diff --git a/.changeset/menu-icon-test-phantom-value.md b/.changeset/menu-icon-test-phantom-value.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ca89894e20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/menu-icon-test-phantom-value.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+---
+
+Test-only change: the two overlay-menu icon suites (`context-menu-item-icon`,
+`dropdown-menu-item-icon`) no longer transcribe the undeclared `value` key from
+the catalog fixtures objectui#7072 cleaned, and each block now records why the
+key is absent. No published source and no rendered behaviour changes.
diff --git a/packages/components/src/__tests__/context-menu-item-icon.test.tsx b/packages/components/src/__tests__/context-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
index 3571026447..e3c8a6a394 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/__tests__/context-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/__tests__/context-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
@@ -164,13 +164,23 @@ describe('ui:context-menu item icon resolution (objectui#6278)', () => {
     // specimen AND a declared AI few-shot retrieval source, so every name it
     // ships must draw. Spelling drift is the gate's job (see the header);
     // this row is the renderer's half of that contract.
+    //
+    // ⛔ No `value` key here, and its absence is deliberate. These items are a
+    // TRANSCRIPTION of the fixture, so a key the fixture does not carry is a
+    // spelling the next author copies out of here. No arm of the `MenuItem`
+    // union declares `value` — objectui#6523 narrowed that union on purpose —
+    // and no menu renderer reads it; objectui#7072 deleted it from the four
+    // catalog fixtures and objectui#7102 from these copies. Re-adding it would
+    // NOT go red: `MenuItemSchema`'s arms are non-strict `z.object`s, so zod
+    // strips the key and reports success. Hence this note rather than a pin —
+    // a parse-based pin here could not fail.
     it('draws a distinct glyph for each of the four authored names', () => {
       renderMenu([
-        { label: 'Copy', value: 'copy', icon: 'copy' },
-        { label: 'Cut', value: 'cut', icon: 'scissors' },
-        { label: 'Paste', value: 'paste', icon: 'clipboard' },
+        { label: 'Copy', icon: 'copy' },
+        { label: 'Cut', icon: 'scissors' },
+        { label: 'Paste', icon: 'clipboard' },
         { separator: true },
-        { label: 'Delete', value: 'delete', icon: 'trash' },
+        { label: 'Delete', icon: 'trash' },
       ]);
       for (const [label, name] of [
         ['Copy', 'copy'],
diff --git a/packages/components/src/__tests__/dropdown-menu-item-icon.test.tsx b/packages/components/src/__tests__/dropdown-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
index 959d480d24..b36bb05990 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/__tests__/dropdown-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/__tests__/dropdown-menu-item-icon.test.tsx
@@ -117,11 +117,19 @@ describe('ui:dropdown-menu item icon resolution (objectui#5930)', () => {
     // The fixture is a live specimen AND a declared AI few-shot retrieval
     // source, so every name it ships must actually draw. `square-pen` is the
     // identity-derived live key for the retired `edit` this fixture carried.
+    //
+    // ⛔ No `value` key here, and its absence is deliberate — same reason as
+    // the twin block in `context-menu-item-icon.test.tsx`, which carries the
+    // long form. In short: no arm of the `MenuItem` union declares `value`
+    // (objectui#6523), no menu renderer reads it, objectui#7072 removed it
+    // from the fixtures and objectui#7102 from these copies — and re-adding
+    // it could not go red, because `MenuItemSchema` is non-strict and strips
+    // the key while reporting success.
     it('draws a glyph for every icon name it declares', () => {
       renderMenu([
-        { label: 'Edit', value: 'edit', icon: 'square-pen' },
-        { label: 'Copy', value: 'copy', icon: 'copy' },
-        { label: 'Delete', value: 'delete', icon: 'trash' },
+        { label: 'Edit', icon: 'square-pen' },
+        { label: 'Copy', icon: 'copy' },
+        { label: 'Delete', icon: 'trash' },
       ]);
       for (const label of ['Edit', 'Copy', 'Delete']) {
         expect(glyphFor(label), `${label} should draw a glyph`).not.toBeNull();