the
+    // non-early-exit path's gate (with the new `gap.missingAbs.length > 0`
+    // clause) must drive backfill for the gapped file.
+    const dirtyAbs = path.join(projectDir, dirtyFile);
+    fs.appendFileSync(dirtyAbs, '\n// touched by dropped-language-gap test #1083\n');
+
+    await buildGraph(projectDir, {
+      engine: 'native',
+      incremental: true,
+      skipRegistry: true,
+    });
+  }, 60_000);
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    try {
+      if (tmpBase) fs.rmSync(tmpBase, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('repairs the missing file node alongside a real change (earlyExit=false)', () => {
+    const row = readFileNodeRow(dbPath, gapFile);
+    expect(row).toBeDefined();
+    expect(row?.file).toBe(gapFile);
+  });
+});