diff --git a/bastion/src/bastion/tests/fixtures/ipxe-x86_64-golden.json b/bastion/src/bastion/tests/fixtures/ipxe-x86_64-golden.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc77b81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bastion/src/bastion/tests/fixtures/ipxe-x86_64-golden.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "boot": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho ============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion\necho   Contacting server for instructions...\necho ============================================\necho\n\nchain http://10.0.0.1:8080/dispatch?mac=${net0/mac}\n",
+  "discover": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho =============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion - DISCOVERY MODE\necho   MAC: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff\necho   Collecting hardware info...\necho =============================================\necho\n\nkernel http://10.0.0.1:8080/vmlinuz inst.ks=http://10.0.0.1:8080/discover.ks inst.stage2=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/43/Everything/x86_64/os inst.text nomodeset\ninitrd http://10.0.0.1:8080/initrd.img\nboot\n",
+  "install": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho =============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion - INSTALLING Fedora 43\necho   Target: worker-1\necho   MAC:    aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff\necho =============================================\necho\n\nkernel http://10.0.0.1:8080/vmlinuz inst.ks=http://10.0.0.1:8080/ks?mac=aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff inst.repo=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/43/Everything/x86_64/os inst.text nomodeset\ninitrd http://10.0.0.1:8080/initrd.img\nboot\n",
+  "debug": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho =============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion - DEBUG/RESCUE MODE\necho   Target: worker-1\necho   MAC:    aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff\necho =============================================\necho\n\nkernel http://10.0.0.1:8080/vmlinuz inst.rescue inst.text inst.sshd inst.ks=http://10.0.0.1:8080/debug.ks?mac=aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff inst.stage2=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/43/Everything/x86_64/os\ninitrd http://10.0.0.1:8080/initrd.img\nboot\n",
+  "pxeBoot": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho =============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion - PXE BOOT (debug)\necho   Target: worker-1\necho   MAC:    aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff\necho   Kernel+initrd from PXE, root from NVMe\necho =============================================\necho\n\nkernel http://10.0.0.1:8080/vmlinuz root=/dev/mapper/labvg-root ro rd.lvm.lv=labvg/root rd.lvm.lv=labvg/swap console=tty0\ninitrd http://10.0.0.1:8080/initrd.img\nboot\n",
+  "localBoot": "#!ipxe\n\necho\necho =============================================\necho   Lab PXE Bastion - worker-1\necho   Already installed, booting from local disk\necho =============================================\necho\nsleep 3\nexit 1\n"
+}
diff --git a/bastion/src/bastion/tests/ipxe-x86-regression.test.ts b/bastion/src/bastion/tests/ipxe-x86-regression.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2329dce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bastion/src/bastion/tests/ipxe-x86-regression.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+// x86_64 iPXE output regression gate.
+//
+// The aarch64 PXE work must not change what an x86_64 machine is served. The golden
+// fixture was dumped from the templates as they stood before that work started, so
+// any diff here is a regression, not an improvement.
+//
+// The one deliberate exception is renderBootIpxe: its chain URL gained
+// `&arch=${buildarch}` so the dispatch endpoint can observe the client's
+// architecture at boot time. That single change is asserted explicitly below
+// rather than being allowed to slip through the byte-for-byte comparison.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { dirname } from "node:path";
+import {
+  renderBootIpxe,
+  renderDiscoverIpxe,
+  renderInstallIpxe,
+  renderDebugIpxe,
+  renderPxeBootDebugIpxe,
+  renderLocalBootIpxe,
+} from "../src/templates/boot.ipxe.js";
+
+const here = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const golden = JSON.parse(
+  readFileSync(join(here, "fixtures", "ipxe-x86_64-golden.json"), "utf-8"),
+) as Record<string, string>;
+
+// Exactly the parameters used to dump the fixture.
+const serverIp = "10.0.0.1";
+const httpPort = 8080;
+const mac = "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff";
+const hostname = "worker-1";
+const fedoraVersion = "43";
+const fedoraMirror =
+  "https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/43/Everything/x86_64/os";
+
+// The x86_64 LVM layout the fixture was captured with. Before this work the values
+// were hardcoded in the template; they are now supplied by the caller from machine
+// state, so the fixture pins the rendering, not the defaults.
+const x86Root = {
+  rootDevice: "/dev/mapper/labvg-root",
+  rootArgs: "rd.lvm.lv=labvg/root rd.lvm.lv=labvg/swap",
+};
+
+describe("x86_64 iPXE output is unchanged", () => {
+  it("discover script is byte-identical", () => {
+    const rendered = renderDiscoverIpxe({
+      mac, serverIp, httpPort, fedoraMirror, arch: "x86_64",
+    });
+    expect(rendered).toBe(golden["discover"]);
+  });
+
+  it("install script is byte-identical", () => {
+    const rendered = renderInstallIpxe({
+      mac, hostname, serverIp, httpPort, fedoraVersion, fedoraMirror, arch: "x86_64",
+    });
+    expect(rendered).toBe(golden["install"]);
+  });
+
+  it("debug/rescue script is byte-identical", () => {
+    const rendered = renderDebugIpxe({
+      mac, hostname, serverIp, httpPort, fedoraMirror, arch: "x86_64",
+    });
+    expect(rendered).toBe(golden["debug"]);
+  });
+
+  it("--pxe-boot script is byte-identical when state carries the Fedora LVM layout", () => {
+    const rendered = renderPxeBootDebugIpxe({
+      mac, hostname, serverIp, httpPort, arch: "x86_64", ...x86Root,
+    });
+    expect(rendered).toBe(golden["pxeBoot"]);
+  });
+
+  it("local boot script is byte-identical", () => {
+    expect(renderLocalBootIpxe(hostname)).toBe(golden["localBoot"]);
+  });
+
+  it("boot.ipxe differs only by the &arch= chain parameter", () => {
+    const rendered = renderBootIpxe({ serverIp, httpPort });
+    // The sole intended difference.
+    expect(rendered).toBe(golden["boot"].replace(
+      "/dispatch?mac=${net0/mac}",
+      "/dispatch?mac=${net0/mac}&arch=${buildarch}",
+    ));
+  });
+});