diff --git a/tests/tools/test_approval.py b/tests/tools/test_approval.py
index 8b5509c3a..a536464ca 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_approval.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_approval.py
@@ -124,6 +124,41 @@ class TestWindowsShellDestructiveCommands:
         assert key is not None
         assert desc == "PowerShell encoded command execution"
 
+    def test_powershell_bare_remove_item_requires_approval(self):
+        # Regression: PowerShell runs the verb as the default positional arg,
+        # so `powershell Remove-Item ...` with NO explicit -Command must still
+        # be gated (the original pattern required -Command and missed this).
+        dangerous, key, desc = detect_dangerous_command(
+            r"powershell Remove-Item -Recurse -Force C:\tmp\hermes-victim"
+        )
+        assert dangerous is True
+        assert key is not None
+        assert desc == "Windows PowerShell destructive delete"
+
+    def test_pwsh_bare_remove_item_requires_approval(self):
+        dangerous, key, desc = detect_dangerous_command(
+            r"pwsh Remove-Item -Recurse C:\tmp\x"
+        )
+        assert dangerous is True
+        assert "delete" in (desc or "").lower()
+
+    def test_powershell_ri_alias_requires_approval(self):
+        # `ri` is the canonical Remove-Item alias.
+        dangerous, key, desc = detect_dangerous_command(
+            r"powershell ri -Recurse -Force C:\tmp\x"
+        )
+        assert dangerous is True
+        assert desc == "Windows PowerShell destructive delete"
+
+    def test_powershell_benign_path_containing_del_not_flagged(self):
+        # A benign file path that merely contains "del" must NOT trip the guard
+        # (verb-position anchoring prevents matching inside a -File arg).
+        dangerous, key, desc = detect_dangerous_command(
+            r"powershell -File C:\del-logs\run.ps1"
+        )
+        assert dangerous is False
+        assert key is None
+
     def test_plain_text_does_not_trigger_windows_delete(self):
         dangerous, key, desc = detect_dangerous_command(
             "echo remember to del old notes"
diff --git a/tools/approval.py b/tools/approval.py
index 47667a4a2..b9da1df8a 100644
--- a/tools/approval.py
+++ b/tools/approval.py
@@ -503,7 +503,13 @@ DANGEROUS_PATTERNS = [
     # Unix `rm`. Gate only when they are executed through cmd/powershell so
     # ordinary prose or filenames containing "del"/"rd" do not trip the guard.
     (r'\bcmd(?:\.exe)?\s+/(?:c|k)\s+.*\b(?:del|erase|rd|rmdir)\b', "Windows cmd destructive delete"),
-    (r'\b(?:powershell|pwsh)(?:\.exe)?\b.*\s-(?:command|c)\b.*\b(?:remove-item|del|erase|rd|rmdir|rm)\b', "Windows PowerShell destructive delete"),
+    # PowerShell/pwsh: the destructive verb runs as the default positional
+    # argument, so `powershell Remove-Item ...` needs NO explicit -Command.
+    # Anchor the verb to the command position (right after the shell name,
+    # after any leading `-Flag` switches, and optionally after -Command/-c)
+    # so bare invocations are caught while a benign path arg containing
+    # "del"/"rm" (e.g. `-File c:\del-logs\run.ps1`) is not.
+    (r'\b(?:powershell|pwsh)(?:\.exe)?\b(?:\s+-\S+)*\s+(?:-(?:command|c)\s+)?["\']?(?:remove-item|rmdir|erase|del|rd|ri|rm)\b', "Windows PowerShell destructive delete"),
     (r'\b(?:powershell|pwsh)(?:\.exe)?\b.*\s-(?:encodedcommand|enc|e)\b', "PowerShell encoded command execution"),
     (r'\bchmod\s+(-[^\s]*\s+)*(777|666|o\+[rwx]*w|a\+[rwx]*w)\b', "world/other-writable permissions"),
     (r'\bchmod\s+--recursive\b.*(777|666|o\+[rwx]*w|a\+[rwx]*w)', "recursive world/other-writable (long flag)"),