diff --git a/internal/storage/sqlite/ready.go b/internal/storage/sqlite/ready.go
index 29604142..7be64097 100644
--- a/internal/storage/sqlite/ready.go
+++ b/internal/storage/sqlite/ready.go
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ import (
 // Excludes pinned issues which are persistent anchors, not actionable work (bd-92u)
 func (s *SQLiteStorage) GetReadyWork(ctx context.Context, filter types.WorkFilter) ([]*types.Issue, error) {
 	whereClauses := []string{
-		"i.pinned = 0", // Exclude pinned issues (bd-92u)
+		"i.pinned = 0",                           // Exclude pinned issues (bd-92u)
+		"(i.ephemeral = 0 OR i.ephemeral IS NULL)", // Exclude wisps (hq-t15s)
 	}
 	args := []interface{}{}
 
diff --git a/internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go b/internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go
index 898b13f4..3eb19f45 100644
--- a/internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go
+++ b/internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ WITH RECURSIVE
 SELECT i.*
 FROM issues i
 WHERE i.status = 'open'
+  AND (i.ephemeral = 0 OR i.ephemeral IS NULL)
   AND NOT EXISTS (
     SELECT 1 FROM blocked_transitively WHERE issue_id = i.id
   );