diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7154ed16..3174615f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 - Internal: Split `src/runner.sh` and `src/coverage.sh` into focused modules with no behavior change; see [ADR-010](adrs/adr-010-src-module-directories.md) (#924, #925)
 
 ### Fixed
+- Snapshot placeholders no longer report a false match without `perl`. The fallback matched line by line, so a multi-line snapshot whose placeholder sat on its own line contributed a bare `.*` that matched any input; it now uses `awk` over the whole value, and fails loudly if neither tool is available
+- Snapshots resolve correctly when the test file is given as an absolute path. The path was always prefixed with `./`, so the real snapshot was never read and a stray one was recorded under the current directory, silently passing every snapshot assertion in the run
 - `assert_false` no longer passes when the command does not exist; exit codes 127 and 126 fail both boolean assertions, because the command never ran (#982)
 - `assert_have_been_called_times` and `assert_have_been_called_nth_with` report a usage error for a non-numeric count instead of leaking a raw `integer expression expected` (#984)
 - A failing test whose output quotes a shell-error phrase is no longer also reported as a runtime error (#992)
diff --git a/docs/snapshots.md b/docs/snapshots.md
index 73e1a253..542a371d 100644
--- a/docs/snapshots.md
+++ b/docs/snapshots.md
@@ -101,9 +101,11 @@ with ANSI escape sequences removed.
 
 ## Placeholders
 
-Snapshot files can contain placeholder tokens to ignore variable parts of the output.
-By default the token `::ignore::` will match any text. You can override it with the
-`BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_PLACEHOLDER` environment variable.
+Output that changes between runs — a timestamp, a PID, a temp path, a duration — would
+make a snapshot fail every time. A placeholder marks the part you have decided not to
+pin, so the rest still is.
+
+The default token is `::ignore::`; override it with `BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_PLACEHOLDER`.
 
 ```bash [Example]
 # snapshot file content
@@ -113,6 +115,47 @@ echo 'Run at ::ignore::' > snapshots/example.snapshot
 assert_match_snapshot "Run at $(date)"
 ```
 
+### What a placeholder does and does not relax
+
+Everything outside the placeholder still has to match **exactly**. A placeholder is not
+a wildcard for the whole snapshot: `a::ignore::b` matches `a123b`, and does *not* match
+`XXX` or `aXXXc`.
+
+| Snapshot | Matches | Does not match |
+|---|---|---|
+| `a::ignore::b` | `a123b`, `ab` (an empty region matches) | `XXX`, `aXXXc` |
+| `::ignore::tail` | `anythingtail` | `anythingelse` |
+| `a=::ignore:: b=::ignore::` | `a=1 b=2` | `a=1 c=2` |
+| `::ignore::` alone | any value at all | — |
+
+Text around a placeholder is compared literally, so regex metacharacters need no
+escaping: a snapshot reading `cost $5.00 (x) ::ignore::` matches that exact prefix and
+nothing else.
+
+A placeholder may span several lines. Given this snapshot:
+
+```
+Report
+::ignore::
+Done
+```
+
+`Report\nany\nnumber\nof lines\nDone` matches, and unrelated output does not.
+
+### Placeholders and `--snapshot-update`
+
+`--snapshot-update` **skips** any snapshot containing a placeholder and says so. The
+placeholder is a deliberate decision about what not to pin, and re-recording would
+silently replace it with whatever this run happened to produce. Remove the placeholder
+first if you really want the literal value.
+
+### Requirements
+
+Matching a placeholder needs `perl` or `awk`; one of them is present on essentially any
+system that runs bash. If neither is, the assertion **fails** with a message saying so
+rather than reporting a pass it could not verify. Snapshots without a placeholder are a
+plain string comparison and need neither.
+
 ## Finding unused snapshots
 
 A snapshot file is named after its test file and test function, so renaming or deleting a
diff --git a/src/assert/snapshot.sh b/src/assert/snapshot.sh
index 811cad2f..dadb680c 100644
--- a/src/assert/snapshot.sh
+++ b/src/assert/snapshot.sh
@@ -220,23 +220,32 @@ function bashunit::snapshot::match_with_placeholder() {
   local regex="^${escaped//$token/(.|\\n)*}$"
 
   if command -v perl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo "$actual" | REGEX="$regex" perl -0 -e '
+    printf '%s' "$actual" | REGEX="$regex" perl -0 -e '
       my $r = $ENV{REGEX};
       my $input = join("", <STDIN>);
       exit($input =~ /$r/s ? 0 : 1);
     ' && return 0 || return 1
-  else
-    # No perl: build the pattern exactly like the perl branch — swap the
-    # placeholder for a token that survives escaping, escape the regex
-    # metacharacters, then turn the token into `.*`. (The previous order,
-    # escaping after inserting `.*`, escaped the `.*` itself and broke every
-    # fallback match.) grep matches line-by-line, so unlike the perl branch a
-    # placeholder cannot span multiple lines here.
-    local fallback="${snapshot//$placeholder/$token}"
-    fallback=$(printf '%s' "$fallback" | sed -e 's/[.[\\^$*+?{}()|]/\\&/g')
-    fallback="^${fallback//$token/.*}$"
-    echo "$actual" | grep -Eq "$fallback" && return 0 || return 1
   fi
+
+  # awk, not grep. grep applies the pattern per line, and a pattern that itself
+  # contains newlines is read as several alternative patterns -- so a multi-line
+  # snapshot whose placeholder sits on its own line contributed a bare `.*`,
+  # which matches any line of any input. That made an unrelated value pass while
+  # comparing nothing. Setting RS to a byte the input cannot contain gives awk
+  # the whole value as one record, so the anchors and the placeholder behave as
+  # they do under perl.
+  if bashunit::dependencies::has_awk; then
+    printf '%s' "$actual" | REGEX="$regex" awk '
+      BEGIN { RS = "\001"; re = ENVIRON["REGEX"] }
+      { exit !($0 ~ re) }
+    ' && return 0 || return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Neither available: refuse rather than guess. A placeholder snapshot that
+  # cannot be evaluated must not report success.
+  printf '%sCannot match a snapshot placeholder: neither perl nor awk is available.%s\n' \
+    "${_BASHUNIT_COLOR_FAILED:-}" "${_BASHUNIT_COLOR_DEFAULT:-}" >&2
+  return 1
 }
 
 # Writes the resolved snapshot path into _BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT (no fork).
@@ -255,7 +264,11 @@ function bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file() {
 
   # dirname via parameter expansion. `dirname "foo.sh"` (no slash) is ".", which
   # `${src%/*}` cannot yield, so special-case the slashless path.
-  local src="${BASH_SOURCE[2]}"
+  #
+  # $4 exists for the tests: BASH_SOURCE[2] is the test file only when this is
+  # reached through assert_match_snapshot, so a test calling it directly would
+  # otherwise resolve against the runner's own source.
+  local src="${4:-${BASH_SOURCE[2]}}"
   local dir_part
   case "$src" in
   */*) dir_part="${src%/*}" ;;
@@ -272,7 +285,14 @@ function bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file() {
     name="$name.$_BASHUNIT_HELPER_VARNAME_OUT"
   fi
 
-  _BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT="./${dir_part}/snapshots/${test_file}.${name}.snapshot"
+  # An absolute directory must stay absolute. Prefixing "./" turned
+  # "/abs/dir" into a path relative to the caller's cwd, so the real snapshot
+  # was never read and a stray one was recorded elsewhere -- every snapshot
+  # assertion in that run passed while comparing nothing.
+  case "$dir_part" in
+  /*) _BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT="${dir_part}/snapshots/${test_file}.${name}.snapshot" ;;
+  *) _BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT="./${dir_part}/snapshots/${test_file}.${name}.snapshot" ;;
+  esac
 }
 
 function bashunit::snapshot::initialize() {
diff --git a/tests/unit/assert/snapshot_test.sh b/tests/unit/assert/snapshot_test.sh
index 4187e52e..724a5093 100644
--- a/tests/unit/assert/snapshot_test.sh
+++ b/tests/unit/assert/snapshot_test.sh
@@ -262,3 +262,104 @@ function test_snapshot_resolve_file_uses_explicit_hint_verbatim() {
 
   assert_same "/tmp/custom.snapshot" "$_BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT"
 }
+
+# resolve_file used to prefix "./" unconditionally, so an absolute test path
+# became "./" + "/abs/dir" -- a path relative to the *current* directory. The
+# real snapshot was never read and a stray one was recorded under the caller's
+# cwd, so every snapshot assertion in that run passed while comparing nothing.
+function test_resolve_file_keeps_an_absolute_directory_absolute() {
+  bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file "" "test_example" "" "/abs/dir/my_test.sh"
+
+  assert_same "/abs/dir/snapshots/my_test_sh.test_example.snapshot" \
+    "$_BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT"
+}
+
+function test_resolve_file_keeps_a_relative_directory_relative() {
+  bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file "" "test_example" "" "tests/unit/my_test.sh"
+
+  assert_same "./tests/unit/snapshots/my_test_sh.test_example.snapshot" \
+    "$_BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT"
+}
+
+# A path with no slash yields dir_part "." and therefore a doubled "./". That is
+# the shape this function has always produced and the comment above it says so
+# deliberately; it resolves identically, so it is pinned rather than tidied.
+function test_resolve_file_handles_a_slashless_path() {
+  bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file "" "test_example" "" "my_test.sh"
+
+  assert_same "././snapshots/my_test_sh.test_example.snapshot" \
+    "$_BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT"
+}
+
+function test_resolve_file_includes_the_snapshot_name_when_given() {
+  bashunit::snapshot::resolve_file "" "test_example" "stderr" "tests/my_test.sh"
+
+  assert_same "./tests/snapshots/my_test_sh.test_example.stderr.snapshot" \
+    "$_BASHUNIT_SNAPSHOT_FILE_OUT"
+}
+
+# The placeholder marks a region of the snapshot the author chose not to pin.
+# These cover the whole surface, and deliberately include the negative cases:
+# a placeholder must not turn the assertion into one that always passes.
+function snapshot_with() { # $1 snapshot content -> prints the path
+  local path="$(bashunit::temp_dir)/placeholder.snapshot"
+  printf '%s' "$1" >"$path"
+  printf '%s' "$path"
+}
+
+function test_placeholder_matches_a_varying_region_mid_line() {
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "a123b" "$(snapshot_with 'a::ignore::b')")"
+}
+
+function test_placeholder_matches_at_the_start_and_end() {
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "anythingtail" "$(snapshot_with '::ignore::tail')")"
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "headanything" "$(snapshot_with 'head::ignore::')")"
+}
+
+function test_placeholder_matches_an_empty_region() {
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "ab" "$(snapshot_with 'a::ignore::b')")"
+}
+
+function test_several_placeholders_in_one_snapshot() {
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "a=1 b=2" "$(snapshot_with 'a=::ignore:: b=::ignore::')")"
+}
+
+function test_a_lone_placeholder_matches_any_value() {
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "literally anything" "$(snapshot_with '::ignore::')")"
+}
+
+function test_placeholder_spans_multiple_lines() {
+  local snapshot actual
+  snapshot=$(snapshot_with "$(printf 'A\n::ignore::\nZ')")
+  actual=$(printf 'A\nq\nw\nZ')
+
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "$actual" "$snapshot")"
+}
+
+# The important half. Without these a placeholder could silently become
+# "match anything" and the assertion would report success while comparing
+# nothing -- which is exactly what the pre-awk fallback did for the multi-line
+# case.
+function test_placeholder_still_requires_the_surrounding_text() {
+  assert_not_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "XXX" "$(snapshot_with 'a::ignore::b')")"
+}
+
+function test_placeholder_rejects_a_differing_suffix() {
+  assert_not_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "aXXXc" "$(snapshot_with 'a::ignore::b')")"
+}
+
+function test_multi_line_placeholder_rejects_unrelated_output() {
+  local snapshot
+  snapshot=$(snapshot_with "$(printf 'A\n::ignore::\nZ')")
+
+  assert_not_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot "NOPE" "$snapshot")"
+}
+
+# Regex metacharacters in the snapshot are literal text, not pattern syntax.
+function test_regex_metacharacters_around_a_placeholder_are_literal() {
+  local snapshot
+  snapshot=$(snapshot_with 'cost $5.00 (x) ::ignore::')
+
+  assert_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot 'cost $5.00 (x) Z' "$snapshot")"
+  assert_not_empty "$(assert_match_snapshot 'cost 999 (x) Z' "$snapshot")"
+}