diff --git a/control_plane/src/physical/runtime_capability.rs b/control_plane/src/physical/runtime_capability.rs
index ecbb1153..4074be1b 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/physical/runtime_capability.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/physical/runtime_capability.rs
@@ -502,6 +502,31 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    /// The two intents must never collapse into one capability: an approximate
+    /// `Count` is a `COUNT(*)` point query (frequency sketch), while
+    /// `Cardinality` is `COUNT(DISTINCT ...)` (HLL). Routing `Count` to
+    /// `CardinalityApprox` makes a by-less `count(v)` merge HLL registers and
+    /// answer the union's distinct count instead of the number of series --
+    /// see `query_parser::tests::bare_count_is_series_count_not_distinct_cardinality`
+    /// for the lowering half of this invariant.
+    #[test]
+    fn count_and_cardinality_bind_different_sketch_capabilities() {
+        let approximate = AccuracyTarget::Epsilon(0.01);
+        let count = capability_for(&AggIntent::Count {
+            accuracy: approximate.clone(),
+        });
+        let cardinality = capability_for(&AggIntent::Cardinality {
+            col: None,
+            accuracy: approximate,
+        });
+        assert_eq!(count, Some(Capability::FrequencyEstimate(None)));
+        assert_eq!(cardinality, Some(Capability::CardinalityApprox));
+        assert_ne!(
+            count, cardinality,
+            "count() must not bind the HLL capability that answers COUNT(DISTINCT)"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn capability_for_count_exact_routes_to_archive() {
         // `count_over_time` lowers to `Count{accuracy:Exact}`. The
diff --git a/control_plane/src/query_parser/mod.rs b/control_plane/src/query_parser/mod.rs
index d7837d0b..9853800a 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/query_parser/mod.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/query_parser/mod.rs
@@ -490,6 +490,71 @@ mod tests {
             other => panic!("expected canonical Aggregate, got {other:?}"),
         }
     }
+    /// PromQL `count(v)` counts SERIES; it is not a distinct-item count.
+    ///
+    /// This mapping has flip-flopped across ASAPPlanner revisions: `ca7546de`
+    /// (and several around it) lowered a bare `count by (d) (...)` to
+    /// `AggIntent::Cardinality`, which binds `Capability::CardinalityApprox`
+    /// and is served by merging HLL registers. For two series holding
+    /// {a,b,c} and {d,e,f} that answers 6 -- the union's distinct cardinality --
+    /// where PromQL's answer is 2, the number of series.
+    ///
+    /// `Cardinality` belongs to the distinct-count idiom only: `distinct_over_time`,
+    /// `COUNT(DISTINCT ...)`, or an explicit `count(distinct_over_time(...))`
+    /// whose INNER node carries the intent. Keeping the two apart is what lets
+    /// `capability_for` route `Count` to a frequency sketch and `Cardinality`
+    /// to HLL, as `runtime_capability`'s own contract states.
+    #[test]
+    fn bare_count_is_series_count_not_distinct_cardinality() {
+        fn intents(query: &str) -> Vec<AggIntent> {
+            fn walk(expr: &QueryExpr, out: &mut Vec<AggIntent>) {
+                match expr {
+                    QueryExpr::Aggregate {
+                        measures, child, ..
+                    } => {
+                        out.extend(measures.iter().cloned());
+                        walk(child, out);
+                    }
+                    QueryExpr::TimeRange { child, .. } => walk(child, out),
+                    _ => {}
+                }
+            }
+            let mut out = vec![];
+            walk(&parse_query_expr_canonical(query, ACC).unwrap(), &mut out);
+            out
+        }
+
+        for query in ["count(unique_users)", "count by (svc) (unique_users)"] {
+            let found = intents(query);
+            assert!(
+                found
+                    .iter()
+                    .all(|intent| !matches!(intent, AggIntent::Cardinality { .. })),
+                "{query} must not carry a Cardinality intent -- that binds HLL and \
+                 answers the union's distinct count instead of the series count; got {found:?}"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                found
+                    .iter()
+                    .any(|intent| matches!(intent, AggIntent::Count { .. })),
+                "{query} must lower to a Count intent, got {found:?}"
+            );
+        }
+
+        // The distinct-count idiom keeps its cardinality intent, on the inner node.
+        for query in [
+            "distinct_over_time(unique_users[5m])",
+            "count(distinct_over_time(unique_users[5m]))",
+        ] {
+            let found = intents(query);
+            assert!(
+                found
+                    .iter()
+                    .any(|intent| matches!(intent, AggIntent::Cardinality { .. })),
+                "{query} is the distinct-count idiom and must keep Cardinality, got {found:?}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]