diff -r 1c74bb0439a8 -r 7b5404283df0 src/prox_penalty/wave.rs
--- a/src/prox_penalty/wave.rs	Mon Aug 03 19:28:07 2026 -0500
+++ b/src/prox_penalty/wave.rs	Tue Aug 04 09:15:00 2026 -0500
@@ -206,9 +206,14 @@
                 return μ.merge_spikes_fitness(config.merging, f, |&v| v).1;
             }
         }
-        μ.merge_spikes(config.merging, |μ_candidate| {
-            let mut d = &*τv + self.preapply(μ_candidate.sub_matching(μ_base));
-            reg.verify_merge_candidate(&mut d, μ_candidate, τ, ε, config)
+        μ.merge_spikes(config.merging, |μ_candidate, is_scaling| {
+            if is_scaling {
+                // Scaling heuristic is pointless without fitness-based merging
+                false
+            } else {
+                let mut d = &*τv + self.preapply(μ_candidate.sub_matching(μ_base));
+                reg.verify_merge_candidate(&mut d, μ_candidate, τ, ε, config)
+            }
         })
     }
 }