diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 637c7cd..9f8ccfb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -235,6 +235,15 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   engine (`app.js`, `highway.js`, `playSong`, `showScreen`, the capability registry).
 
 ### Fixed
+- **GP8 asset resolution honours the directory the registry named.**
+  `<EmbeddedFilePath>` is matched on filename stem so a format variant of the
+  same recording can win (an `.ogg` beside the declared `.mp3` is copied out
+  losslessly instead of transcoded) — but the search was not restricted to the
+  declared directory, so an unrelated file elsewhere in the archive that merely
+  shared the stem could stand in for the declared asset. That is the exact
+  substitution the registry lookup exists to prevent. Candidates are now
+  confined to the registry path's own directory; a genuinely absent asset
+  falls through as documented.
 - **Guitar Pro 8: the right backing track is extracted when a file carries more than one.**
   `BackingTrack/AssetId` is a key into the GPIF's `<Assets>` registry — `<Asset
   id="0"><EmbeddedFilePath>` names the exact path inside the archive — but it
diff --git a/lib/gp8_audio_sync.py b/lib/gp8_audio_sync.py
index 5a9aeb1..d4d14e6 100644
--- a/lib/gp8_audio_sync.py
+++ b/lib/gp8_audio_sync.py
@@ -165,12 +165,20 @@ def _resolve_audio_asset(zf, root=None) -> tuple[str, str | None]:
         #    stale/edited entry must fall through, not resolve to nothing.
         registry_path = _asset_path_from_registry(root, declared)
         if registry_path:
+            # Matched on STEM, not the whole path, so a format variant of the
+            # same recording can win (see _prefer_ogg) — but constrained to the
+            # directory the registry actually named. Without that constraint an
+            # unrelated file that merely shares the stem could stand in for the
+            # declared asset, which is the failure the registry lookup exists
+            # to prevent.
+            declared_path = Path(registry_path)
             same_stem = [
                 n for n in audio_files
-                if Path(n).stem == Path(registry_path).stem
+                if Path(n).stem == declared_path.stem
+                and Path(n).parent == declared_path.parent
             ]
             if same_stem:
-                return Path(registry_path).stem, _prefer_ogg(same_stem)
+                return declared_path.stem, _prefer_ogg(same_stem)
             _log.warning(
                 'gp8_audio_sync: AssetId %r maps to %r, which is not an audio '
                 'asset in the archive; falling back',
diff --git a/tests/test_gp_audio_sync.py b/tests/test_gp_audio_sync.py
index 20c1c01..a81fe11 100644
--- a/tests/test_gp_audio_sync.py
+++ b/tests/test_gp_audio_sync.py
@@ -375,3 +375,51 @@ def test_legacy_stem_match_still_works_without_a_registry():
     stem, path = _resolve_audio_asset(zf)
     assert stem == "abc-123"
     assert path == "Content/Assets/abc-123.ogg"
+
+
+def test_a_same_stem_file_in_another_directory_cannot_stand_in():
+    """The registry names a PATH, not just a name.
+
+    Resolution matches on stem so a format variant of the same recording can
+    win, but an unrelated file that merely shares the stem must not satisfy
+    the declaration — that substitution is what the registry lookup exists to
+    prevent. The declared asset is genuinely absent here, so the right answer
+    is the documented fall-through, not the decoy.
+
+    ZIP order matters to this test: `real.ogg` is written FIRST so the
+    fall-through target differs from the decoy. Otherwise both the fixed and
+    unfixed code return the same file and the test proves nothing.
+    """
+    buf = io.BytesIO()
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(buf, "w") as zf:
+        zf.writestr("Content/score.gpif", _gpif_bytes(
+            "0", {"0": "Content/Audio/track.ogg"}))
+        zf.writestr("Content/Assets/real.ogg", b"fake")     # fall-through target
+        zf.writestr("Content/Assets/track.ogg", b"decoy")   # shares the stem only
+    buf.seek(0)
+    _, path = _resolve_audio_asset(zipfile.ZipFile(buf))
+    assert path == "Content/Assets/real.ogg", (
+        "a same-stem file in a directory the registry never named must not "
+        "satisfy the declaration"
+    )
+
+
+def test_the_declared_directory_still_resolves_its_own_format_variants():
+    """The directory constraint must not cost us the OGG preference.
+
+    The shallower decoy is written FIRST, so unfixed code (which searches
+    every directory) picks it and this test fails.
+    """
+    buf = io.BytesIO()
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(buf, "w") as zf:
+        zf.writestr("Content/score.gpif", _gpif_bytes(
+            "0", {"0": "Content/Assets/nested/take.mp3"}))
+        zf.writestr("Content/Assets/take.ogg", b"decoy-one-level-up")
+        zf.writestr("Content/Assets/nested/take.mp3", b"declared")
+        zf.writestr("Content/Assets/nested/take.ogg", b"same-take-lossless")
+    buf.seek(0)
+    stem, path = _resolve_audio_asset(zipfile.ZipFile(buf))
+    assert path == "Content/Assets/nested/take.ogg", (
+        "the OGG variant in the DECLARED directory wins over a shallower decoy"
+    )
+    assert stem == "take"