diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3873183..2cd029b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # build step. `make test` is the full gate. `make remint` rebuilds the seed after a
 # source change.
 
-.PHONY: test ci values corpus unit smoke buildsmoke selfhost sci certify ffi transient infer directlink numeric inline remint
+.PHONY: test ci values corpus unit smoke buildsmoke selfhost sci certify ffi transient infer directlink numeric inline shakesmoke remint
 
 # Full gate (dev machine). Includes the self-host byte-fixpoint, which only holds
 # on the same Chez that minted the seed.
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ numeric:
 inline:
 	@chez --script test/chez/inline-test.ss
 
+# Tree-shake soundness: build example apps (incl. deps.edn git-lib apps) default vs
+# --tree-shake and require identical output. Slow (two builds per app); not in the
+# default gate. Skips without the examples repo / Chez kernel dev files.
+shakesmoke:
+	@sh host/chez/tree-shake-smoke.sh
+
 # JVM oracle: certify the corpus against reference Clojure. Skips if clojure absent.
 certify:
 	@if command -v clojure >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
diff --git a/host/chez/emit-image.ss b/host/chez/emit-image.ss
index 2fece8f..0080a89 100644
--- a/host/chez/emit-image.ss
+++ b/host/chez/emit-image.ss
@@ -93,17 +93,22 @@
 ;; only the re-emitted namespaces are shaken.
 (define dce-kw-op   (keyword #f "op"))
 (define dce-kw-var  (keyword #f "var"))
+(define dce-kw-the-var (keyword #f "the-var"))
 (define dce-kw-def  (keyword #f "def"))
 (define dce-kw-ns   (keyword #f "ns"))
 (define dce-kw-name (keyword #f "name"))
 (define dce-reduce-children (var-deref "jolt.ir" "reduce-ir-children"))
 
-;; "ns/name" of every :var reference anywhere in node, prepended to acc. Arg order
-;; (acc node) matches reduce-ir-children's fold fn, so it nests directly.
+;; "ns/name" of every var reference anywhere in node, prepended to acc. Counts BOTH
+;; a :var (call head or value) and a :the-var (#'x / (var x)) — per Stalin's rule,
+;; any reference (not just a direct call) keeps the target live, so a var passed as a
+;; value or referenced as #'x is reachable. Arg order (acc node) matches
+;; reduce-ir-children's fold fn, so it nests directly.
 (define (dce-collect-refs acc node)
-  (if (eq? (jolt-get node dce-kw-op) dce-kw-var)
-      (cons (string-append (jolt-get node dce-kw-ns) "/" (jolt-get node dce-kw-name)) acc)
-      (dce-reduce-children dce-collect-refs acc node)))
+  (let ((op (jolt-get node dce-kw-op)))
+    (if (or (eq? op dce-kw-var) (eq? op dce-kw-the-var))
+        (cons (string-append (jolt-get node dce-kw-ns) "/" (jolt-get node dce-kw-name)) acc)
+        (dce-reduce-children dce-collect-refs acc node))))
 
 ;; The fqn of a bare top-level def (the only prunable form), else #f.
 (define (dce-def-fqn node)
diff --git a/host/chez/tree-shake-smoke.sh b/host/chez/tree-shake-smoke.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8102ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/host/chez/tree-shake-smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Tree-shake soundness smoke: build each example app twice — default and
+# --tree-shake — run both, and require identical output. A wrongly-dropped def
+# (incl. a core fn once core-shaking lands) shows up as a diff or a crash. Covers a
+# pure-compute app and several that pull libraries via deps.edn (the key risk).
+#
+# Skips (like build-smoke) when the example repo or the Chez kernel dev files /
+# C compiler aren't available. Slow (two full binary builds per app); not in the
+# default gate — run with `make shakesmoke`.
+root="$(CDPATH= cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")/../.." && pwd)"
+cd "$root"
+examples="$root/../examples"
+[ -d "$examples" ] || examples="$HOME/src/jolt-lang/examples"
+if [ ! -d "$examples" ]; then echo "shake smoke: skipped (examples repo not found)"; exit 0; fi
+
+csv="$JOLT_CHEZ_CSV"
+if [ -z "$csv" ]; then
+  chez_bin="$(command -v chez || command -v scheme || command -v petite || true)"
+  if [ -n "$chez_bin" ]; then
+    base="$(cd "$(dirname "$chez_bin")/.." 2>/dev/null && pwd)"
+    for d in "$base"/lib/csv*/*/; do [ -f "${d}libkernel.a" ] && csv="${d%/}" && break; done
+  fi
+fi
+if ! command -v cc >/dev/null 2>&1 || [ -z "$csv" ] || [ ! -f "$csv/scheme.h" ]; then
+  echo "shake smoke: skipped (Chez kernel dev files or C compiler not available)"; exit 0
+fi
+export JOLT_CHEZ_CSV="$csv"
+
+tmp="$(mktemp -d)"; trap 'rm -rf "$tmp"' EXIT
+fail=0
+
+# app-dir | main-ns | args
+run_case() {
+  app="$examples/$1"; ns="$2"; args="$3"
+  [ -d "$app" ] || { echo "  - $1: skipped (not present)"; return; }
+  b0="$tmp/$1-plain"; b1="$tmp/$1-shake"
+  if ! JOLT_PWD="$app" bin/joltc build -m "$ns" -o "$b0" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "  - $1: FAIL (default build)"; fail=1; return; fi
+  if ! JOLT_PWD="$app" bin/joltc build -m "$ns" -o "$b1" --tree-shake >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "  - $1: FAIL (--tree-shake build)"; fail=1; return; fi
+  o0="$(cd "$app" && "$b0" $args 2>&1)"
+  o1="$(cd "$app" && "$b1" $args 2>&1)"
+  if [ "$o0" != "$o1" ]; then
+    echo "  - $1: FAIL (output differs default vs --tree-shake)"
+    echo "    --- default ---"; echo "$o0" | head -5
+    echo "    --- shake -----"; echo "$o1" | head -5
+    fail=1; return
+  fi
+  s0="$(wc -c < "$b0")"; s1="$(wc -c < "$b1")"
+  echo "  - $1: ok (output identical; $((s0/1024))K -> $((s1/1024))K)"
+}
+
+# Library apps (deps.edn git deps) with deterministic stdout — the key risk is that
+# tree-shaking a binary that pulled libraries drops a reachable lib (or, later, core)
+# fn. A timing/benchmark app (e.g. ray-tracer) is unsuitable: its output varies.
+echo "shake smoke: building each app default vs --tree-shake (output must match)"
+run_case markdown-app   app.core  ""
+run_case malli-app      app.core  ""
+run_case commonmark-app app.core  ""
+run_case hiccup-app     app.core  ""
+
+[ "$fail" = 0 ] && echo "shake smoke: passed" || echo "shake smoke: FAILED"
+exit $fail