diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad10885..6ed0575 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -251,11 +251,12 @@ for the host running the agent, and binding an overlay address would put
 them in front of the whole mesh — an agent in two networks would then answer
 one network's questions about the other's names.
 
-The zone is the network name unless `--dns-zone` says otherwise. It is
-yours to choose, so a name that shadows a real public domain is reported and
-then used: `--dns-zone ru` warns that every public `.ru` name becomes
-unreachable from this host, and then does it. `.internal` is reserved for
-exactly this and is never mentioned.
+The zone is the network name, and it is yours to choose. A name that
+shadows a real public domain is reported and then used: a network called
+`ru` warns that every public `.ru` name becomes unreachable from this host,
+and then does it. Anything that collides with nothing — which is most names
+— is said nothing about, because a warning that fires on every private name
+anybody picks is how people learn to ignore warnings.
 
 On Linux the agent tells systemd-resolved to send questions for that suffix
 here, over D-Bus, scoped to the overlay interface and as a *routing* domain
diff --git a/crates/tsunagi/src/dns/zone.rs b/crates/tsunagi/src/dns/zone.rs
index f49787e..699117f 100644
--- a/crates/tsunagi/src/dns/zone.rs
+++ b/crates/tsunagi/src/dns/zone.rs
@@ -128,17 +128,14 @@ impl ZoneName {
                     .to_string(),
             );
         }
-        if tld::exist_case_insensitive(top) {
-            return Some(format!(
+        // A real top-level domain is the whole of it. A name that is not
+        // delegated today might be one day — and saying so fires on every
+        // private name anybody ever picks, which is a warning about
+        // nothing that teaches people to ignore warnings.
+        tld::exist_case_insensitive(top).then(|| {
+            format!(
                 "`.{top}` is a real top-level domain, so every public name under it \
                  becomes unreachable from this host while the overlay is up"
-            ));
-        }
-        // Not delegated today is not a promise about tomorrow.
-        (!self.0.contains('.')).then(|| {
-            format!(
-                "`.{top}` is not a delegated top-level domain today, but it could \
-                 become one; `.internal` is reserved for private use and never will"
             )
         })
     }
@@ -516,11 +513,13 @@ mod tests {
         let local = ZoneName::new("local").unwrap().collision().unwrap();
         assert!(local.contains("multicast DNS"), "{local}");
 
-        // An undelegated single label is a maybe, not a yes.
-        let lab = ZoneName::new("lab").unwrap().collision().unwrap();
-        assert!(lab.contains("could"), "{lab}");
-        // A multi-label name under something undelegated is not worth a word.
-        assert_eq!(ZoneName::new("a.lab").unwrap().collision(), None);
+        // A name that collides with nothing is said nothing about. It
+        // might be delegated one day, and warning about that fires on
+        // every private name anybody picks — a warning about nothing,
+        // which is how people learn to ignore warnings.
+        for quiet in ["lab", "a.lab", "pidar", "twar", "kitchen-table"] {
+            assert_eq!(ZoneName::new(quiet).unwrap().collision(), None, "{quiet}");
+        }
     }
 
     #[test]