diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 82bbcea..02f4f31 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -895,13 +895,20 @@ def no_candidate_detail(seen: int, stats: "collections.Counter",
 
 
 def exhausted_detail(tried: list[dict], attempts: int) -> str:
-    """Summarise the whole ladder instead of overwriting it with the last error."""
+    """Summarise the whole ladder instead of overwriting it with the last error.
+
+    Counts `tried`, not `attempts`. They agree for anything this version
+    enqueued, but a row carried over from before the ladder existed has
+    attempts=0 with a real failure recorded against it, which rendered as the
+    nonsense "tried 0 peers: 1x no bytes in 20m". The list is the evidence.
+    """
     if not tried:
         return "no candidate could be enqueued"
+    n_peers = len({t.get("username") for t in tried if t.get("username")}) or len(tried)
     reasons = collections.Counter(t["reason"].split(":")[0] for t in tried)
-    plural = "" if attempts == 1 else "s"
+    plural = "" if n_peers == 1 else "s"
     joined = ", ".join(f"{n}x {r}" for r, n in reasons.most_common(3))
-    return f"tried {attempts} peer{plural}: {joined}"
+    return f"tried {n_peers} peer{plural}: {joined}"
 
 
 async def try_next_candidate(job_id: str, artist: str, title: str,
diff --git a/tests/test_acquisition.py b/tests/test_acquisition.py
index 6375225..d3b9ab1 100644
--- a/tests/test_acquisition.py
+++ b/tests/test_acquisition.py
@@ -195,6 +195,13 @@ def main() -> int:
     check("only fails once the ladder is exhausted", r["state"] == "failed", r["detail"])
     check("failure names every attempt, not just the last",
           "tried 3 peers" in (r["detail"] or ""), r["detail"])
+    # A row carried over from before the ladder has attempts=0 but a real
+    # failure recorded, which must not render as "tried 0 peers: 1x ...".
+    check("a migrated row counts its evidence, not its counter",
+          app.exhausted_detail(
+              [{"username": "u1", "reason": "no bytes in 20m"}], 0)
+          == "tried 1 peer: 1x no bytes in 20m",
+          app.exhausted_detail([{"username": "u1", "reason": "no bytes in 20m"}], 0))
 
     print("\nattempt cap")
     fake2 = FakeSlskd(per_query={"Creep": [